FROM CHRIS O'ROURKE, NORTH LINCOLNSHIRE COUNCIL
Plans to run a direct rail service from North Lincolnshire to London were moved forward at a high-level meeting with rail bosses.
Leader of North Lincolnshire Council, Cllr Rob Waltham (Brigg & Wolds), pledged his support to an application from Grand Central to the Rail Regulator for access to the line.
He discussed the company’s plans at the meeting in York with Managing Director of Grand Central, Richard McClean, and Commercial and Customer Policy Director, Louise Blyth.
Under current proposals, trains from London would travel through Doncaster to Scunthorpe, before continuing to Grimsby and Cleethorpes.
The group discussed the potential for adding further stops in North Lincolnshire in the Isle of Axholme at Crowle, and at Barnetby.
The council will work with Grand Central to build the business case and to establish the potential number of users of a direct London service.
Cllr Waltham also committed to make representation to the Department for Transport in support of the service.
He said: “Direct trains from North Lincolnshire to London would provide a significant boost to our local economy.
“North Lincolnshire already enjoys great rail connectivity with northern cities and to the south via Doncaster. But a direct London service would give another reason for businesses to set up or relocate here.
“It would also provide a boost to local tourism, with even easier access to the rest of the country.
“Ultimately, it will create jobs for local people.”
If the bid to the Rail Regulator is successful, North Lincolnshire to London trains could start running in 2020.
“To help support the service, the council has committed to work on improving car parking at train stations at any additional station stops,” Cllr Waltham said.
“We’re keen to see Crowle and Barnetby included in the plans and we will be working closely with Grand Central to see how we could do this to help us maximise the potential this link will have for our area.”
Grand Central provide a commercial rail service that requires no taxpayer subsidy.
NF ADDS: Many people in Brigg and district will be pleased to see efforts being made to restore direct trains to London that stop at Barnetby - our local rail junction. We hope very much this is achieved, and trust this will be accompanied by improved bus connections between Brigg, Broughton, Scawby Brook, Wrawby and Barnetby to link with the capital service. Integrated public transport is what's required. We welcome North Lincolnshire Council's support for London trains but hope it can be extended to press for improvements to the Saturdays-only passenger train service along the Brigg line. There used to be direct London trains from Barnetby that went via Market Rasen, Lincoln and Newark. If London trains from Barnetby can be re-introduced it seems possible that people could live in our area and travel daily to work in London. House prices are much, much lower up here than they are down south, making a move to North Lincolnshire an economic prospect for some.
PICTURED ABOVE: Leader of North Lincolnshire Council, Brigg & Wolds' Cllr Rob Waltham (centre), in York with Richard McClean, Managing Director of Grand Central, and Commercial and Customer Policy Director, Louise Blyth. Picture supplied to Brigg Blog by North Lincolnshire Council.
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| A frosty day at Barnetby railway station in December 2017, showing a Trans Pennine Express train which links Manchester with Grimsby and Cleethorpes. |
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| An April view of the River Thames in London - taken by Brigg Blog during a visit made by car. Hopefully it will be possible in the future to get a bus to Barnetby and board a direct train to the capital. |
2 comments:
The plans haven't actually moved closer to anything yet, it's just talk masquerading as news. Any such service will only move forward, or not as the case may be, after the involvement of the Rail Regulator who will judge the proposals against various criteria, eg. line capacity and whether the new service would be primarily attracting new business or abstractive from other services. My guess is that, given the proposals involve coupling and uncoupling from other services at Doncaster for the journey between there and London someone will object to the time taken for this operation in the station at Doncaster and that it is quite possible the application will be turned down because of abstraction of revenue as has happened with previous applications. If successful other services from North Lincolnshire could suffer loss of passengers leading to a thinning out of these - not so far fetched when it is considered that the Department of Transport have already considered the idea of terminating trains from and returning to Manchester at Doncaster with just the stopping trains from Doncaster running to Scunthorpe and extended to Cleethorpes. This idea is likely to arise again when Trans Pennine's franchise is reviewed in a few years time and if the London service is approved with some loss of revenue following on the existing local and long distance services then we will be, I'm afraid playing right into the DfT's hands. Cllr. Waltham and colleagues would be better off, in my view, campaigning for a better local train service serving Brigg than courting yet another open access operator wanting to go to London.
This statement from North Lincolnshire Council shows the true colours, after 6 years of trying to help the people of Brigg we have come to the end of the line.
The support we have received from councils has bern patchy to say the least, North Lincolnshire Council used to have a wonderful transportation officer but she left, after that NLC did very little to promote the Brigg Line with everything seeming to be an issue and basics never done to support the line or the volunteering that took place.
With the changes to the timetable in May the Brigg Line will see less connecting services and a pricing structure that is a farce, maybe its time to go back to 1988 and shut the whole lot as in the eyes of many the line and the people that tried to help are an inconvenience.
Passenger numbers will now fall but don't worry you have a £400000 erection to remind you of the so called investment.
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