BUSIEST DAY OF YEAR FOR BRIGG RAILWAY STATION & IMPROVEMENTS SUGGESTED AT BARNETBY

More passengers used Brigg railway station last Saturday (March 25) than at any time this year.
On his Brigg Line Blog, rail campaigner Paul Johnson, pictured above, suggests this was due to nice weather, the  monthly Farmers' Market being held in the town centre and "a new phase of advertising" to promote the Saturdays-only passenger service to Brigg from Sheffield, Retford, Cleethorpes and Grimsby.
VIEW PAUL'S FULL REPORT THROUGH THIS LINK...

A TransPennine Express passenger train at Barnetby station, bound for Cleethorpes. One of the waiting shelters provided for passengers can be seen in the distance, near the footbridge. Picture taken by Brigg Blog a couple of weeks ago. Barnetby station can be a bleak and windswept location so shelters are important for the comfort and well-being of travellers. The one featured here, from Brigg, was awaiting a connecting train to Lincoln via Market Rasen.

Paul also tells Brigg Blog that he attended a North Notts and Lincolnshire Community Rail Partnership meeting  at Barnetby station last Friday - this being North Lincolnshire's main railway junction and served by Brigg line services on Saturdays.
Issued raised included:

• Additional car parking: A site to the south of the bridge on King's Road was identified as a suitable location behind the now redundant Barnetby East signal box. In addition, car parking available on the approach road to the station is felt to be "ad hoc" so space is wasted. It was suggested that white lines marking out bays would be welcome. 
• Shelters: The "inadequacy" of platform shelters was noted and it was suggested two more to the west of the existing shelters would be beneficial. 
• Catering provision: Could a local caterer be found who is willing to park a vehicle at the station at peak times and make refreshments available to passengers?

Paul adds that there have been Twitter comments suggesting additional Brigg Line trains are required. Currently we only see three trains in each direction on Saturdays; none at all on the other days of the week.