East Midlands Railway Dec 2025 recast

[LowLevel]

As per design

Well after the first EMR timetable change basically messed a lot of stuff up, we were allowed to be sceptical - especially with the return of the Central Trains-esque long distance regional services. But it works nicely - I said when I first saw it that lots of thought seemed to have been put into little improvements here and there and time keeping concerns have been unfounded.

The only real moans I've heard have been that some of the denizens of the Barton line are a bit annoyed at the loss of their direct links to Grimsby Docks for work but if that's the worst complaint I'd say it was a success story.

 

[QSK19]

The only real moans I've heard have been that some of the denizens of the Barton line are a bit annoyed at the loss of their direct links to Grimsby Docks for work but if that's the worst complaint I'd say it was a success story.

The gripe I originally had is that Leicester-Nottingham was reduced to a shuttle service, thereby losing its direct links to elsewhere on the network. Seeing EMR giving only a fleeting mention to this change was, in my mind at the time, a glaring admission that it left the Ivanhoe users much worse off.

However, on hindsight, I do stand corrected. It seems to be working well; and I fully see the advantages of keeping it as a self-contained service - the main one being that disruption between Nottingham and Lincoln/Grimsby won’t impact it. Simply run 2 trains on it back and forth all day long and not much can go wrong.

My remaining gripe now is that there is still no Sunday service, which was promised in the franchise agreement. I appreciate those days are long gone though; but I still hold out hope for the future.

 

[Trainfan2019]

My gripe with the Crewe route timetable change is now there's only 7 minutes gap between trains from Crewe to Stoke. Miss the EMR one and if LNWR is cancelled then it's a lovely hour to wait for the next train from Crewe.

 

[bunnahabhain]

The gripe I originally had is that Leicester-Nottingham was reduced to a shuttle service, thereby losing its direct links to elsewhere on the network. Seeing EMR giving only a fleeting mention to this change was, in my mind at the time, a glaring admission that it left the Ivanhoe users much worse off.

However, on hindsight, I do stand corrected. It seems to be working well; and I fully see the advantages of keeping it as a self-contained service - the main one being that disruption between Nottingham and Lincoln/Grimsby won’t impact it. Simply run 2 trains on it back and forth all day long and not much can go wrong.

My remaining gripe now is that there is still no Sunday service, which was promised in the franchise agreement. I appreciate those days are long gone though; but I still hold out hope for the future.

The biggest issue for the Ivanhoe is the fairly woeful evening service, not helped by the Peterborough to Nottingham slotting in to form a down service creating a gap in the up direction. In reality it would serve the line better if the Ivanhoe were kept hourly all day and the additionals slotted in as extras. The AM Leicester to Loughborough extra not calling at local stops anymore isn't useful either as the first train is now 20mins earlier.

 

[QSK19]

The biggest issue for the Ivanhoe is the fairly woeful evening service, not helped by the Peterborough to Nottingham slotting in to form a down service creating a gap in the up direction. In reality it would serve the line better if the Ivanhoe were kept hourly all day and the additionals slotted in as extras. The AM Leicester to Loughborough extra not calling at local stops anymore isn't useful either as the first train is now 20mins earlier.

Yes, absolutely spot on there. Definitely room for improvement on that and no doubt others at the next timetable change.

 

[High Dyke]

The only real moans I've heard have been that some of the denizens of the Barton line are a bit annoyed at the loss of their direct links to Grimsby Docks for work but if that's the worst complaint I'd say it was a success story

I'm sure their equally as surprised when the Barton service actually runs.

The increase on trains between Nottingham and Lincoln is noticeable for signallers at Swinderby. The whole December timetable recast was based on that signal box being closed.

The stopping service at Swinderby is predominantly every two hours throughout the day (morning and late evenings aside). The timings between stopping trains on that line and the faster ones behind could've been managed better, but it's what it is now. I don’t expect much to improve that.

