Nottingham Station 6 week Blockade

[Mugby]

Staff had their booklet handed to them during this last week.


Services towards Norwich call at Alfreton approx: xx.07 past each hour to Norwich. Services towards Liverpool run via Derby (stopping) from East Mids Pkway.

Apparently they are stopping at Derby.

 

[High Dyke]

The section of the bridge to go over the station is already there!

The part of the bridge currently over Queens Road was assembled in a compound at the side of Queen's Road and slid across a few weeks ago.

The next section is now being constructed in the compound, and the whole bridge will shortly be slid again, joining up with the old GC viaduct where Station Street stop is now.

Progress so far.

 

[bunnahabhain]

That's interesting, will it then run empty to Derby in order to be re-attached for the northbound service?

Yes.

I though Alfreton was only being served by Leeds trains, otherwise they would have to reverse. And they can't be putting units on and off at Derby because they are not stopping

Alfreton will be served by southbound EMT Liverpool to Norwich services as well. Units are attached at Derby for northbound workings and will run via Clay Cross.

 

[edwin_m]

I'm thinking for journeys Nottingham to Manchester it will probably be better to go to Derby and get either the through train (if it is indeed stopping) or another one to Sheffield. Going by bus to Parkway adds over an hour to the journey.

 

[Mugby]

All of this perhaps sounds fine in a booklet but it seems to me that it won't take much to cause some serious congestion in the Derby area!

 

[High Dyke]

Alfreton will be served by southbound EMT Liverpool to Norwich services as well. Units are attached at Derby for northbound workings and will run via Clay Cross.

Info here: http://www.eastmidlandstrains.co.uk...am-from-Saturday-20-July-to-Sunday-25-August/

Liverpool- Nottingham- Norwich
Train services will continue to operate on this route, but will follow a diversionary route and not call at Nottingham or Grantham. All services will instead call at East Midlands Parkway, where express replacement bus services will run to Nottingham, Grantham and Newark.
Passengers travelling from Langley Mill and Alfreton should use replacement bus services for travel to Nottingham. Northern train services will continue to run from Alfreton to Leeds via Sheffield.
Stations affected: Nottingham, Grantham, Alfreton and Langley Mill

 

[ashworth]

It all begins in less than 4 weeks! Saturday 20th July is the first day of closure.

There have been lots of complaints on local radio about the Robin Hood Line trains not running at all on the whole line from Nottingham-Mansfield and Worksop. Many people have been asking the question why can't they run to/from Hucknall with easy cross platform connections onto the Nottingham trams. The answers given seems to be access to a maintenance depot for any trains running and also that quite a bit of engineering work will be done on the line during the closure.
The replacement buses are quite regular between Mansfield and Nottingham with hourly buses running non stop to Mansfield and then serving stations to Worksop. However, if you want to travel from stations south of Mansfield to Worksop (eg Hucknall to Worksop) forget it! It will take ages with a change of bus at Mansfield and the normally cheaper route to Sheffield via Worksop will literally take hours!

For my return journey from Hucknall to Poulton le Fylde (Lancashire) I'm going to do Trent Barton bus from Hucknall to Kirkby Cross and then Kirkby Cross to Alfreton Station. With Advance Tickets from Alfreton, splitting at Manchester, and using my Trent Barton Mango Card it is costing me approx £30 in total. Far less money and far quicker than the cheapest return from Hucknall via Nottingham and East Midlands Parkway costing over £60!

 

[CallySleeper]

also that quite a bit of engineering work will be done on the line during the closure.

Looking forward to hearing about this in more detail!

 

[bunnahabhain]

Looking forward to hearing about this in more detail!

Track replacement to get rid of a lot of the jointed rail, its already taken place between Newstead and halfway towards Hucknall...hold on tight though, it does sway all over the place at the moment! hock:

 

[stevefreestone]

Just heard about this tonight for the first time. My lad spends some time at QMC and on occasion I'd rather take the train to Nottingham than pee about trying to fight over the limited parking. I really hope we are nowhere near the place during the time of the work. The QMC is bad enough at the moment with the tram extension.

 

[Mugby]

I picked up a copy of the EMT timetable booklet yesterday, it's quite a chunky publication, the timetables are quite straightforward but some of the maps are a little confusing. No mention is made that Norwich - Liverpool services are operating via Derby, perhaps it was thought that this would be unnecessarily confusing but does anyone know if passengers will be able to board or alight at Derby, or will the doors not be opened?

I havn't seen any publicity issued by Cross Country or Northern Rail, is there any?

One thing I noticed in Nottingham on Saturday is that all the different bus departure points are now ready on Station Street and Trent Street but some of them appear to have space for only one bus. I can foresee problems if there are too many passengers for just one bus - and the pavement on Station St is non too wide either! I wonder if there's a holding area for reserve vehicles, should an extra be required.

 

[Eagle]

I havn't seen any publicity issued by Cross Country or Northern Rail, is there any?

Probably not, because the disruption to their services is simpler (trains terminate at Beeston and Langley Mill respectively). I think XC put a note about it in their May timetables.

 

[telstarbox]

I picked up a copy of the EMT timetable booklet yesterday, it's quite a chunky publication, the timetables are quite straightforward but some of the maps are a little confusing. No mention is made that Norwich - Liverpool services are operating via Derby, perhaps it was thought that this would be unnecessarily confusing but does anyone know if passengers will be able to board or alight at Derby, or will the doors not be opened?

Derby isn't advertised as a calling point - only Peterborough and East Midlands Parkway. http://opentraintimes.com/schedule/P46205/2013-08-05

 

[joeykins82]

The advanced view on OTT has Derby as an "unadvertised stop". Whether that means boarding & alighting is possible I've no idea but it's timetabled to spend 6.5 mins sitting on platform 6.

