Robin Hood Line Extension to Ollerton ?

[Trainspotter12]

Hello. I am a trainspotter from Market Warsop. I have heard about the county council trying to extend the Robin Hood line from Shirebrook to Ollerton calling at Warsop, Edwinstowe and Ollerton. This would be good as it would serve the villages and for me as I wouldn't have to cycle far to go trainspotting.

I have seen trains on the stretch of line, but it's only test trains for the high Marnham Test Track. Anyone else heard of these plans? Thanks.

 

[telstarbox]

Appears to be only a feasibility study at the moment.

There is this NCC report from 2015: POSSIBLE ROBIN HOOD LINE EXTENSION TO OLLERTON

Conclusion

The Council recognises the great benefit that w
ould be produced by re-opening this line to
passengers. The Council has put, and continues to p
ut, significant time and money into
developing the case for re-opening this railway lin
e. However it is disappointing that, so far,
the Government has not agreed to contribute to the
development costs of the scheme. The
Council welcomes the announcement about the new sta
tions fund being potentially
available, but notes that this will only cover a mi
nority of the total costs of the scheme.
25. The scheme can only happen if funding is provid
ed for all aspects, both capital and revenue

 

[Kneedown]

Mentioned in the consultation for the new East Mids franchise, and also a pet project for Mark Spencer, MP for Sherwood.

 

[WideRanger]

This has been mentioned for at least 10 years. It would be great if it came about, and much of the infrastucture seems to be intact. I have a nagging doubt whether there is the traffic to sustain it - although I'm sure it would be of massive benefit for Ollerton, which feels a bit unloved in recent years despite having a pretty sizable population.

 

[ashworth]

This has been mentioned for at least 10 years. It would be great if it came about, and much of the infrastucture seems to be intact. I have a nagging doubt whether there is the traffic to sustain it - although I'm sure it would be of massive benefit for Ollerton, which feels a bit unloved in recent years despite having a pretty sizable population.

I feel exactly the same. It could be great if it came about but even though Ollerton, Edwinstowe and Warsop have a reasonable size total population, I’m also not sure that there would be enough passengers to sustain it. I don’t think the journey times would be very attractive or competitive with other forms of transport. Having to travel north from Mansfield to reach the junction at Shirebrook before heading east makes the journey a long way around compared to by road. All 3 communities have a fairly frequent bus service into Mansfield provided by Stagecoach and the journey to Nottingham from Ollerton down the A614 is quite fast compared to a roundabout train route via Shirebrook, Mansfield, Kirkby and Hucknall.

I think that is also the reason why stations at the northern end of the Robin Hood Line like Langwith, Creswell and Whitwell have very low passenger numbers. These communities look more towards Sheffield and Chesterfield for employment, shopping and leisure rather than Nottingham yet journey times to Sheffield are not competitive with road travel because of the appallingly bad connections at Worksop.

 

[Starmill]

I think that is also the reason why stations at the northern end of the Robin Hood Line like Langwith, Creswell and Whitwell have very low passenger numbers. These communities look more towards Sheffield and Chesterfield for employment, shopping and leisure rather than Nottingham yet journey times to Sheffield are not competitive with road travel because of the appallingly bad connections at Worksop.

The final point at least will improve soon when 2tph are offered between Retford / Worksop and Sheffield.

The journey time will still be quite slow though, and very slow to get to Chesterfield.

 

[MarkyT]

I feel exactly the same. It could be great if it came about but even though Ollerton, Edwinstowe and Warsop have a reasonable size total population, I’m also not sure that there would be enough passengers to sustain it. I don’t think the journey times would be very attractive or competitive with other forms of transport. Having to travel north from Mansfield to reach the junction at Shirebrook before heading east makes the journey a long way around compared to by road. All 3 communities have a fairly frequent bus service into Mansfield provided by Stagecoach and the journey to Nottingham from Ollerton down the A614 is quite fast compared to a roundabout train route via Shirebrook, Mansfield, Kirkby and Hucknall.

I wonder if an alternative shorter route similar to that shown shown below might be possible, partly using other old colliery branches. Beyond Ollerton the line might then join the ECML at Tuxford with trains extended to provide a local service into Doncaster, calling at Retford, then new stations at Ranskill, Bawtry and Rossington.

