NETHERFIELD STATION NEWS
NETHERFIELD. During week commencing 16th February the shelter on the platform was removed. It is to be replaced with a new one, but this could take a week or two before it is installed.
CARLTON STATION NEWS
Monday 16th December I saw all 4 of the re-instated trains. 09.57 to Newark and 11.04 to Crewe both had 1 person alight. 15.02 to Newark had 3 on and 6 off. 16.05 to Crewe had 4 on and 4 off. The 11.04 and 15.02 are most popular, numbers on the 09.57 are disappointing. It isn’t a good time of year for travelling. I did a random check on Tuesday 25th February and the results were. 09.57 Newark with 1 on. 11.04 Crewe with 5 on (incidentally the day before there was only 1 on, but 7 and 2 guide dogs off). 15.02 Newark with 5 off and 16.05 Crewe with 1 on and 1 Off. 15 minutes later the 16.20 to Leicester had 4 on and 3 off. 16.02 Newark, 1 on and 15 off.
FARE INCREASES FROM 2nd MARCH
Carlton to Nottingham. Anytime return £5.90. After 09.00 Monday to Friday and all weekend the off peak return fare is £4.00. Anytime return is only necessary in the morning peak or if not returning the same day. Carlton to Newark is £8.10 single and £8.60 off peak return. Peak return (Anytime ticket) is £8.80. NETHERFIELD to Nottingham the same as Carlton. To Skegness, if you book in advance you can get cheaper rates out of the holiday season. (See EMR news).
EAST MIDLANDS RAILWAY (EMR) NEWS
NOTTINGHAM STATION CENTRE BRIDGE: Whilst this was closed for a trial period to reduce fare evasion, EMR estimated that £1 million in revenue was being lost each year. So it was intended to close the bridge permanently, except as a footbridge from Station Street to Queens Road with no access from or to the platforms. However, this is currently being reconsidered due to quite an outcry from fare paying passengers.
ACCESSIBILITY MAPS: EMR has created Accessibility Maps to provide information about station accessibility across its network, including step-free access points, accessible toilets, parking facilities and assistance services. This covers the whole EMR network, plus a Nottingham station map and a Robin Hood Line Route Accessibility Map with others planned. Maps can be viewed via the EMR website, obtained from staffed stations, or by contacting EMR’s Customer Service Centre on 03457 125678.
ADVANCE TICKETS: EMR has reported that Advance Ticket sales are up 34% in 2 years from 4.4 to 5.9 million. These offer savings of up to 60% on walk-up fares and are available on most EMR routes. They have recently been introduced on Derby-Crewe and Nottingham- Lincoln routes. https://secretfare.seatfrog.com Skegness to Nottingham for £7.00,
LONDON ST. PANCRAS INTERNATIONAL STATION
Direct train services between London and destinations such as Germany and Switzerland could be launched amid plans to boost the capacity of St. Pancras station, aiming to increase cross-Channel travel from 1,800 to nearly 5,000 passengers per hour.
CONVERSATIONS ON CARLTON STATION
I received the following email in December. “Thank you for your greeting this morning I wonder how many people realise how easy and affordable it is to get to the QMC via train and tram. Not being local and living in rural Cambridgeshire I am in awe of how fantastic public transport here is!” I believe they used a Robin Hood day ticket.
Another question asked by a person one morning, “Do the trains go to Arnold?” No. “Oh, that’s a pity”. So I suggested they walked to Main Road,’ Gedling and caught a 25 bus direct. They did not seem impressed and walked off. Then as the 10.04 train arrived they returned and got on the train!
Another response: “Now that the trains are every hour you don’t have to think, now is there a train missing when I want to return”.
TONY’S RAMBLINGS
DOORS BEFORE DEPARTURE: Last time I mentioned that train doors would be closed 40 seconds before departure time at Birmingham New Street. Now apparently train departures at London Kings Cross cease to be shown 3 minutes before the train is due to depart. Obviously this has caused some adverse reaction from passengers. Now in the days of British Railways there was one way not to upset passengers, and that was to show a train departure in the public timetable up to 3 minutes before it was due to depart. Staff use the Working Time Table (WTT) and in there it would show for example a 15.00 departures 15*00 with a footnote *14.57. In the notes section at the front of the WTT it said, ‘Where the advertised departure times of passenger trains are slightly earlier than those shown in the WTT, the former must be used in all quotations to the public’. I suppose nowadays that would spoil the hourly on the hour or half hour departures. However there would be no excuse for missing your train.
LOST TIME: Whilst on this subject, most departures of trains from Carlton to Nottingham are 1 or 2 minutes late, having lost time from Burton Joyce, being cautioned at a signal before approaching Carlton level crossing. If you study the timetable you will see trains are given extra time between Carlton and Nottingham. The 10.04 departure shows arrival in Nottingham at 10.15!
CARLTON LEVEL CROSSING (Not again!): A couple of times recently I noticed the barriers were down for 10 minutes between trains, but a concern that I have, which almost caught me out, is that the audible warning is not increased in volume in the day time as it used to be. I did report this some months ago. On this occasion I must have just ‘passed the flashing lights before they came on, and with some noisy road traffic I was not immediately aware the warning was sounding, and my hearing is good, so I had to run as I was on the side on which the barriers come down first. It would be difficult for a disabled person.
CHEAP TICKETS: As I intimated last time, there were some ticket offers to be found in January, including a week long sale of 2 million tickets. Also Merseyrail had unlimited weekend travel for much of January at £2. This was to compensate regular customers who had had to put up with Older trains, which were becoming unreliable, due to the late arrival of their new trains.
TRAINS FROM NETHERFIELD STATION SUMMER 1938
I recently obtained via an auction, a 1938 LNER (London & North Eastern Railway) summer timetable for 1938, which showed 86 trains a day calling at Netherfield on weekdays. There were direct services to Northampton, Grantham, Skegness, Newark, Derby and Uttoxeter, so you could find at least 1 direct train a day to such ‘exotic’ places as John o’ Gaunt, which was in High Leicestershire between Melton Mowbray and Market Harborough, Spratton near Northampton and Marchington near Uttoxeter. On Sundays in summer there were only (if only we had this number now) 15 trains, and 11 in winter. 1939 saw the demise of services to Uttoxeter, and I believe the 2 or 3 trains a day to Newark (LNER). 1953 to Northampton, 1963 to Pinxton and 1964 to Derby Friargate. Also in 1960 the ‘back line’ to Basford via Gedling closed.
BRIEF ENCOUNTERS
CONTACTLESS PAYMENT SYSTEM for rail travel in the East Midlands and Yorkshire. Tap & Go scheme similar to the one in London using GPS data to calculate the best fare for the journey you are undertaking. The Government has started the Procurement process to find the suppliers who will run the technology for the trials. It is expected to include Derby, Leicester and Nottingham.
