'AMBITIOUS PLANS' ON TRACK FOR MORE BRIGG PASSENGER TRAINS

What our local authority calls ambitious plans to extend passenger train services in Brigg, Barnetby and Kirton Lindsey remain on track, having received the green light to enter the first stage in the process required to bring this to fruition.
Currently, passenger units only serve our station on Saturdays - and that's been the case since the early 1990s.
However, North Lincolnshire Council has now announced that a bid for £50,000 of Government cash to explore the 're-opening' of train services between Barton and Gainsborough (via Brigg) has been successful.
A feasibility study can now start to examine the benefits of re-opening passenger train services along the Barton, Brigg and Gainsborough route, the local authority says.
Brigg's Coun Rob Waltham, the Leader of North Lincolnshire Council (pictured above) said: “We are delighted that the Restoring Your Railway Ideas Fund panel has approved the first stage of our application to commission a study to improve train services between Barton and Gainsborough.
“This is a real show of confidence in our ambitious plans not only to re-establish passenger services but to increase them.
“As well as further improving connectivity between three of North Lincolnshire’s vibrant market towns, the re-opening would carry huge economic benefits; opening up employment opportunities and supporting our visitor economy whilst also supporting our ambitions for clean growth.
“We worked closely with our local MPs Andrew Percy, Holly Mumby-Croft and Martin Vickers and the North Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire Community Rail Partnership to build a strong case to the government and the merits of this have clearly been recognised.
“We are still in the early phases of the process but the signals are extremely positive; the application is on track for the next stage of the process.”
The fund will provide 75 per cent of costs up to £50,000 of successful proposals to help fund transport and economic studies and create a business case. The council would invest the remaining 25 per cent.
Meanwhile, The Independent Brigg Line Rail Group (IBLRG), campaigning for more trains to operate locally on more days, says it has the support of many within the railway industry for its alternative proposal - a new Cleethorpes to Worksop 'shuttle' via Brigg "to solve the unacceptable service level the line has at present."
Commenting on the council-backed scheme, the group told Brigg Blog: "The feasibility study will give us the opportunity to put our case across."

N.F ADDS: Most Brigg people will welcome ANY addition to the current Saturday-only service offering just three trains to Sheffield and three to Grimsby & Cleethorpes. If extra services run from Brigg to Barnetby more days a week, there's an opportunity to switch trains in the railway village and access the London-Scotland east coast mainline at Newark (via Lincoln). The 'shuttle' proposed by the IBLRG will additionally connect Brigg with Retford, which is also on the express route between London and the north. Established in the late 1840s as a mainline station with extensive buildings on its platforms and trains calling seven days a week, Brigg station was downgraded in stages by British Rail from the late 1960s through to the early 1990s. Hopefully, in the future, it can regain some of its status as a provider of public transport.