1961: Mass station closures on East Lincolnshire loop line

[tom73]

Several station closures between Peterborough and Spalding in 1961. What brought on this momentous decision? On the other hand, why were they built and opened in the first place as the sites of all of them seem to be in the middle of nowhere
Two converging lines at separate locations closed in 1959.
British Rail was chopping up the network years before Beeching.

 

[yorksrob]

They were probably opened primarily to serve the agricultural freight market.

 

[Jorge Da Silva]

Several station closures between Peterborough and Spalding in 1961. What brought on this momentous decision? On the other hand, why were they built and opened in the first place as the sites of all of them seem to be in the middle of nowhere
Two converging lines at separate locations closed in 1959.
British Rail was chopping up the network years before Beeching.

Several stations in Lincolnshire were like that but I assume the fact they were so remote meant that the small number of people living nearby at the time of the building of the stations/lines means they relied on the railways. By the 1950's and 60's the situation had changed, some stations deserved to close such as Grainsby Halt, Utterby Halt etc. which barely served anything (less than a population of 50 for the former). I would argue though that Populations like Grimsby, Waltham, Holton-le-Clay, North Thoresby (maybe), Louth, Mablethorpe, Skegness and Boston would certainly be able to hold a decent amount of passengers today to justify the lines existence. All the other stations on the line barely justified there existence and would not be popular enough to hold a good enough demand. Lincolnshire is spares and very low density so back in the 60's and 70's they were struggling to justify there existence and even today many of those stations still do not serve good enough populations.

 

[Calthrop]

W.e.f September 11th 1961, a large number of essentially "village" stations were closed re passenger service, on both the Peterborough -- Grimsby, and March -- Doncaster (ex-Great Northern & Great Eastern Joint), routes. (A couple of such on the latter, between Sleaford and Lincoln, subsequently reopened.) To all intents and purposes, the only stations which continued to be served were those of places meriting "town" status, and passenger junction stations, such as Willoughby. Such bulk closures of "village stations" on primary or secondary main-line routes, which retained passenger services other than of the all-stations-local kind, were a quite common occurrence on BR around the early 1960s.

 

[Journeyman]

They were probably opened primarily to serve the agricultural freight market.

I think a lot of people forget that for many years the railway made far more money out of freight than it ever did out of passengers, and many stations were opened primarily to shift local produce. By the 1960s, there were more efficient ways of doing it than by the wagonload in rural goods yards.

 

[Wirewiper]

Several stations in Lincolnshire were like that but I assume the fact they were so remote meant that the small number of people living nearby at the time of the building of the stations/lines means they relied on the railways. By the 1950's and 60's the situation had changed, some stations deserved to close such as Grainsby Halt, Utterby Halt etc. which barely served anything (less than a population of 50 for the former). I would argue though that Populations like Grimsby, Waltham, Holton-le-Clay, North Thoresby (maybe), Louth, Mablethorpe, Skegness and Boston would certainly be able to hold a decent amount of passengers today to justify the lines existence. All the other stations on the line barely justified there existence and would not be popular enough to hold a good enough demand. Lincolnshire is spares and very low density so back in the 60's and 70's they were struggling to justify there existence and even today many of those stations still do not serve good enough populations.

I certainly think it is a shame that Firsby - Grimsby closed, such a passenger route would be useful today and I would also add Alford, Willoughby and Burgh-le-Marsh to the list of stops that could have been retained (or possibly reopened). Alford would make a good railhead for buses to Sutton-on-Sea and Mablethorpe if that branch had to be sacrificed. Even if Grimsby-Louth could have been retained in 1981 after freight was withdrawn (a single line and platform into the former freight yard would have sufficed) that would have been better than nothing.

 

[Jorge Da Silva]

I certainly think it is a shame that Firsby - Grimsby closed, such a passenger route would be useful today and I would also add Alford, Willoughby and Burgh-le-Marsh to the list of stops that could have been retained (or possibly reopened). Alford would make a good railhead for buses to Sutton-on-Sea and Mablethorpe if that branch had to be sacrificed. Even if Grimsby-Louth could have been retained in 1981 after freight was withdrawn (a single line and platform into the former freight yard would have sufficed) that would have been better than nothing.

I agree. Alford, Willoughby and Burgh-le-Marsh maybe then I could see a bus shuttle between Louth and Mablethorpe and then connect to the railway there but Grimsby Town-Waltham-Holton le Clay-North Thoresby-Louth-Alford-Willougby-Burgh le Marsh-Boston could have been the route. Think of the regeneration opportunities if it had reopened. In fact I would go as far as to say that Louth-Grimsby would have been quiet popular with commuters to Grimsby. So may well have been a good move.

 

[RT4038]

I suspect that the cost of running the large number of manual level crossings / the capital cost of replacing them, doomed these lines......