Elsewhere, the re-timing of services through Sleaford seems to work well. Better connections from Lincoln towards Boston and vice-versa. However, like other pinch points, it doesn’t take much to cause a knock-on delay.

 

[vlad]

My gripe with the Crewe route timetable change is now there's only 7 minutes gap between trains from Crewe to Stoke. Miss the EMR one and if LNWR is cancelled then it's a lovely hour to wait for the next train from Crewe.

I think it's always been like that. From memory the LNR train left Crewe at about xx02 and the EMR one at xx07. I hadn't realised times had changed as I haven't had the need to go that way for ages but there doesn't seem much difference in the present timetable.

 

[Trainfan2019]

I think it's always been like that. From memory the LNR train left Crewe at about xx02 and the EMR one at xx07. I hadn't realised times had changed as I haven't had the need to go that way for ages but there doesn't seem much difference in the present timetable.

For the past 2 years, maybe 3, EMR has left Crewe around the top of the hour, sort of say between 5 to and 10 past. LNWR has moved around say 20 to 40 minutes after the EMR train.

It happened last night whereby I just missed the 16:26 from Crewe and the 16:33 was cancelled. This route was bad enough for delays when it terminated at Derby from Crewe but it was decided that it must be extended to Lincoln to cause more delays and have a 40 minutes turnaround time at Crewe. Just doesn't make sense.

 

[Baxenden Bank]

For the past 2 years, maybe 3, EMR has left Crewe around the top of the hour, sort of say between 5 to and 10 past. LNWR has moved around say 20 to 40 minutes after the EMR train.

It happened last night whereby I just missed the 16:26 from Crewe and the 16:33 was cancelled. This route was bad enough for delays when it terminated at Derby from Crewe but it was decided that it must be extended to Lincoln to cause more delays and have a 40 minutes turnaround time at Crewe. Just doesn't make sense.

Yes it does.

More time at Crewe means less chance of being turned short at Stoke when delayed coming from the east. Plus there are long dwells on route to make up delays. Much greater chance now of an on-time departure from Crewe. Also better connections on to Shrewsbury and north up the west coast. Conversely poorer connections when arriving from Shrewsbury. Swings and roundabouts.

The London Midland Northwestern West Midlands Trains service via Stoke-on-Trent is dire. If I had an essential journey to make, I wouldn't rely on it running.

 

[LowLevel]

For the past 2 years, maybe 3, EMR has left Crewe around the top of the hour, sort of say between 5 to and 10 past. LNWR has moved around say 20 to 40 minutes after the EMR train.

It happened last night whereby I just missed the 16:26 from Crewe and the 16:33 was cancelled. This route was bad enough for delays when it terminated at Derby from Crewe but it was decided that it must be extended to Lincoln to cause more delays and have a 40 minutes turnaround time at Crewe. Just doesn't make sense.

The East Midlands connections at the top of the hour were rubbish - minimum minute connections to and from Scotland and to south Wales which were often missed. This is far more robust, better for time keeping and ultimately whilst the Potteries might be a loser it isn't the priority.

 

[trentside]

Picking up on the comments about the loss of the calls at Grimsby Docks and New Clee from the Barton service, I was sceptical about the benefits but it had to be said the 10-13 minute turnarounds at Cleethorpes are a game changer for the Barton route. It has stopped it just accumulating delays all day, to the point where services had to be spun at Ulceby in an attempt to recover the service. The last week has only seen (to my knowledge) one service terminated short at Grimsby due to contaminated rails at Barrow Road crossing causing a 20 minute delay while NR decided what to do. The only issue now continues to be how closely timed we are to TPE and the conflicts at Habrough Jn and the single line in to Cleethorpes. It would be great if more spacing could be introduced but I know pathing elsewhere would probably prevent that.

The only ‘busy’ services calling at Docks and New Clee have retained their calls anyway. I think there were 1 or 2 people who would get on at New Clee at lunchtime after finishing shifts but it was rare to see anyone beyond those.