Netherfield Station news
The only change in the new timetable that came in on December 15, 2024 is on Saturdays, when what was the 07.41 to Nottingham is retimed to 07.34. We still have the Saturday-only direct train to Sheffield, Manchester and Liverpool and other stations at 08.29am.
A splash of colour has appeared on the boarded up shelter under the road bridge with a mural painted by a professional graffiti artist. I noticed it included the words, Netherfield and Colwick, which is what the station should still be called.
Carlton Station news
On Saturday, January 4 and Sunday 5 buses replace trains between Nottingham and Newark.
Additional trains have been added on 09.57am (10.08 Saturdays) and 15.02pm Mondays to Saturdays to Newark Castle. (from Crewe). Also 11.04 (11.07 Sats.) and 16.05 (16.06 Sats) to Crewe, which re-instates the hourly Monday to Saturday service we had pre-Covid. Three other trains have been retimed by one minute. There will be no change on Sundays.
It is being proposed that from the May 2025 timetable change, the Crewe to Newark and return trains will be extended to Lincoln. This will give two trains an hour from Lincoln to Nottingham, and a direct hourly service from Carlton, saving the frustration of having to go via Nottingham or wait half-an-hour hour on Newark platform.
The station announcements seem to be a bit hit and miss at the moment. They are missing when you want the information and unnecessary at other times. For example at 10.00am one morning it announced: “We are sorry that the 12.03 service to Newark Castle is currently being delayed.” By the time the train is due to leave Nottingham it can have made up for lost time – and of course we have a train before that at 11.05am.
Station usage figures
This covers the period from 1st April 2023 to 31st March 2024 and includes nine months of PMT and ASLEF strikes and overtime bans, but even so, many stations have shown increases over the 12 months, and with the disputes now over there is a good chance that on the Lincoln line, with services restored to pre-Covid levels, we will be back, or even exceed 2019/20 figures which are included to show the last full year before Covid.
There are 2,585 stations on the Network (7 new stations opened during this period), and each one is ranked according to usage from London Liverpool Street at 94,499,824 to Denton between Stalybridge and Stockport which has seen 54 passengers using the 2 trains it has each week on a Saturday.
| Station | 2023/4 | 2022/3 | 2019/20 | Rank | Change | Going to Notts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carlton | 43,120 | 36,846 | 57,552 | 2,043 | +6,274 | 10,704 |
| Netherfield | 7,780 | 6,946 | 8,292 | 2,374 | + 7,108 | 1,784 |
| Both stations | 50,900 | 43,792 | 65,844 | – | +7,108 | 12,488 |
| Burton Joyce | 11,014 | 9,426 | 15,330 | 2,340 | +1,588 | – |
Finally on this subject, season tickets issued at Carlton were 3,426 (3,864 2022/3) and Netherfield 1,162 (604 2022/3), both stations combined an increase of 120.
(Information from the Office of Road & Rail. orr.gov.uk .EMR = East Midlands Railway)
Celebrating 200 years of the first passenger train on the Stockton & Darlington Railway
To mark this milestone, a number of events throughout the country have been organised. Nearest to us will be Alstom UK’s ‘The Greatest Gathering’ at their Litchurch Lane works in Derby on August 1 – 3, which will be the largest temporary public exhibition of rolling stock (coaches, locos., etc.) and railway-related exhibits in recent decades.
Further details, including a national railway ticket sale, can be found at www.railway200.co.uk
Brief encounters…
As January is mostly a quieter Month for people travelling, some railway companies have special offers. For example last year Northern Trains had cheap fares starting at 50p! I know of one person who travelled from Sheffield to Glasgow for £1.00!
Nottingham Forest and Coventry City football clubs are currently lobbying the government to re-instate the direct train service between the two cities via Leicester. It is backed by Midlands Connect.
The ticket vending machines will not sell group travel tickets but conductor guards on the trains can still issue them.
Beeston Station lifts are due to be operational very soon, if not already, giving step-free access. There are hourly services from Carlton Station between Monday and Sat.
I have queried a sign which has appeared at Netherfield station to say you must have a ticket before joining A train. Whilst EMR prefers you to buy your ticket before travelling, this is not mandatory at stations on the Newark and Grantham lines which are unstaffed
At Birmingham New Street station train doors are now closed 40 seconds before departure time, instead of 30 seconds
For much of the year the 10.20 Carlton to Leicester (from Lincoln), is full and standing when it calls on Saturdays only. Best to get the 10.07 and change at Nottingham.
Rail fares are set to increase by around 4.6% from 2nd March. Railcards £5 more.
It pays to talk
I think it was Central Trains who asked passengers to talk to each other. Whilst some are happy to talk, others aren’t as I have found out. However some recent comments made include “This is a small station”. The person hadn’t noticed the other platform over the level crossing.
“I thought this was Netherfield”.
“Is the car park pay and display?” No, it is free to rail travellers.
“I’ve given up my car, the roads are too busy” – which prompted another passenger to join in and agree.
