DAY TRIPS BY TRAIN FROM BRIGG TO CLEETHORPES APPEAL AT THIS TIME OF YEAR

Brigg Blog is a keen supporter of rail transport; no real surprise as our family has had railway workers in its ranks for at least three generations.
We aren't going to say things were better overall under nationalised British Railways (big annual losses, dirty trains, indifferent catering) than they are today with private companies operating the trains.
However, things were definitely different under BR, which in decades past kept fleets of spare carriages parked up in sidings near stations - some only used during peak periods of demand. 
They were used to form complete extra trains, particularly seaside or football/rugby match excursions, or to add extra seats on timetabled services.
We thought about this when an email relevant to Brigg came our way from rail campaigner Paul Johnson.
Paul told us that for the recent Armed Forces Day in Cleethorpes, train operating company Northern ran a two-car unit between  Barton-upon-Humber and Cleethorpes to replace the usual single car.
"Unfortunately, this did not happen for the Brigg line," Paul suggested.
He saw social media reports saying all seats were already occupied on the first Saturday train of the morning from Sheffield to Cleethorpes by the time it left Retford, with a number of stations still to call at, including Brigg.
Paul concluded his message by saying that if any passengers in our area had "issues"  they could contact the Northern customer service centre on 0800 20 60 60.
In the early 1960s when controversial BR chief Doctor Beeching was busy Reshaping the Railways, spare carriages and wagons   were flagged up as wasteful and something that had to be addressed as a matter of urgency.
Further diesel multiple units were also introduced to cut down the number of carriage trains hauled by engines  - a major cost-saving.
However, this policy reduced flexibility when it came to meeting unexpected customer demand for seats at short notice.
There's no doubt it's poor business practice to have little-used equipment standing by just in case.
But customers who pay to use a train and then find they have to stand because there are no available seats may think again when it comes to using rail,  rather than road, for future journeys.
Hopefully, they will stick with trains. But there's no guarantee.
Brigg has a Saturdays-only passenger service taking people to Grimsby and Cleethorpes, Gainsborough, Retford and Sheffield. There are three journeys in each direction.
Cleethorpes is a particularly attractive destination for folk of all ages at this time of year, but particularly families with young children.
The train you want departs the nearside platform at Brigg station (no need to use the footbridge) at 9.19am, getting you into the resort at 10.09am.
You can board return trains from Cleethorpes at 3.11pm or 7.17pm.
These times apply right through to December 8, 2018.
However, please note that  the  next  "strike day" has been fixed for Saturday, 21st July. Check before you travel to see whether a substitute bus service will be operating.

Brigg Blog took the above picture at Cleethorpes station on a glorious summer's day. Journey's end for Saturday passengers from Brigg is just a stone's throw from the beach, as you can see.