Sunday, June 12, 2022

FIRST PASSENGER TRAIN SPOTTED AT BRIGG STATION FOR MONTHS

A Class 150 diesel train passing through Brigg railway station on June 11, 2022

Pictured here is a once-familiar Saturday scene not seen in Brigg for months.
Taken yesterday morning (June 11) it shows a passenger train at the town's station.
This was the first unit to traverse the Brigg line since early January when train operator Northern suspended all passenger trains because of Covid-related staffing shortages.
However, Saturday's Class 150 unit was not in revenue-earning service.
It was being used to familiarise staff with the Brigg line route, as safety regulations stipulate they must refresh their 'knowledge' periodically or lose the right to handle trains on particular lines.
However, Saturday's training trains (there were others) are seen as positive indicators that the Saturdays-only passenger train service between Cleethorpes and Sheffield via Brigg and Barnetby may be re-introduced by operator Northern.
The current May-December timetable includes no trains at all on the Brigg line, but local public transport users have fingers firmly crossed it prove possible to return things to normal before December.
The blue sky seen in our picture - kindly supplied by a Brigg resident who supports and uses local trains - is significant.
Normally, May to mid-September sees local people, including families, boarding an early morning train in Brigg to enjoy a day at the seaside in Cleethorpes, returning on the last train which gets into platform two around 7.45pm. Some also visit Grimsby.
Other folk board in Brigg to change trains at Barnetby for Market Rasen, Lincoln, Newark, Nottingham and other destinations.
From platform two, in normal circumstances, trains run to Kirton Lindsey, Gainsborough, Retford and Sheffield.