 

[Mugby]

The advanced view on OTT has Derby as an "unadvertised stop". Whether that means boarding & alighting is possible I've no idea but it's timetabled to spend 6.5 mins sitting on platform 6.

That's interesting because most northbound departures from EMP are at XX29 which means they should arrive in Derby before XX45. If they have 6.5 mins standing time, they should be away before platform 6 is required by the XX01 London service.

Some Saturday trains however, leave EMP at XX38 so perhaps these will use another platform at Derby.

 

[CallySleeper]

Any idea whether access to the station will be maintained during this period? Also, has EMT said if and how they intend to enforce tickets on buses?

 

[Tomnick]

Some Saturday trains however, leave EMP at XX38 so perhaps these will use another platform at Derby.

RTT shows most of the Saturday services booked to use platform 2. It also shows the ECS moves from Chesterfield (after detaching off the Up service) to Derby to attach. Only time will tell whether it works in reality .

 

[met331]

Bestwood loop is being relayed the track is already in the four foot ready to be laid.

 

[CockneySparrow]

Best get some weedkilling and shrub clearance done at Leicester TMD then!

If its that bad it would suggest the track might be have to be relaid

 

[CallySleeper]

Bestwood loop is being relayed the track is already in the four foot ready to be laid.

Excellent. And resignalling Kirkby - Radford presumably?

 

[Tomnick]

I didn't think there was any resignalling north of Radford Jn. - it's already controlled from the EMCC, and the existing signalling seems to be sufficient!

 

[edwin_m]

Although they don't mention the blockade as such, it's probably not a coincidence that East Coast have been advertising on posters in Nottingham. As I'm on their mailing list with a Nottingham address I've just had a marketing email:

Heading to London this summer?

It’s a breeze with an East Coast train from Newark or Grantham
With up to 32 services per day, each way, we make it easy
for you to get to the centre of London from Newark and
Grantham.

London King’s Cross is a 90 minute journey from Newark and only 80 minutes from Grantham. And both stations offer secure car parking from only £9 per day at Newark or £11 per day at Grantham.

 

[CallySleeper]

Although they don't mention the blockade as such, it's probably not a coincidence that East Coast have been advertising on posters in Nottingham. As I'm on their mailing list with a Nottingham address I've just had a marketing email:

A couple of girls from National Express were also stood on Carrington Street yesterday flyering for their coach services. Very clever!

 

[MidnightFlyer]

I might be missing something huge here but all three of NRE, OTT and RTT are showing Nottingham as a normal working day tomorrow. TRUST system error or something?

 

[pjnathanail]

I might be missing something huge here but all three of NRE, OTT and RTT are showing Nottingham as a normal working day tomorrow. TRUST system error or something?

Doesn't the blockade start on Saturday?

 

[MidnightFlyer]

Oh yeah...

I'll leave my post there as a warning for people to think before they post. I was getting my blockade start dates confused with Wigan which is on this week...

 

[Mugby]

Quite a good offer from EMT of 15% discount on fares to and from Nottingham for the duration of the blockade.

But not to Derby because XC are the principal operator on that route and presumably didn't wish to join in.

I wonder if passengers for Beeston/Derby will need to be separated onto either an EMT bus or an XC bus!

 

[pjnathanail]

Oh yeah...

I'll leave my post there as a warning for people to think before they post. I was getting my blockade start dates confused with Wigan which is on this week...

I'm glad it doesn't start tomorrow or my trip to the airport could be somewhat disrupted!

Quite a good offer from EMT of 15% discount on fares to and from Nottingham for the duration of the blockade.

But not to Derby because XC are the principal operator on that route and presumably didn't wish to join in.

I wonder if passengers for Beeston/Derby will need to be separated onto either an EMT bus or an XC bus!

I don't think they will, because EMT mention passengers from Matlock travelling on a bus from Derby to Nottingham operated by XC.

Also, I don't think it is the fact that XC are the principle operator (whatever that may be) but that XC set the fares. It's a shame they haven't decided to join in, the off-peak at anytime offer isn't great for the majority of travellers, and some people travelling before 0930 probably have season tickets.

 

[Skymonster]

Quite a good offer from EMT of 15% discount on fares to and from Nottingham for the duration of the blockade.

So I can buy a Nottingham-London ticket, get 15% off, and just get on the train at East Midlands Parkway (which is as easy for me to drive to as is Nottingham). I can go direct from home to East Midlands Parkway, travel between East Midlands Parkway and London on a Nottingham-London ticket that costs less than buying an East Midlands Parkway-London ticket (15% off a NTM-STP SOR is significantly less than a non-discounted EMD-STP SOR), and just skip the bus bit! I'm willing to bet that they won't be ensuring that everyone with a Nottingham ticket actually boards or gets off a bus at Parkway, and in any case if its an open ticket can't I break at East Midlands Parkway anyway?

Andy

 

[Mugby]

I travelled down from Sheffield to Derby this evening on the 19.54 XC service. Leaving Chesterfield on time we were running side by side with an empty EMT 158 which I presume had been separated at Chesterfield. The 158 was on the bi-di bit of the down Erewash line and it crossed to the up Erewash at Chesterfield South Jcn. We were then slowed to a crawl whist the 158 crossed to the Derby line at Clay Cross North and went ahead of the XC. At Breadsall we were slowed again whilst the 158 crossed to the up goods and we overtook it on the up main just before Derby station.

It left me wondering, what was so important about getting an empty EMT 158 back to Derby that an XC service was made 5 minutes late to accommodate it?


Incidentally, does anyone know what the 12 coach special (all in the old Virgin red and stripes livery) was which left Derby towards Burton about 20.40, hauled by DRS Class 37 + Class 20?