NORTHERN LIGHTS THE WAY FORWARD FOR BRIGG TRAIN SERVICE WITH GOOD START TO THE NEW YEAR

It proved to be a Happy New Year for Brigg passenger train users on Saturday (January 4).
Under fire from many critics across the UK for various delays and cancellations, the Northern company ran all six scheduled trains along the Brigg line on Saturday.
Brigg Blog boarded the first of the day at 9.24am and came back on the final one from Barnetby at 7.48pm. Both ran on time, we are pleased to report.
This happy situation is very different to how we found things in November and December when late running meant we missed one important connection at Barnetby (resulting in a two-hour wait in the village) and twice had to be provided with a taxi back to Brigg by Northern when it cancelled the last train of the day due to staff shortages.
It will be interesting to see how things go in the weeks ahead. Hopefully, last weekend's performance can be maintained - encouraging more people to take to the trains that call in Brigg.

Our pictures (above) show the last train calling at our station on Saturday night (January 4) on its way to Sheffield via Kirton Lindsey, Gainsborough and Retford.
We were pleased to see all Brigg's platform lights working, as were those nearby illuminating the auction site area between the station and the top of Station Road. These are on North Lincolnshire Council's land.
Both platforms and the tracks were also litter free, in contrast to how things were late last year when we reported discarded bottles of spirits, beer cans, cardboard and paper wrappings (since cleared and taken away).
Brigg Blog has to give Northern 10/10 for what we observed on Saturday, with the same mark going to East Midlands whose connecting trains took us to and from Newark via Market Rasen and Lincoln. Its trains also complied with the advertised timetable.
A day return ticket cost us less than £13, and while waiting at Barnetby for the train back to Brigg there was time for a refreshing pint of Landlord ale at the village's Whistle & Flute pub, very close to the station.
Passenger trains only serve Brigg station on Saturdays - running between Sheffield and Cleethorpes.
The current timetable has a built-in allowance for the mandatory speed restriction currently in place over the level crossing on Bigby High Road.
Departure times from Brigg (nearside platform one) for Barnetby, Grimsby and Cleethorpes, until May 2020, are: 9.24am, 1.12pm and 5.12pm.
Trains leave Brigg for Sheffield (from far-side platform two, over the footbridge) at 11.48am, 3.43pm and 7.48pm.
By taking a train to Barnetby you can access connecting services to Scunthorpe, Doncaster, Sheffield and Manchester (operated by TransPennine Express) and to Lincoln and Newark (East Midlands Railway).
Boarding a Brigg train to Retford gives access to trains on the east coast mainline which runs from London King's Cross to Scotland via York. This major route also includes Newark and Doncaster.
Find out more about local trains, and book tickets online, at:
www.northernrailway.co.uk
www.eastmidlandsrailway.co.uk
www.tpexpress.co.uk

A Class 60 diesel in charge of a train of oil tanker wagons at Barnetby station on a sunny winter's morning - Saturday, January 4, 2020.