Improved service, Lincoln - Newark - Nottingham

[whole diary]

[John R]

An interesting announcement late last week that the service between Lincoln and Nottingham is going to be improved from May 15. It would appear that around 12 extra services each way will run between Nottingham and Newark, which will enable the current Nott'm to Lincoln services to be significantly accelerated by becoming limited stop.

By my reckoning that will need at least 2 additional units, so I'm intrigued to know where they might be coming from (given the assertion that Northern will not lose any DMU^▸ (Diesel Multiple Unit)'s on delivery of their 319s). A clever part of the change is that it has little impact on the flat crossing of the ECML^▸ (East Coast Main Line) as the extra services stop just short. Would have been ironic if this improvement had been to the detriment of east coast pathing, given the huge investment that's been made to eliminate conflicting moves.

So good to see a service elsewhere undergoing a significant upgrade.

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

Lincoln to Nottingham: DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) confirms funding plan


Campaigners say the service was quicker in 1909 than it is today

A project to improve "one of the worst train services in the UK^▸ (United Kingdom)" has been given the go-ahead.

Journey times between Lincoln and Nottingham are currently slower than they were 100 years ago, according to campaign group Rail Fair.

In a letter from Secretary of State Patrick McLoughlin, funding for three years has been confirmed by the Department for Transport.

It is hoped the improved service will start running in May 2015.

Planned improvements
- An extra 12 trains a day between Newark and Nottingham
- Journey times cut by 10 minutes on Nottingham to Lincoln services
- An additional 11 daily stops at Hykeham
- Extra peak hour service from Lincoln to Nottingham
- Fastest journey time between Nottingham and Lincoln cut to 47 minutes

Earlier this year, Rail Fair - which claims the line is the "worst in the UK" - started a petition calling for the government to take action over proposals to improve the service.

Robert Jenrick, Conservative MP^▸ (Member of Parliament) for Newark, said: "It is absurd that you could travel faster along this key line in 1909 than you can today. The line has been neglected for years. That is now changing and Newark and neighbouring communities will receive the east-west service they deserve."

In his letter, Mr McLoughlin said: "The department will continue to work closely with East Midlands Trains to ensure the service enhancements are operational and available to passengers from May 2015."

It is understood the government will contribute more than ^1m to the estimated ^2.1m scheme, with the rest of the costs being met by a "consortium of local authorities", the DfT said.

[IndustryInsider]

Good news on quite a busy route with three quite large towns being inadequately served by the current service.  I presume the extra peak hour Lincoln to Nottingham service will plug the current gap of only one train (18:35) between 17:25 and 20:35 - though there are other Lincoln to Newark North Gate services for Newark commuters.

Not sure if the prevailing linespeed of 60mph will be increased to help reduce the journey times?  I too wonder where additional rolling stock will be coming from.

[JayMac]

Perhaps EMT^» (East Midlands Trains - about) will be acquiring a 158/9 or two from sister company SWT^▸ (South West Trains).

[paul7575]

Perhaps EMT^» (East Midlands Trains - about) will be acquiring a 158/9 or two from sister company SWT^▸ (South West Trains).

I don't think it is that straightforward, with franchising the way it is under DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) control.  Surely if SWT were able to release 158s or 159s the DfT would step in first and allocate a couple to FGW^▸ (First Great Western) to replace the units already on 'permanent loan' with them?  Unless of course by then (May 15) there are other options for FGW, such as surplus DMUs^▸ (Diesel Multiple Unit) from Scotrail?

Paul

[Rhydgaled]

Worst in the UK^▸ (United Kingdom) on what grounds? The quoted article mentions only that the journey times are slow. FirstGW mixing deck tells me it can take 53mins for about 32 miles (as the crow flies). Around 36mph average, and as poor as that sounds I'm not sure it is the worst in the UK. For example, Carmarthen-Cardiff is 1hr 41min for 55.2 miles (again, using a straight line measurement), or 33mph average.

[JayMac]

I don't think it is that straightforward, with franchising the way it is under DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) control.  Surely if SWT^▸ (South West Trains) were able to release 158s or 159s the DfT would step in first and allocate a couple to FGW^▸ (First Great Western) to replace the units already on 'permanent loan' with them?  Unless of course by then (May 15) there are other options for FGW, such as surplus DMUs^▸ (Diesel Multiple Unit) from Scotrail?

Paul

Didn't FGW tender for loco hauled stocked from December 2014? Won't that release DMUs to negate the need for hired in SWT units?

[grahame]

Didn't FGW^▸ (First Great Western) tender for loco hauled stocked from December 2014? Won't that release DMUs^▸ (Diesel Multiple Unit) to negate the need for hired in SWT^▸ (South West Trains) units?

One SWT unit remains on hire to FGW for the foreseeable future; the second one returns very soon as SWT need to step up their fleet maintenance / refurb program and there's to be an extra unit in that.    Source - WWRUG^» (West Wiltshire Rail Users Group - about) meeting / FGW speaker / 25th September (95% sure that's where I heard it; 85% sure it was that speaker)

[John R]

Worst in the UK^▸ (United Kingdom) on what grounds? The quoted article mentions only that the journey times are slow. FirstGW mixing deck tells me it can take 53mins for about 32 miles (as the crow flies). Around 36mph average, and as poor as that sounds I'm not sure it is the worst in the UK. For example, Carmarthen-Cardiff is 1hr 41min for 55.2 miles (again, using a straight line measurement), or 33mph average.

I don't think you can compare a town of 16000 with one of 95000 when considering the appropriateness of a level of train service from it. The "worst" will clearly be taking this into account.

[grahame]

Worst in the UK^▸ (United Kingdom) on what grounds? The quoted article mentions only that the journey times are slow. FirstGW mixing deck tells me it can take 53mins for about 32 miles (as the crow flies). Around 36mph average, and as poor as that sounds I'm not sure it is the worst in the UK. For example, Carmarthen-Cardiff is 1hr 41min for 55.2 miles (again, using a straight line measurement), or 33mph average.

I don't think you can compare a town of 16000 with one of 95000 when considering the appropriateness of a level of train service from it. The "worst" will clearly be taking this into account.

You can do very silly things with statistics.   Cardiff to Taunton is 32 miles in a straight line.  Train journey on through services takes 2 hours; if you change on the way you can do it in 1 hr 44 mins.    I make that 16 m.p.h average on the through train, rising to 18.5 m.p.h. with a change. Not only are the speed comparisons rather silly in this case, but I would also question how many through passengers who will want to be carried from Cardiff to Taunton.  If you want something even sillier, try Southend to Margate.

It's not just the populations and distances, but the flows.   

[IndustryInsider]

If you want something even sillier, try Southend to Margate.

How about Stratford-Upon-Avon to Worcester at 20 miles and around two hours on the direct trains?