NEW FEEDER BUS SERVICE SUGGESTED TO LINK BRIGG, KIRTON LINDSEY AND BARNETBY WITH LONDON TRAINS

A train company has been approached to consider introducing a new bus service that would allow people living in Brigg, Barnetby and Kirton Lindsey to access trains running on the east coast mainline between London and Scotland.
Rail campaigner Paul Johnson has told Brigg Blog that Northern Rail is contracted by the Department for Transport to run three Saturdays-only trains a week serving Brigg and Kirton Lindsey.
But an idea has been put forward that LNER, which operates trains on the east coast route, should look at providing a feeder bus service from Retford station that would call at Gainsborough Central, Kirton Lindsey, Brigg and Barnetby - Mondays to Fridays.
Paul stressed: "This is not a new idea, as it worked exceptionally well between Kettering and Corby for many years on the Midland main line."
The rail campaigner says he has been asked by LNER to outline how this bus service would work.
He adds: "There would be very little conflict of interest because the bus service would only run Monday to Friday and there is very little or no commercial bus service at present between Retford/Gainsborough/Kirton In Lindsey and Brigg."
This feeder bus service for the Brigg Line would be temporary and the objective of re-establishing a meaningful six-day-a-week train service on the Brigg Line would remain.
Paul says feeder buses run by the train operator "should be seen as a stop gap."
Brigg Blog thinks the major question is: How much demand exists in our area for a feeder bus service to and from Retford?
Another important factor is how long the bus would take to journey between North Lincolnshire and North Nottinghamshire to meet London-Scotland trains.
Last time we drove from Brigg to Retford to collect passengers from a London train we think it took us about 50 minutes.
Up to 25 years ago you could still board a train in Brigg, Monday to Saturday, and change at Retford.
Travellers can currently get from Barnetby to London by train but have to use the longer Scunthorpe-Doncaster route and then travel south through Retford.
Decades ago, direct trains operated from Cleethorpes and Grimsby to London via Barnetby, Lincoln and Newark - an even shorter route.
Pictured below is one of those trains, seen passing through North Kelsey station, which British Rail had closed a few years earlier.
Please post a comment here to let us know your thoughts on the suggested feeder bus service.