The Anonymous Widower

An Excursion To Retford And Worksop

Today’s excursion was designed to be simple.

1. Take an LNER train or a Hull Train to Retford station.
2. Travel to Worksop station, have a look and take a few pictures.
3. Travel back to Retford and take the first train back to London.
4. In one if my two visits to Retford, have a look and take a few pictures.
5. Talk to passengers and railway staff about what they felt about FirstGroup’s Proposed Sheffield Service, that I wrote about in FirstGroup Applies To Run New London To Sheffield Rail Service.

These were my thoughts and observations.

LNER’s Improved Ticketing

These pictures show the tickets that I bought.

Note.

1. I bought my ticket to Retford from the Ticket Office at King’s Cross station.
2. The ticket seller gave me a well-designed folder for the tickets.
3. I was also able to buy my return ticket between Retford and Worksop on the LNER train to Retford. I’ve tried doing that before and it wasn’t allowed.

Making ticketing easier must be a good thing for passengers, staff and LNER.

£24.75 With A Railcard From King’s Cross to Retford

• The second picture shows my ticket to Retford.
• It cost me just £24,75 with my Senior Railcard.
• I also bought it about half-an-hour before the train left.
• I bought the ticket in the Ticket Office.
• I got a forward-facing window seat with an unrestricted view.

How much would the 145 mile and nearly three-hour journey have cost in a car?

I Missed My Connection At Retford Station

These pictures show my train to Worksop station in Platform 3 at Retford station, as I approached from the South.

Note.

The Northern Trains’s Class 195 train arriving on Platform 3 on the Sheffield and Lincoln Line.

1. I arrived in Platform 2 at Retford station at 12:50
2. There were three lifts or sets of stairs to negotiate between Platform 2 and Platform 3.
3. It must take at least five minutes between the two platforms.
4. One of the lifts was out of order and was being serviced by an engineer.
5. There was no way, I could have caught the connection, which left at 12:51.
6. At least one other passenger, had to wait the one hour and fifteen minutes I waited for the next train, which arrived at 14:03.

I feel that there needs to be a timetable adjustment here, so that as many passengers as possible avoid the long wait.

Retford Station

At least the long wait allowed me to take a lot of pictures and have a cup of coffee in the Costa Coffee on Platform 1.

Note.

1. The toilets were immaculate.
2. The Costa Coffee had friendly and professional staff, but only rudimentary gluten-free options.
3. The station is fully step-free with four lifts.
4. Platforms 1 and 2 on the East Coast Main Line can take a pair of five-car Class 802 trains, as Hull Train demonstrated.
5. The Hull Train in Platform 2 was using the electrification.
6. The station is in very good condition.
7. The station is Grade II Listed.

This Google Map shows the station.

Note.

1. The red arrow in the South-East corner are the low-level Platforms 3 and 4.
2. The red arrow in the middle marks the low-level Platforms 1 and 2.
3. Network Rail’s yellow Mobile Maintenance Train is visible in the siding opposite Platform 2.
4. There is space around the platforms.

The station may have development possibilities. Especially, as there are signs of To Let over some of the buildings.

Ambitious Renewable Energy

Retford and Worksop are only eleven minutes away but there were a large wind farm and solar farms between the two stations.

Note.

1. I was a bit slow on the uptake and missed the large wind farm.
2. The strong sun was reflecting on the windows.
3. They weren’t the best of photographs.

I had intended to take more and better pictures on the way back, but circumstances intervened.

This Google Map shows the wind and solar farms.

Note.

1. The Sheffield and Lincoln Line going across the map.
2. There are solar panels North and South of the railway.
3. This is the Walkers Wood Solar Farm, which has a nameplate capacity of 27 MW.
4. H M Prison Ranby is at the top of the map.
5. The scars of the wind turbines are to the West of Babworth and the crematorium.
6. At the moment, I can’t find any reference to the wind farm.

These wind and solar farms are probably a classic place to position a battery.

Prisons And Recycling

Worksop Station

I took these pictures during the time I spent at Worksop station.

Note.

1. The station is not step-free, although you can cross the tracks using the level-crossing.
2. The station has a pub and a cafe.
3. There are train services to Leeds, Lincoln, Nottingham and Sheffield.
4. The station is in very good condition.
5. The station is Grade II Listed.
6. The platforms are long enough to handle a Class 802 train without any modification.
7. Hull Trains could run their Sheffield service to Worksop station without any new infrastructure.
8. Lidl are developing a site on the other side of the level crossing.
9. There are 100 car parking spaces.

The station may have development possibilities.

Worksop Station Cafe

These pictures show the Worksop station cafe.

Note.

1. It is run by two ladies; Jo and Lyndsey.
2. As one is coeliac, there were lots of gluten-free cakes.
3. It was cosy and warm on a cold day.

This is definitely one of the better station cafes.

A Double Incident

My journey back to the capital was I suspect untypical.

• I’d arrived at Worksop at 14:14 and finally left at 16:38 on a train for Retford and Lincoln.
• The delay was because someone had been hit by a train between Barnsley and Sheffield, which resulted in cancelled trains.
• When I arrived at Retford at 16:49, there was an LNER train in the platform.
• It was the 15:15 from Leeds and I was told by LNER staff to catch it and get my ticket on the train.
• The train finally left Retford for London 69 minutes late at 17:07.
• We arrived in Peterborough at 19:27, where the train was now 170 minutes late.
• The delay was because someone had been hit by a train at Newark, which results in delays everywhere.
• LNER decided to give up on the train and all passengers were put on other trains.
• I got on the 14:30 from Edinburgh, which arrived in King’s Cross at 20:22, which was 96 minutes late.

Worse things happen at sea.

I am adding this a day after my trip to the North.

This article on the BBC is entitled ‘Major Disruption’ After Person Hit By A Train.

These are the first three paragraphs.

Train services on the East Coast Main Line have been seriously disrupted after a person was hit by a train in North Yorkshire.

Network Rail said the incident happened just before 07:00 GMT between York and Thirsk, with emergency services attending the scene shortly afterwards.

The line was blocked, resulting in delays and cancellations.

Three in two days us three too many.

January 9, 2024 Posted by AnonW | Design, Food, Transport/Travel | Class 195 Train, Class 802 Train, Coeliac/Gluten-Free, Costa, FirstGroup, FirstGroup's Proposed Sheffield Service, Good Design, Hull Trains, King's Cross Station, LNER, Northern Trains, Onshore Wind Power, Railcard, Retford Station, Sheffield and Lincoln Line, Solar Power, Ticketing, Worksop, Worksop Station | 1 Comment