Skegness railway station

Skegness
The station concourse
Location
Place	Skegness
Local authority	East Lindsey
Coordinates	53°08′35″N 0°20′02″E / 53.143°N 0.334°E / 53.143; 0.334Coordinates: 53°08′35″N 0°20′02″E / 53.143°N 0.334°E / 53.143; 0.334
Grid reference	TF562631
Operations
Station code	SKG
Managed by	East Midlands Trains
Number of platforms	4
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2004/05	453,456
2005/06	415,385
2006/07	395,516
2007/08	381,578
2008/09	360,636
2009/10	359,202
2010/11	361,390
2011/12	356,812
History
Key dates	Opened 1873 (1873)
Original company	Wainfleet and Firsby Railway
Pre-grouping	Great Northern Railway
Post-grouping	London and North Eastern Railway
28 July 1873	Station opened
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Skegness from Office of Rail Regulation statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Skegness railway station serves the seaside resort of Skegness in Lincolnshire, England.

The station is now owned by Network Rail and managed by East Midlands Trains (EMT) Train Operating Company (TOC) who provide all rail services which run to and from Nottingham.

History

The line to Wainfleet was opened in August 1873 by the Wainfleet and Firsby Railway.^[1] This line was then extended to Skegness; the station opened on 28 July 1873.^[2]

Skegness was dubbed "the Blackpool of the East Coast" or "Nottingham by the Sea", and has a mascot, the Jolly Fisherman (designed by John Hassall in 1908 for the Great Northern Railway), and a slogan - Skegness is so bracing - a reference to the chilly prevailing north-easterly winds that can and frequently do blow off the North Sea.^[3]

Up until 1966 the railway station used to have a goods yard with sheds, however this area along with platform one was demolished between 1980 and 1983. This area is now used as a car park belonging to nearby offices. There was a Seacroft railway station located just outside Skegness but this has also now closed. The next station on the line is Havenhouse. In 2006, all loco hauled services to Skegness were halted due to the weight of the locos buckling the rails frequently. However this ban has since been lifted after Network Rail began a track renewal scheme which is now entering the final phase.

Services

As of December 2010 there is an approximately hourly service to and from Nottingham via Boston and Grantham.^[4]

There are connections to and from London at Grantham for trains to Kings Cross along the East Coast Main Line, and Nottingham for trains to St Pancras along the Midland Main Line.

Passengers can catch onward trains from Grantham station to and from Peterborough, Norwich, Sheffield, Manchester, Liverpool, Doncaster, York, Leeds, Hull, Darlington, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Edinburgh and Glasgow.

Local connections to Lincoln, Newark, Doncaster and Spalding can be caught at Sleaford railway station.

Nottingham is an interchange for journeys to Leicester, Derby and Birmingham.

East Midlands Trains run a High Speed Train return service from Derby to Skegness on summer Saturdays.

Preceding station		National Rail		Following station
Havenhouse		East Midlands Trains Nottingham-Skegness		Terminus
	Disused railways
Seacroft		Great Northern Railway Skegness Branch		Terminus

Present day

The current station has toilet facilities with a baby change and a specialist service for the disabled, and a small refreshment/newsagent stall. There is 24-hour CCTV in operation at this station and there are staff patrolling the concourse area to give information when trains are due to arrive or depart. There is also a ticket office, staffed for part of the traffic day, and a self-service ticket vending machine (TVM) has been installed; this also enables customers who have booked their tickets online to collect them outside office hours.

Six platforms remain in place (numbered 2 to 7), however platforms 2 and 7 are now closed, and in practice only two platforms (3 and 4) are used regularly.

Trivia

A statue of the Skegness mascot, The Jolly Fisherman, greets passengers as they arrive at the station when entering through the main entrance.

Remodelling 2011

Network Rail and Lincolnshire County Council announced a major renovation programme costing £290,000,^[5] which has seen the derelict buildings demolished, the customer toilets being modernised and the gents relocated. There was much debate in Skegness about the old stationmaster's house being part of Skegness' heritage and should have been refurbished rather than demolished.

Local transport connections

Skegness railway station has good links to local public transport with a taxi rank nearby the station.

Adjacent to the railway station is the town's bus station which has services in all directions, including frequent buses up the coast as far as Mablethorpe, Louth and Alford all year round.

Picture gallery

• 

  Concourse view 1

• 

  Concourse view 2

• 

  Concourse view 3

• 

  Platform view 1

• 

  Remodelling work 1

• 

  Remodelling work 2

Notes

References

• Bassett, Herbert (1905), Bradshaw's Railway Manual, Shareholders' Guide and Directory, Henry Blacklock & Co., Ltd. 
• Butt, R.V.J. (1995), The Directory of Railway Stations, Yeovil: Patrick Stephens Ltd, ISBN 1-85260-508-1, R508 

External links

• Train times and station information for Skegness railway station from National Rail

Railway stations in Lincolnshire Barton Line from Barton-on-Humber Barrow Haven New Holland Goxhill Thornton Abbey Ulceby Habrough Stallingborough Healing Great Coates Grimsby Town Grimsby Docks New Clee Cleethorpes Birmingham to Peterborough Line from Birmingham New Street Stamford to Peterborough Doncaster to Lincoln Line from Doncaster Gainsborough Lea Road Saxilby Lincoln Central Newark to Grimsby Line from Newark North Gate Swinderby Hykeham Lincoln Central Market Rasen Habrough Grimsby Town Nottingham to Grantham Line from Nottingham Grantham Nottingham to Lincoln Line Lincoln Central Hykeham Swinderby to Nottingham Peterborough to Lincoln Line Lincoln Central Metheringham Ruskington Sleaford Spalding to Peterborough Poacher Line Grantham Ancaster Rauceby Sleaford Heckington Swineshead Hubberts Bridge Boston Thorpe Culvert Wainfleet Havenhouse Skegness Sheffield to Hull Line from Hull Paragon branch to Scunthorpe via Thorne South railway station in South Yorkshire Crowle and Althorpe Sheffield to Lincoln Line from Sheffield Midland branch to Lincoln Central via Gainsborough Lea Road and Saxilby Gainsborough Central Kirton Lindsey Brigg Barnetby Habrough Grimsby Town Cleethorpes Heritage railways Lincolnshire Wolds Railway Holton-le-Clay (Proposed) Ludborough North Thoresby Fotherby (Proposed) Louth (Proposed)