Middlesbrough Bus Station

patavery

26 Mar 2026

I hope you do not have to wait long for your bus.

3

3

Date of visit: November 2025

I am a disabled person. I have experience of challenges around: a hidden impairment and moving around.

I use or have experience of: hidden impairment, powerchair, walking aid, wheelchair

Overall Rating

Average

It might be because I was visiting on a winter evening, but Middlesbrough bus station was not a place I fancied spending much time at. Everything was shuttered, there was nowhere comfortable to sit (except for my wheelchair!) and even the colourful murals did not really manage to lift the mood. But maybe it is unfair of me to judge a practical place like a bus station on whether it creates a welcoming atmosphere – so is it fit for purpose? You can certainly take buses there and as far as I could tell you could get to them all step-free. All the stands were clearly labelled, but you might still end up with some confusion as to how to access them because of the built-in queuing systems. Those were probably my least favourite part, as they often involved inclines and prevented people waiting for the bus from sitting down.

Disabled Access In and Around

Good

You can access the bus station from 3 sides through one of 4 entrances. The doors to Captain Cook Square and Newport Road are large sliding double doors. The entrance from Park Street has a narrower set of automatic double doors that open to the outside. The floor inside is smoothly tiled and using some contrast to mark out walkways but also for decoration. The main area where the shops are is mostly level, but there are some gentle inclines on the corridors leading to the stands and up to the exits to Newport Road and slightly steeper ramps leading up to individual stands. The ramps up to the stands have a handhold on top of a half-wall on one side. The signage, including for the number of the stands, is in black writing on yellow signs overhead. There are wall-mounted benches with no arm rests and no backrests (except for the wall) at fairly regular intervals along the corridors to the stands, but there is not a lot of seating in the main area or for people waiting at individual stands. There is a staircase going up from the main area, but it was not clear to me where it led and as far as I could tell there was no lift.

Parking & Transport

Average

I travelled to this place by walk or wheel

There are of course lots of buses departing from the bus station. There is not really anywhere to park except for a little bit of street parking on Park Street and I did not see a drop-off point. There is a taxi rank on Newport Road when you go along the bus station to the left when exiting. The train station is about a 0.5-mile/11-minute walk or wheel away.

Accessible facilities: Public or on street parking

Accessible Toilets

Average

It looks like the regular toilets have a stile system where you have to pay to use them, but they were shuttered when I was there. There is a Changing Places toilet, but in order to use it, you need to register with the council first to get a key card. On the Changing Places website it says that you can get let in by a member of staff, but it does not say so on the sign in the bus station and I would not know where to find said staff. Middlesbrough Bus Station has an accessible bathroom. It is located to the left of the men’s toilets, the photo booth and the butcher, and unlocked with a RADAR key. The door opens to the outside left and the handle is a vertical bar. The door is manual. The door locks by lifting up the lever handle or with an extended twist knob. There is a horizontal grab rail on the inside of the door as well as two coat hooks at different heights. The toilet is at the back wall. There is space for a left-side transfer. There is a vertical grab rail on the wall and a moveable horizontal one to the right of the toilet and a fixed horizontal handrail on the wall to the left of the toilet. The flush is a spatula lever, located on the side of the cistern on the side of the transfer space. The toilet roll dispenser is on the wall left of the toilet. It dispenses single sheets. There is a red emergency cord to the left of the toilet that reaches all the way to the floor. There is a small wall-mounted sink on the right as you enter that has a tap with a short lever. There are vertical handrails on the wall on either side of the sink. The soap dispenser is mounted on the wall above the sink. There is a hand dryer mounted on the wall to the right of the sink and no paper towel dispenser. There is a large mirror on the wall on the left as you enter. There is a large footpedal bin in the transfer space. There is no colostomy shelf. The grab rails and the toilet seat are a contrasting colour from the walls and the toilet.

Facilities: Accessible toilet

Staff

I was at the bus station in the evening, at about 7pm and it might have just as well been the middle of the night. Everything was shuttered and I did not see any staff.