The Stockton and Hartlepool Railway, which connected the town of West Hartlepool with the Clarence Railway near , was opened for goods on 12 November 1839 and to passengers on 1 December 1839. A station named "Hartlepool West" was opened on 9 February 1841; this was renamed "West Hartlepool" in February 1848, and closed on 3 May 1880 when it was replaced by a new West Hartlepool station. This in turn was renamed "Hartlepool" on 26 April 1967, when West Hartlepool was merged with Hartlepool and following the complete closure of the former Hartlepool Dock & Railway station in the Headland, previously known as "Hartlepool", in 1964.