Lincoln Central railway station
Encyclopedia
Lincoln Central railway station serves the city of Lincoln
in Lincolnshire
, England. The station is operated by East Midlands Trains
, who provide services along with Northern Rail
and East Coast
.
Lincoln Central is now the only station in Lincoln, after the closure of in 1985. The station building was designed in 1848 for the Great Northern Railway
by J H Taylor.
The station has the PlusBus
scheme where train and bus tickets can be bought together.
East Midlands trains intends to develop an improved customer service area in late 2010 as well as improving the cafe and toilets
New franchise operator East Midlands Trains
has started the running of a daily service between Lincoln Central and London St Pancras
via Nottingham. The new direct service between Lincoln and London St Pancras started with a return service from 15 December 2008, ahead of an expected service increase the following year. Lincoln is home to an East Midlands Trains train crew depot, which uses locations around the station for the stabling of trains.
Network Rail
instituted a major resignalling scheme for Lincoln Central during the years 2007–2008 which saw:
As a direct result, terminating trains no longer need to shunt from one side of the station to the other to take up their return workings, reducing turnaround times for terminating trains and improve train service punctuality and reliability.
As part of the overall scheme, Lincoln Central's platforms have been renumbered from 3–7 to 1–5: (the current platform 1 was previously platform 3, 2 was 4 etc.)
All four existing signal boxes - High Street, East Holmes, West Holmes and Pelham Street Junction - were closed and replaced by a new state of the art signalling centre near the West Holmes box. It is likely that the West Holmes and Pelham Street boxes will eventually be demolished, but the High Street and East Holmes boxes are listed buildings so should be preserved.
This work was completed as planned and the station reopened on 1 September 2008.
On 14 August 2007, it was announced that National Express East Coast
would take over the InterCity East Coast Franchise in December 2007. As part of the commitment, NXEC planned to introduce a two-hourly service between Lincoln Central and London Kings Cross, starting in 2009. This service would have alternated with a two-hourly service to . The InterCity East Coast Franchise was passed to East Coast
in November 2009.
In late 2009 East Coast along with NetworkRail published details of the ECML proposed new timetable, including the Lincoln-London services. In spring 2010 it was announced that this new service would be cut back. East Coast, citing financial restraints during the credit crunch, announced instead just one direct train in each direction per day, with extra services running only as far as Newark NorthGate station, meaning Lincoln passengers will still have to change trains there. On 22 May 2011 East Coast started direct Lincoln-London Kings Cross services, albeit in a much reduced number than they had originally planned. There is one train a day to London leaving Lincoln at 07:08 Monday-Saturday and a return service leaving London at 19:06 Monday-Sunday. Ironically both East Coast and EMTs services between Lincoln and the capital leave Lincoln within 20 minutes of each other and arrive in Lincoln again within 20 minutes of each other.
In 2006, Humber & City, an open-access operator owned by Renaissance Trains
, proposed running services between and via Lincoln. Nothing concrete seems to have come of the proposal.
Nottingham County Council, the Department for Transport and Network Rail are in discussion about various improvements to the line towards Nottingham including a doubling of service.
Lincoln, Lincolnshire
Lincoln is a cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England.The non-metropolitan district of Lincoln has a population of 85,595; the 2001 census gave the entire area of Lincoln a population of 120,779....
in Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...
, England. The station is operated by East Midlands Trains
East Midlands Trains
East Midlands Trains is a British passenger train operating company. Based in Derby, it provides train services in the East Midlands, chiefly in the counties of Lincolnshire, South Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Derbyshire and Northamptonshire, and between the East Midlands and London...
, who provide services along with Northern Rail
Northern Rail
Northern Rail is a British train operating company that has operated local passenger services in Northern England since 2004. Northern Rail's owner, Serco-Abellio, is a consortium formed of Abellio and Serco, an international operator of public transport systems...
and East Coast
East Coast (train operating company)
East Coast is a British train operating company running high-speed passenger services on the East Coast Main Line between London, Yorkshire, the North East and Scotland...
.
Lincoln Central is now the only station in Lincoln, after the closure of in 1985. The station building was designed in 1848 for the Great Northern Railway
Great Northern Railway (Great Britain)
The Great Northern Railway was a British railway company established by the Great Northern Railway Act of 1846. On 1 January 1923 the company lost its identity as a constituent of the newly formed London and North Eastern Railway....
by J H Taylor.
The station has the PlusBus
PLUSBUS
PLUSBUS is an add-on ticket, which can be purchased with rail tickets in Great Britain. It allows unlimited travel on participating bus operators' services in the whole urban area of rail-served towns and cities.-History:...
scheme where train and bus tickets can be bought together.
East Midlands trains intends to develop an improved customer service area in late 2010 as well as improving the cafe and toilets
Platform layout and services
There are five platforms at the station, numbered 1–5:- Platforms 1 and 2 are bay platforms used for stabling units and for services to the east, usually to , and occasionally to and .
- Platform 3, nearest to the station entrance, serves all terminating arrivals and through services from the west. It is occasionally used for eastbound services originating from Lincoln.
- Platforms 4 and 5 serve terminating arrivals from the east and most westbound departures to via using the Nottingham to Lincoln LineNottingham to Lincoln LineThe Nottingham to Lincoln Line is a railway line in central England, running from Nottingham north east to Lincoln.The line between Newark and Lincoln is currently only cleared for speeds, Nottinghamshire County Council have paid for a study into running....
("Midland line"); and to and leaving via the Doncaster to Lincoln LineDoncaster to Lincoln LineThe Doncaster to Lincoln line is a railway line in England. It runs from Doncaster south east to Lincoln.Services on the line are provided by East Midlands Trains and Northern Rail, with a few continuing through Lincoln to the Peterborough to Lincoln Line.The towns and villages served by the route...
