DON'T GO ONLINE

Trains will be running again from Brigg station tomorrow. Well, we are pretty sure they will!
All week, some confusion has surrounded the Saturday-only passenger train service which links Brigg with Gainsborough, Retford and Sheffield (westward), and Barnetby, Grimsby and Cleethorpes (to the east).
Buses replaced trains on the Brigg part of the route for several months while the line was being extensively upgraded, particularly near the River Ancholme. But once that contract was completed - and freight trains have been running through - was it unreasonable to expect the trains would be re-instated straight away?
Employing what is supposed to be the quickest form of communication, website/email, I inquired of Northern Rail at the beginning of the week whether the trains would be running again to Grimsby and Cleethorpes tomorrow (Saturday) from Brigg station.
A company representative replied the service was 'operated in part by a bus' with departures fom Brigg at 9.50am, 1.50pm and 5.15pm. The cost £8.80 for a standard day return.
I then emailed back to point out the engineering work on the line had ended (with freights now coming through), and got the following reply: "I have just received confirmation from Network Rail that the engineering work has been cancelled. So train services will operate as normal."
I emailed back requesting confirmation that reinstatement would apply from this Saturday, but up to 10am today had only received an automated reply saying my request for further information would be handled within the next 20 working days.
So I've ended up having to ring Northern and speak to a helpful chap who confirmed the engineering work had been cancelled and that trains would be running tomorrow through Brigg. That was my second call to Northern, the first being answered by someone who just kept me hanging on and hanging on until I gave up and called again.
My advice is not to use the website/email but to ring 0845 000 0125, stay on the line (don't key in any of the five options offered by the voice) and then ask for Brian. Old-fashioned, but it works.
Back in the 1960s, of course, you could have inquired, in person, of staff in the Brigg station booking office (long since demolished), asked a porter on the platform, or even inquired of the stationmaster himself.
Such is progress!