Monday, September 24, 2018

WHEN YOU COULD STILL TAKE A TRAIN FROM BRIGG TO LONDON


Rail campaigner Paul Johnson tells Brigg Blog that he is always scouring online auction sites for timetables from past years.
A recent purchase was a British Rail Eastern Region timetable covering the period May 1968 to May 1969, laid out so  people travelling from Brigg had information about connections to London by changing trains once they reached Retford.
Looking at the 1968 timetable, Brigg station received five trains in each direction, Monday to Saturday, including the 4.51am mail/newspaper service.
But Brigg lost the majority of it Sunday passenger trains that year.
October 1, 1993 - 25 years ago - saw passenger trains cut back even further to their current level, Brigg station only receiving a Saturdays service, with none at all Monday to Friday or on Sunday.
Rail bosses shifted Sheffield-Cleethorpes passenger traffic away from the  Brigg line in favour of the route through Scunthorpe and Barnetby, which is still the case today, with just three Saturday trains in each direction serving our town.
That sporadic service on the Brigg line continues to be hit by rail union strike action.
Paul tells us more one-day strikes are expected to affect Northern company services on Saturdays October 6, 13 and 20.
If you are planning a train trip from Brigg, our advice is to check the latest position by calling 0800 200 60 60.

Paul and other rail supporters will be visiting Brigg station on October 1 to mark the 25th anniversary of the town's  train service being reduced to one day a week. They plan to visit the Deli Diner, on Wrawby Street, before making their way to the station about mid-day.



No comments:

Post a Comment