THE one-day-per-week rail service which has been a feature of the line between Gainsborough Central and Brigg for 30 years is to cease at the end of the current timetable.
This Saturday-only service of three round trips running between Sheffield and Cleethorpes via Worksop has been in place since October 1, 1993, although there was a 56-week hiatus between January 2022 and early 2023 when the service did not run during the Covid-19 pandemic due to staff shortages.
Now, the proposal from Northern for the summer timetable from May is for a solitary round trip on Mondays to Fridays (09.54 ex-Sheffield and 13.20 from Cleethorpes), along with an amended calling pattern, omitting Darnall, Woodhouse, Kiveton Bridge, Kiveton Park, Shireoaks and Habrough in both directions.
The move is part of the financial savings demanded by the Department for Transport (DfT) while avoiding the formalities of a withdrawal of passenger services.
It will, according to Paul Johnson, of the Independent Brigg Line Rail Group (IBLRG), “obliterate a large proportion of the footfall which has been generated over the years through promotion of the line, mainly by the IBLRG.”
In a statement, the rail group said the service change would mean “a serious loss in travel opportunities for the communities of Worksop, Retford, Gainsborough Kirton-in-Lindsey and Brigg, who want
