Lincoln to Nottingham - one of the worst lines in the country!

[ashworth]

I think what Derek mentioned of re-opening the Mansfield to Newark line would help the line, I remember when I was at school near Mansfield people often complained of poor rail links to the town, I think having a Mansfield to Lincoln train with new stops at Rainworth, Farnsfield and Southwell would work quite well.

Derek was not talking about a Mansfield to Newark line via Rainworth, Farnsfield and Southwell. That line was closed and tracks lifted years ago and much of that line at the Mansfield end is now built upon and doesn't now even connect with the current Robin Hood line through Mansfield.
What Derek was meaning was the line that leaves the Robin Hood Line at Shirebrook and runs through Warsop, Ollerton and Tuxford to Lincoln. Much of this line at the Nottinghamshire end is still fully intact.

 

[Derek Wilson]

Derek was not talking about a Mansfield to Newark line via Rainworth, Farnsfield and Southwell. That line was closed and tracks lifted years ago and much of that line at the Mansfield end is now built upon and doesn't now even connect with the current Robin Hood line through Mansfield.
What Derek was meaning was the line that leaves the Robin Hood Line at Shirebrook and runs through Warsop, Ollerton and Tuxford to Lincoln. Much of this line at the Nottinghamshire end is still fully intact.

I thought there were two Derek's replying to this thread, when I saw that!!
Actually a lot of what remains of the former LDECR is in as good condition as many a main line, since the High Output Track Renewal Train was commissioned on the test track, & work as been on-going along the branch for some time now. Clipstone East Junction was plain-lined in the summer & the West junction is to also due to be plain-lined as well. There is some work being done to upgrade the signalling, so maybe Clipstone West box will be closed in the near future, although I have heard that some of the semaphores will stay.
I doubt that Network Rail will want to give up the section used for the test track at this stage, but at a future date maybe they would. I have heard talk of the possibility of a new cross-over at Thoresby, keeping one line for the test track & the other for passenger trains, as far as Ollerton, where a single platform station would be built.
I doubt that they would get the funding to reintroduce passenger services at the moment but I'm getting more convinced that it will happen at some stage in the future. So it would start looking more attractive to re-lay the missing link.

 

[edwin_m]

There is a proposal kicking around to re-open the LD&ECR to passengers but as far as I know it's only (some of?) the part where the track still exists. The intention is to open up some of the depressed former pit areas, primarily for commuting into Nottingham very much as the Robin Hood Line did, and this would presumably be done by extending the Robin Hood Mansfield Woodhouse terminator.

This proposal doesn't appear to have enough demand to make it worthwhile, and I would imagine an extension to Lincoln is even less likely. Going this far would involve extra cost in reinstating the infrastructure, including whatever needs to be done to the major bridge over the Trent at High Marnham. I can't see many people using a Lincoln extension either, as Lincoln doesn't really have a commuter market, it would be uncompetitive with the Newark route for Lincoln-Nottingham, and Mansfield-Lincoln is a fairly small market for which there are alternative options via Nottingham.

 

[Failed Unit]

Although EMT have reduced some of the stops, I am still amazed at how many trains stop at stations like Swinderby, Thurgarton. The level of service these stations get is amazing for the amount of people that use them. I wonder if capacity exists for a hourly services just doing Lincoln, Newark, Nottingham and every other hour stopping at every blade of grass. I suspect if the paths exists the stock doesn't however.

I must admit the journey time kills off the line. Grimsby - Nottingham passengers are quicker going via Sheffield, rather than Lincoln.

 

[David Barrett]

Grimsby - Nottingham passengers are quicker going via Sheffield, rather than Lincoln.

Not really, even with a long wait at Lincoln (not always the case) it is still generally quicker than via Sheffield which can, in some cases, take longer than with changes at both Doncaster and Grantham. What really holds the Lincoln route back is the infrequent and irregular nature of the service between there and Grimsby along with its attendant capacity (single 153) issues.