Train service between Newark stations

[mrgreen]

I was looking up services between Nottingham and Durham. This was to check if it's faster to walk between Newark stations, rather than use a direct train (it is). I noticed in the EMR timetable that there actually is a direct train between Newark stations, though it must be one of the poorest rail services in the UK. The 0516 (M-F) from Lincoln to Nottingham calls at Northgate at 0548 and Castle at 0558. On Saturday the timing is slightly different, but there's no Sunday service. I couldn't see any service in the opposite direction.
How is it routed, given that the crossing at Newark is just a diamond? Does it reverse in Northgate and then again somewhere north of Northgate? And why?

 

[norbitonflyer]

There have been a number of services that do that, at different times in history since the connection was put in in 1966 - this was done to allow services from London to Lincoln and Grimsby to continue after closure of the direct lines from Grantham to Lincoln and from Peterborough to Grimsby (via Boston).

The usual reason for a service calling at both Castle and Northgate is to provide a connection from Lincoln into ECML services from a Nottingham service when no unit and/or crew is available to run a separate Lincoln - Northgate service.

yes, reversal does take place on the Collingham side of the junction

 

[duffield]

RTT shows 2T48 0516 Lincoln Central to Nottingham reversing at Newark Northgate and then again at Newark Crossing East Junction.

(Link below is to realtime trains detailed data for this service)

Realtime Trains | 2T48 0516 Lincoln Central to Nottingham | 23/07/2025

Real-time train running information for 2T48 0516 departure from Lincoln Central to Nottingham on 23/07/2025. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

A little quirk that has been noted before is that RTT shows this as passing over the flat crossing of the ECML three times, which of course it does not.

The first two references to location Newark F.C. [XNK] at 0551 and 0556 should presumably instead be to Newark Crossing South Junction but RTT does not recognise that location so I guess it uses the nearest available location even though it's nonsensical in this case.

 

[55018ballymoss]

I am sure there was a time a few decades back when all of the Lincoln-Nottingham services ran via Newark Northgate in both directions as a cost saving measure (so no extra unit or crew was required for a separate Lincoln - Newark Northgate shuttle). However, with the double reversal it made the through service much slower and I am not sure it lasted for long. I cannot find the relevant timetable to show this though, maybe someone else can help?

The only service that does the double reversal is indeed 2T48 SuX, and I imagine this is the equivalent of a parliamentary service to prevent any rail user groups complaints or statutory closure notices (though would they apply, as the lines are still in use by other services, though no other runs direct Northgate to Castle?)

 

[norbitonflyer]

I am sure there was a time a few decades back when all of the Lincoln-Nottingham services ran via Newark Northgate in both directions as a cost saving measure (so no extra unit or crew was required for a separate Lincoln - Newark Northgate shuttle). However, with the double reversal it made the through service much slower and I am not sure it lasted for long. I cannot find the relevant timetable to show this though, maybe someone else can help?

Having been a regular user of the Newark to Lincoln line for nearly sixty years, I can say that I have never experienced this shuffle myself, although I know that certain services have done this, usually at the extreme margins of the day. Certainly I cannot recall a time when all Nottingham line services did this.

I would, of course, welcome proof that it was the case.

 

[LowLevel]

For many years the last down service from Nottingham to Lincoln Sunday to Friday did the same manoeuvre in reverse.

There were also far more trains that shunted into Northgate on a Sunday - these ceased when the all day Sunday service with more shuttles began a few years back.

 

[Merthyr Imp]

Having been a regular user of the Newark to Lincoln line for nearly sixty years, I can say that I have never experienced this shuffle myself, although I know that certain services have done this, usually at the extreme margins of the day. Certainly I cannot recall a time when all Nottingham line services did this.

In the 1980s and 1990s I travelled fortnightly on Saturdays between Nottingham and Lincoln (during the football season!) and there was definitely a time when several - I wouldn't say by any means all - services called at both stations. This was during the day not just in the evenings/early mornings. This was probably some time during the 1980s but I can't narrow it down any further than that. I have a 1993 timetable which shows just two mid-evening trains to Lincoln calling at both stations - but not in the reverse direction!

It was certainly quite usual for a time - but as I say, I don't remember it being every service that did it.

 

[northernrailer]

In the early 2000s on a Saturday there used to be a 1244 Newark North Gate to Lincoln, the service came from Nottingham and did the reversal. More often than not it was a 153, on occasions it was a 156 or 158. Tbh probably anything Central Trains could get their hands on.