A railway to serve Barnard Castle, from the S&DR at a junction near North Road station and along the River Tees, was proposed in 1852; this route bypassed as far as possible the Duke of Cleveland's estate, as he had opposed an earlier railway. An application that year failed, but the Darlington & Barnard Castle Railway Act was given royal assent on 3 July 1854 and the railway opened on 8 July 1856.
