Passengers were stranded after rail replacement buses connecting Cleethorpes and Brigg 'didn't turn up'

File picture of Cleethorpes train station
-Credit:Grimsby Live


Train passengers were left stranded, "upset and frustrated" after buses to replace the cancelled rail service between Cleethorpes and Brigg did not turn up.

Between Monday, January 6 and Friday, January 10, a rail replacement service was due to run on Northern's Sheffield to Cleethorpes rail line, which runs via Brigg and was cancelled due to engineering works at Sheffield. The service is currently the only one that allows passengers to get from Brigg to Cleethorpes and vice versa, and runs once a day.

But when passengers arrived at Brigg and Cleethorpes to catch the rail replacement bus, they were forced to change their plans due to the bus not arriving.

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Paul Johnson, founder of the Independent Brigg Line Rail Group, told Grimsby Live: "There were engineering works in the Sheffield area and the Northern Railway service that goes to Cleethorpes via Brigg was cancelled, so a rail replacement bus service was put in to run from Retford to Cleethorpes.

Cleethorpes train station
Cleethorpes train station -Credit:Jon Corken/Grimsby Live

"A man at Cleethorpes contacted us to say he'd tried to catch this rail replacement bus for three days in a row, but it never turned up, despite the fact that it was still showing on the timetable at the station that it was due to arrive. He spoke to staff at the station who got in contact with Northern Railway but they didn't really get any answers out of them."

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The man subsequently put in a Freedom of Information (FOI) request to Northern Railway about the reasoning behind the buses not turning up and was told that "the request to secure vehicles was not sent to the rail replacement provider in time" and that the "oversight" was only identified on the morning of Thursday, January 8. The rail replacement service then ran as planned the following day.

Other passengers were also affected by the lack of the rail replacement service.

Paul continued: "On the Monday, a lady with a buggy was at Brigg Station wanting to catch the bus to go to Grimsby but it never turned up. Everybody was really upset and frustrated."

In 2023, the weekday train service resumed in Brigg after being a Saturday-only service for 30 years.

The service departs each weekday at 9.54am from Sheffield and arrives into Brigg at 11.07am, before finishing its journey in Cleethorpes at 11.44am. The same service then leaves Cleethorpes at 1.20pm and arrives into Brigg at 1.49pm.

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This means that anyone visiting the market town from Sheffield, Worksop, Retford or Gainsborough would only be able to do so for just under three hours before having to leave again - unless they waited for the next train the following day.

For passengers travelling to Brigg from Grimsby or Cleethorpes, they would arrive just before 2pm - and have to wait 22 hours for the return train.

In May, a change to the current timetable is due to take place - and Paul hopes one more round-trip will be added to further connect Brigg and Cleethorpes.

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Addressing the missed rail replacement buses, a Northern spokesperson told Grimsby Live: “Our staff work to provide rail replacement services for customers across the North of England whenever lines are closed for engineering works.

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“We planned to provide buses between Retford and Cleethorpes earlier this month, but several did not run due to an internal error.

“We would like to apologise to our customers for any inconvenience caused.”