Saturday 21 February 2009

There will be no Cleethorpes-Scunthorpe rail service this summer

Earlier in the month a guest posted a comment to say that there would be a Cleethorpes to Scunthorpe train service during the Scunthorpe to Doncaster rail blockade this summer. Well it appears not so.

This Northern Rail poster says Transpennine Express will operate buses between Cleethorpes and Doncaster - one serving Grimsby Town only, and the other serving Grimsby Town, Habrough, Barnetby and Scunthorpe. Which is a good arrangement for passengers travelling to Doncaster. But why should passengers between Cleethorpes, Scunthorpe and stations in between have to use buses when the rail line is open between these places?

Northern Rail will divert their Scunthorpe trains to Thorne North and operate buses from Scunthorpe, Althorpe, Crowle and Thorne South to link into the train service at Hatfield and Stainforth station.

They say that East Midlands Trains Grimsby to Newark and Northern's own Barton to Cleethorpes service will be 'largely unaffected'. Does that mean the first Barton Line service of the day, operated with a Transpennine Express unit, will be operated by a bus? I can't see Transpennine Express isolating a train at Cleethorpes for three months to operate one service a day.

As I have said before, the replacement services for passengers are being done on the cheap, and are not the best they could be.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

The last-minute, dire, change of plan was the result of a veto by Network Rail, who were not willing to see increased passenger traffic along the Brigg Line. Transpennine didn't even bother appealing as the decision - as poor as it is for tourism in the area - frees-up 3 three-car trains to be used elsewhere. Additional capacity between Manchester-Glasgow is the favoured recipient.