Was the Sleaford avoiding line ever closed ?

[Justin Smith]

My "Disconnected" book (Chris Austin & Richard Faulkner - 2015) states the Sleaford avoiding line was closed, implying it was done in 1982 (along with the closure of the Lincoln avoiding line and the March to Spalding line). But the Railway Magazine (Jun 2015) says is was only singled "in the early 80s", before being redoubled to 2014.
Which is true ?

I was going to add this to a closed previous thread on the Sleaford Avoiding Line, does anyone know why threads of historical interest are ever closed ?

 

[yorkie]

It's very possible that both were true; "closed" perhaps meant closed to passengers?

It's certainly true that it was singled and later redoubled as I remember when diverted East Coast Mainline trains had to go via Sleaford station in one direction.

There is no regular passenger service on the line today; from a passenger perspective it's just a diversionary route.

 

[Gloster]

Wasn’t the northbound line closed for quite a few years, with trains running via Sleaford, but the southbound line remained open? This is how it appears on the Quail 2006 map.

 

[swissrailpassion]

A formal closure notice was issued together with the Lincoln avoider and March - Spalding. One of the avoiding lines was kept for freight.

 

[TheBigD]

In the book Lincolnshire's Lost Railways it also states that the Sleaford avoiding line was due to close at the same time as the March-Spalding. Ive never read or heard it elsewhere though.

The northbound avoiding line fell into disuse in the late 1980's (I think) after minor repairs were required to the bridge near Sleaford police station. As there was no booked traffic the northbound line was taken out of use (but remained in situ) but the southbound line continued to see occasional use.

The northbound Sleaford avoiding line was bought back in to use with the GNGE upgrade around 2013, and is also now bidirectional

 

[PeterY]

One line line that I've yet to travel over (bash) .

 

[pdeaves]

singled and later redoubled

It wasn't so much 'singled', one track was taken out of use and the other remained in use in one direction only. 'Singled' lines tend to be usable in both directions.

 

[TheBigD]

One line line that I've yet to travel over (bash) .

I've not checked for this year but the last few years during November weekend ECML services have been diverted via it.

 

[Merle Haggard]

I've not checked for this year but the last few years during November weekend ECML services have been diverted via it.

Indeed, and the first train over the re-opened down line was the 07.30 Kings Cross - Edinburfh, dragged by 67003, on 28-2-15. I was there!

Edited when I found my note - later than suggested..

 

[Bevan Price]

I think the last "regular" passenger trains to have used the Sleaford avoiding line may have been the Summer Saturday services from Skegness to Leeds & Sheffield; I think these finished in the late 1980s, or very early 1990s.

 

[High Dyke]

I think the last "regular" passenger trains to have used the Sleaford avoiding line may have been the Summer Saturday services from Skegness to Leeds & Sheffield; I think these finished in the late 1980s, or very early 1990s.

Anything going to/from Skegness would've needed to travel round through Sleaford station and not over the avoider as there's no direct connection where the two lines intersect.

 

[Merthyr Imp]

Perhaps to Great Yarmouth rather than Skegness.

 

[30907]

Perhaps to Great Yarmouth rather than Skegness.

Plausible - Spalding to March closed in 1982.

 

[swissrailpassion]

Do look on youtube at the March-Spalding video showing the final weeks. The closure notice at March is shown clearly.