 

[WesternLancer]

Several station closures between Peterborough and Spalding in 1961. What brought on this momentous decision? On the other hand, why were they built and opened in the first place as the sites of all of them seem to be in the middle of nowhere
Two converging lines at separate locations closed in 1959.
British Rail was chopping up the network years before Beeching.

"British Rail was chopping up the network years before Beeching."

I had an idea the Eastern Region were more bullish about bringing forward closure proposals well before Beeching (although maybe that needs further comment because one would have to compare with other regions with lines in similarly populated areas / economics to see if they kept them open or not at this stage)?

Some interesting entries on some of the stations concerned on this site - which i always enjoy. Of note is that halts mentioned in this thread were aimed at railmotors and thus presumably not really for the agricultural traffic (?) so does raise the question about population's use of them locally (n/a to the proper station however)

I won't repeat what is on the site but there is an interesting account of the closure decision process which may be relevant to the OP's question, inc on various stretches of these east lincs lines - eg

http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/u/utterby_halt/index.shtml
closed 1961
http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/g/grainsby_halt/index.shtml
Closed 1940

http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/s/saltfleetby/index.shtml

One presumes the Lincs lines had a combination of issues like:

1. heavy reliance on agricultural business (with seasonal fluctuations?)
2. season passenger traffic (holidays)
3. low population density, thus low frequency service thus perhaps making car ownership more attractive

 

[ac6000cw]

I suspect that the cost of running the large number of manual level crossings / the capital cost of replacing them, doomed these lines......

I think so too - one side effect of the requirement for gated crossings on all public roads (and full interlocking and block working) on minor rural lines was to increase the operating and maintenance costs of them with (I suspect) very little real safety benefit. It was OK when labour was very cheap, and people were happy to live in 'tied' railway housing e.g. crossing keepers, but when the economy picked up in the 1950's labour costs started to increase and that inevitably had an impact on the 'bottom line' of rural routes with only a few passenger trains and a pick-up freight or two per day to pay for all those costs.

 

[30907]

"British Rail was chopping up the network years before Beeching."

I had an idea the Eastern Region were more bullish about bringing forward closure proposals well before Beeching (although maybe that needs further comment because one would have to compare with other regions with lines in similarly populated areas / economics to see if they kept them open or not at this stage)?

The ECML between Peterborough and Newcastle lost most of its intermediate stations around then IIRC allowing stopping services to be cut. The stations all had pretty infrequent services, which is not surprising because the area is even now thinly populated, and the line was built as an express route so it was pure chance if a village got a station within walking distance.

 

[mailbyrail]

I remember a brake van trip from Grimsby to Louth in 1976. Outward (I assume it was still 'up' to London that way after the through line was closed) a driver, second man and two guards because of all the TMO crossings took the staff from Grimsby Hainton Street signal box to haul a single van of seed potatoes which had originally come from Scotland. We arrived in Louth where the signal box was open as we shunted back and forth across the level crossing to deposit the van and pick up three or four grain hoppers for the return journey on their way towards Scotland.
The trip was timetabled for three times a week but didn't always run. So that was six men to work a grand total of four or five wagons for a day's work to travel a total of about 40 miles. It seems the line only remained open because the maltings company threatened to remove all their business from rail if any of their locations closed.

 

[Calthrop]

I suspect that the cost of running the large number of manual level crossings / the capital cost of replacing them, doomed these lines......

I think so too - one side effect of the requirement for gated crossings on all public roads (and full interlocking and block working) on minor rural lines was to increase the operating and maintenance costs of them with (I suspect) very little real safety benefit. It was OK when labour was very cheap, and people were happy to live in 'tied' railway housing e.g. crossing keepers, but when the economy picked up in the 1950's labour costs started to increase and that inevitably had an impact on the 'bottom line' of rural routes with only a few passenger trains and a pick-up freight or two per day to pay for all those costs.

Something of a "bee in bonnet" of mine, is the Midland & Great Northern Joint system; close to which -- and also near to Peterborough -- Grimsby route -- I lived for my first, and M&GNJ's last, decade -- I feel great affection for the M&GNJ. M&GNJ's early demise: for passenger services early in 1959, and residual freight over next dozen years or so -- at the time, BR's biggest bout of closures at one stroke, to date; I suspect could have owed something to its huge number of manned level crossings.

 

[High Dyke]

The ECML between Peterborough and Newcastle lost most of its intermediate stations around then IIRC allowing stopping services to be cut. The stations all had pretty infrequent services, which is not surprising because the area is even now thinly populated, and the line was built as an express route so it was pure chance if a village got a station within walking distance.

Many of the ECML stations through Lincolnshire closed from 1955 onwards. Oddly enough the further south you travelled the later the closure dates. Most intermediate stations in Lincolnshire had closed by 1959. Reputedly Peterborough to Grantham is the longest distance between adjacent stations in England.