The Beginning of the end for the Robin Hood Line, or a new less frequent era?

[WesternLancer]

The majority of passengers I find will pay when challenged, and a penalty fare scheme doesn't challenge anybody especially if they're aware that enforcement is sporadic and if they're onboard for 3 minutes they all just need to be at the opposite end as the guard to avoid paying their fare.

Unfortunately over the years the number of Assistant Ticket Examiners (ATE) nationwide has been reduced in favour of TVMs and penalty fare schemes and as far as I can see all this does is achieve a reduction in the headcount and salary cost. I don't feel a penalty fare scheme has any degree of success unless its enforced every time, on every train.

I think the problem with ensuring fares are collected is a manpower issue, a single guard on a 3 or 4 car full and standing service isn't going to physically be able to see all passengers, a guard and ATE stands a better chance, and a guard, ATE and selection of TVMs and/or booking offices at the busiest stations stands the best chance.

The only winners from penalty fare schemes to me seem to be Schiedt & Bachmann and their salesmen.

Probably a very fair analysis!

 

[Yew]

I’ve always thought the same, it could even terminate in platform 2 given the lack of ecml services at retford.

I've discussed this many years ago, and I think the consensus was that it'd require an extra unit to maintain the 1tph frequency on the northern section, and it probably wasn't worth swapping the Nottingham-Mansfield Woodhouse unit onto it.

I suspect it will remain hourly and the others will be removed in due course (not until a few people have bought tickets for longer journey to find their train doesn’t exist and then miss their connections and end up an hour late at their destination for their delay repay to be rejected because the train didn’t exist. I speak from experience of this on this exact route of course.


Yes and no. I’m not sure at the moment but a diagram when it’s 2tph Nottingham to Mansfield Woodhouse, 1tph being extended to Worksop tends to do NOT>MSW>NOT>WRK>NOT and so on, I’m believe it’s a 4 train diagram. Or is it 3?

It has always been terrible to connect at either end, especially on the Worksop to Nottingham service as it’s that one that always makes everything at both ends. It used to be 40 minutes at Worksop for a Lincoln/Retford or Sheffield bound train and 40-50 minutes at Nottingham for a Norwich/Grantham or Skegness and about 30 minutes for a Derby unless it was running a few late and about 25 minutes for the SLOW London Meridian that got in only 15 minutes before the next fast. Then people wonder why it’s largely unused. I drive to and use Worksop or Kiveton Park more often, though I do still frequently have tickets to and from Whitwell for the stats if nothing else.

Edit to add : Nice to see the Merge function back.

I've spent far too much of my life at Worksop railway station early in the morning, waiting those 40 mins in the cold; making the connections better would be a massive help. But with the Sheffield-Lincoln trains arriving from both directions at the same time(ish), you'd need a bay platform at worksop to hold the train in, or to head through the Retford and reverse.

 

[Class 170101]

I've spent far too much of my life at Worksop railway station early in the morning, waiting those 40 mins in the cold; making the connections better would be a massive help. But with the Sheffield-Lincoln trains arriving from both directions at the same time(ish), you'd need a bay platform at worksop to hold the train in, or to head through the Retford and reverse.

Probably more value in heading to Retford to reverse for the northern Robin Hood stations if there are good connections at Retford for the north and for London.

 

[Yew]

Probably more value in heading to Retford to reverse for the northern Robin Hood stations if there are good connections at Retford for the north and for London.

Indeed, the question is whether they'd be up for adding an extra unit to accommodate this, or dropping the half hourly Mansfield Woodhouse services to free up a unit. Unfortunately I don't think either are likely.

I feel as well, that a later last service on a weekday could be a good idea, currently it's a little tight to go into Nottingham, have some food and a few drinks, and finish before the last train. Therefore a lot of late night weekday travel is on the busses, which could work nicely to boost traffic.

 

[wallan]

Probably more value in heading to Retford to reverse for the northern Robin Hood stations if there are good connections at Retford for the north and for London.

Or Possibly Doncaster

 

[Class 170101]

Or Possibly Doncaster

Thats unlikely due to reversals. More likely would be a link towards Lincoln, Gainsborough or maybe Cleethorpes.

 

[Meerkat]

I've discussed this many years ago, and I think the consensus was that it'd require an extra unit to maintain the 1tph frequency on the northern section, and it probably wasn't worth swapping the Nottingham-Mansfield Woodhouse unit onto it.




I've spent far too much of my life at Worksop railway station early in the morning, waiting those 40 mins in the cold; making the connections better would be a massive help. But with the Sheffield-Lincoln trains arriving from both directions at the same time(ish), you'd need a bay platform at worksop to hold the train in, or to head through the Retford and reverse.

Isn’t there a siding east of the level crossing that could be used for reversals?

 

[Yew]

Isn’t there a siding east of the level crossing that could be used for reversals?

I don't know for certain if there is a siding, though I think there might be, but I've been on the train for that reversal, so it could be one, if the diagrams allow?

 

[LowLevel]

Worksop East tamper siding isn't accessible from platform 2 which is the only platform you can arrive at from the west. This is why evening and some morning EMR arrivals run a few miles east to Manton Wood Colliery siding to recess and cross over.

If traffic allows they can also use the Worksop east crossover to shunt out from 2 and drop straight back into 1.