("Great Northern and Great Eastern Joint Line"). - Platform 4 is normally used by trains towards Newark-on-TrentNewark-on-TrentNewark-on-Trent is a market town in Nottinghamshire in the East Midlands region of England. It stands on the River Trent, the A1 , and the East Coast Main Line railway. The origins of the town are possibly Roman as it lies on an important Roman road, the Fosse Way...
(Newark North Gate/Newark Castle) and Nottingham. - Platform 4 is also used when multiple-units need to be attached to, or detached from westbound trains as it is straight; the curvature of platform 5 can cause problems with the alignment of modern automatic couplers.
- Platform 5 is mostly used for westbound trains which are required to wait at Lincoln for some time, hence its regular use by many Northern RailNorthern RailNorthern Rail is a British train operating company that has operated local passenger services in Northern England since 2004. Northern Rail's owner, Serco-Abellio, is a consortium formed of Abellio and Serco, an international operator of public transport systems...
services but also sees use for through trains when platform 4 is being used for attaching or detaching carriages.
New franchise operator East Midlands Trains
East Midlands Trains
East Midlands Trains is a British passenger train operating company. Based in Derby, it provides train services in the East Midlands, chiefly in the counties of Lincolnshire, South Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Derbyshire and Northamptonshire, and between the East Midlands and London...
has started the running of a daily service between Lincoln Central and London St Pancras
St Pancras railway station
St Pancras railway station, also known as London St Pancras and since 2007 as St Pancras International, is a central London railway terminus celebrated for its Victorian architecture. The Grade I listed building stands on Euston Road in St Pancras, London Borough of Camden, between the...
via Nottingham. The new direct service between Lincoln and London St Pancras started with a return service from 15 December 2008, ahead of an expected service increase the following year. Lincoln is home to an East Midlands Trains train crew depot, which uses locations around the station for the stabling of trains.
Resignalling
Network Rail
Network Rail is the government-created owner and operator of most of the rail infrastructure in Great Britain .; it is not responsible for railway infrastructure in Northern Ireland...
instituted a major resignalling scheme for Lincoln Central during the years 2007–2008 which saw:
- the replacement of the semaphore signals with colour light signals,
- the concentration of all signalling control into one signal boxSignal boxOn a rail transport system, signalling control is the process by which control is exercised over train movements by way of railway signals and block systems to ensure that trains operate safely, over the correct route and to the proper timetable...
rather than the previous four, - track relaying, and ballasting
- new pointsRailroad switchA railroad switch, turnout or [set of] points is a mechanical installation enabling railway trains to be guided from one track to another at a railway junction....
and crossovers which allow all three through platforms at Lincoln to be used in both directions and allows trains from the east to enter the two bay platforms (1 & 2) directly.
As a direct result, terminating trains no longer need to shunt from one side of the station to the other to take up their return workings, reducing turnaround times for terminating trains and improve train service punctuality and reliability.
As part of the overall scheme, Lincoln Central's platforms have been renumbered from 3–7 to 1–5: (the current platform 1 was previously platform 3, 2 was 4 etc.)
All four existing signal boxes - High Street, East Holmes, West Holmes and Pelham Street Junction - were closed and replaced by a new state of the art signalling centre near the West Holmes box. It is likely that the West Holmes and Pelham Street boxes will eventually be demolished, but the High Street and East Holmes boxes are listed buildings so should be preserved.
This work was completed as planned and the station reopened on 1 September 2008.
Future services
For many years, Lincoln had not been served with a direct rail service to London. However, the awarding of two new rail franchises saw this remedied.On 14 August 2007, it was announced that National Express East Coast
National Express East Coast
National Express East Coast was a train operating company in the United Kingdom, running high speed passenger services on the East Coast Main Line between London and Scotland, as part of the East Coast passenger franchise...
would take over the InterCity East Coast Franchise in December 2007. As part of the commitment, NXEC planned to introduce a two-hourly service between Lincoln Central and London Kings Cross, starting in 2009. This service would have alternated with a two-hourly service to . The InterCity East Coast Franchise was passed to East Coast
East Coast (train operating company)
East Coast is a British train operating company running high-speed passenger services on the East Coast Main Line between London, Yorkshire, the North East and Scotland...
in November 2009.
In late 2009 East Coast along with NetworkRail published details of the ECML proposed new timetable, including the Lincoln-London services. In spring 2010 it was announced that this new service would be cut back. East Coast, citing financial restraints during the credit crunch, announced instead just one direct train in each direction per day, with extra services running only as far as Newark NorthGate station, meaning Lincoln passengers will still have to change trains there. On 22 May 2011 East Coast started direct Lincoln-London Kings Cross services, albeit in a much reduced number than they had originally planned. There is one train a day to London leaving Lincoln at 07:08 Monday-Saturday and a return service leaving London at 19:06 Monday-Sunday. Ironically both East Coast and EMTs services between Lincoln and the capital leave Lincoln within 20 minutes of each other and arrive in Lincoln again within 20 minutes of each other.
In 2006, Humber & City, an open-access operator owned by Renaissance Trains
Renaissance Trains
Renaissance Trains is a company formed in 1997 with the purpose of promoting and investing in "open access" passenger and freight rail businesses in the United Kingdom, as well as promoting and investing in rail industry innovation. Its shareholders are John Nelson, Peter Wilkinson, Mike Jones and...
, proposed running services between and via Lincoln. Nothing concrete seems to have come of the proposal.
Nottingham County Council, the Department for Transport and Network Rail are in discussion about various improvements to the line towards Nottingham including a doubling of service.