I think that is also the reason why stations at the northern end of the Robin Hood Line like Langwith, Creswell and Whitwell have very low passenger numbers. These communities look more towards Sheffield and Chesterfield for employment, shopping and leisure rather than Nottingham yet journey times to Sheffield are not competitive with road travel because of the appallingly bad connections at Worksop.

They're fairly small settlements themselves. I suspect there's little railheading from other surrounding villages because once you're driving you might as well go straight to a station on a direct Sheffield-bound line if you're heading that way. Not much hope serving Chesterfield without yet another new/reinstated line across via the Bolsover area, although Chesterfield is due to become a HS2 station on it's Sheffield branch so that could be a catalyst for further rail development in the area.

 

[ashworth]

The final point at least will improve soon when 2tph are offered between Retford / Worksop and Sheffield.

Unfortunately this opportunity to improve the situation of very poor connections at Worksop has been missed. It’s now almost 20 years since the Robin Hood Line was opened to Worksop and for the whole of that time passengers from the Mansfield area have had to put up with waits of up to 45 minutes at Worksop for the connection to Sheffield. It is only about 20minutes in the other direction!

Having seen the draft timetable for the new 2tph service it’s very disappointing. Great for journeys to Sheffield with only about 10 minutes to wait meaning a reasonable journey from Mansfield to Sheffield of just over 1 hour. That’s where the good news ends as there will now be a 40 minute wait for a connection in the opposite direction. The semi fast Sheffield to Lincoln train is going to arrive in Worksop only about 7 minutes after the Sheffield to Retford stopper which may be 2tph but with both trains running within a few minutes of each other and a 40 minutes wait for a connection into the Robin Hood Line service.

 

[Lostin Transit]

Didn't Nottinghamshire county council look into running trains on the Ollerton branch when they re-opened the Robin Hood line but dismissed it on the basis of cost?.
The line in Warsop is on the edge of the town as it is in Edwinstowe,by the time passengers have walked/drove to the station and then travelled through Shirebrook and Woodhouse to get into Mansfield it just won't be time effective.
Of course the biggest mistake was not reopening the line from Creswell to Chesterfield via Clowne and Staveley but that's a different story and of course county council

 

[Harpers Tate]

Ollerton station, too, is a long way from the main population centre. And, yes, I agree wholly in lamenting the short sightedness about the Creswell-Staveley >> route which was left disconnected but more or less intact for a long time, but as far as I can tell has now been largely if not completely lifted - meaning it's gone for good.

 

[CaptainHaddock]

Looking at the OS map it looks like the line extends East of Ollerton to the sizeable town of Tuxford before petering out just West of High Marnham power station, which I understand has now been demolished. Does anyone know if this section of line is still in use?

 

[snowball]

Looking at the OS map it looks like the line extends East of Ollerton to the sizeable town of Tuxford before petering out just West of High Marnham power station, which I understand has now been demolished. Does anyone know if this section of line is still in use?

I'm sure I've heard of the "High Marnham test track", and Wikipedia has heard of it too.

 

[RichmondCommu]

Didn't Nottinghamshire county council look into running trains on the Ollerton branch when they re-opened the Robin Hood line but dismissed it on the basis of cost?.
The line in Warsop is on the edge of the town as it is in Edwinstowe,by the time passengers have walked/drove to the station and then travelled through Shirebrook and Woodhouse to get into Mansfield it just won't be time effective.
Of course the biggest mistake was not reopening the line from Creswell to Chesterfield via Clowne and Staveley but that's a different story and of course county council

I concur. Especially given that the track can only have been lifted 20 years a go and Seymour Junction to Barrow Hill lasted a lot longer than that.

 

[Harpers Tate]

I think the actual track was left in place until much more recently - or at least most of it was; very overgrown, but there nevertheless.

 

[Trainspotter12]

I think the actual track was left in place until much more recently - or at least most of it was; very overgrown, but there nevertheless.

If your talking about the line from Shirebrook to Tuxford, then it's still in use. For test trains anyway.

 

[Harpers Tate]

No - Creswell - Clowne - Staveley ....
I know the High Marnham stub is still in situ as far as about half a mile west of the site of Fledborough station.

 

[Trainspotter12]

This thread is about the Robin Hood extension not whatever that line even is.