As this section of railway has a limited service and cannot be used to commute to work at Lincoln and Spalding as no early and late afternoon and evening service EMT I feel don't seem intrested there reply we NO stock this reply been going round for years, and Department for Transport keep coming up with replies saying EMTs stock is being refurbished so no stock till new franchises that start 2019 and repeating we spending money on Thameslink and St Pancrass to Corby, so why not Spalding and Lincoln trains.
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Lincoln Spalding Trains.
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gordonthemoron
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AIUI the joint line has had improved signalling and the withdrawal of the manual signal boxes, so why not use it properly?
berneyarms
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It’s not in the current franchise agreement - the new ITT has extended hours of operation on the line.
bunnahabhain
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Because nobody is prepared to subsidise an improved service. The timings have been slightly altered to take account the higher line speed available but that is all. When you have a train with less than a dozen passengers, it won't be making money. So why run one that you won't make a profit from unless you have to?
gordonthemoron
Established Member
You won't attract passengers with the current crap timetable
I agree with a crap timetable nobody will travel think Mr Grayling should have to see this area and have a ride on the rubbish services.
berneyarms
Established Member
Again, the current franchise agreement doesn’t specify their operation.
EMT would need increased subsidy to operate them, which DfT isn’t going to supply right now and hasn’t requested them to operate.
The Invitation to Tender for the new East Mildlands franchise includes an obligation to operate extended hourly services all day along the entire route from Doncaster to Peterborough pretty much from 07:00 to 22:00.
You’ll have to wait for the new franchise to come on stream for these.
The problem is that people from Spalding cannot use the train to commute to Lincoln as the first one is too late and the last one too early. That alone will be limiting the services appeal.
I doubt more than a handful would head to Lincoln by car, let alone use a train.
Yes, I live not far from Spalding, have several friends all of whom complain they cannot use the train service to Lincoln as it is useless for reason stated above. Lincoln is the county town and most administrative jobs are there as well as a fast growing university.
berneyarms
Established Member
But that will change during the new franchise.
Thay said that when it was central trains then East Midlands Trains taken over.
But the Joint line upgrade was not finished, or for that matter started when E M Trains took over
And for that matter, there was no obligation for the franchise holder to improve the services. The new ITT specifies a minimum service level from 2021, with an hourly service on both ends of the GNGE for most of the day.
berneyarms
Established Member
Go and look at what the new East Midlands franchise ITT on the DfT website specifies in the service specification appendices.
It specifies hourly operations on the Joint Line from 07:00 to 21:59 from December 2021. It’s there in black and white. That wasn’t the case in the current franchise.
On lines such as this one, the service level that DfT specifies is all that the operator is going to operate. That’s the bottom line. Anything extra will just be lossmaking.
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Spankthemonkey
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Always wondered if the straight up and down operation Doncaster to Peterborough could be varied with extensions at certain times of day to the likes of Skegness, Cleethorpes, London or Sheffield via Worksop.
The whole loss making debate really is a chicken and egg scenario, but if recent history of service expansions and reopenings around the UK is anything to go by, if trains and stations are reliable and regular then people will use them.
Lincolnshire suffers, like alot of the midlands, from not being the cash soaked south east or a development area like Ebbw Vale, so won't be high up on the dft list of priorities.
The whole loss making debate really is a chicken and egg scenario, but if recent history of service expansions and reopenings around the UK is anything to go by, if trains and stations are reliable and regular then people will use them.
Lincolnshire suffers, like alot of the midlands, from not being the cash soaked south east or a development area like Ebbw Vale, so won't be high up on the dft list of priorities.
Nobody in a position to do so ever promised any extra services on the joint line for the replacement franchise following Central Trains. I’ve attached the current service level commitment downloaded from DfT which details what is required. Anything in excess of this will need to be funded somehow - obviously this wouldn’t be done by the franchise holder if it jeopardised any premiums payable to the DfT.
They have decided that Lincolnshire deserves a superior service starting December 2021 and will subsidise it accordingly.
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