Sheffield–Lincoln line

Sheffield to Lincoln Line
Midland Main Line, Hallam Line & Penistone Line Sheffield Stocksbridge Line to Wortley Dearne Valley line to Rotherham Central Darnall Woodhouse Midland Main Line to Swinton & Chesterfield Kiveton Bridge Kiveton Park South Yorkshire Joint Railway to Doncaster Shireoaks Robin Hood Line to Sutton Parkway Worksop Retford East Coast Main Line to Newark North Gate & Doncaster Cottam power stations Doncaster–Lincoln line to Doncaster Gainsborough Lea Road Gainsborough Central Lea Blyton Stow Park Northorpe Saxilby Kirton Lindsey Nottingham–Lincoln line to Newark Castle Lincoln Central Scawby Peterborough–Lincoln line to Sleaford Market Rasen Brigg South Humberside Main Line to Hatfield and Stainforth Barnetby Brocklesby Barton line to Barton-on-Humber Habrough Stallingborough Healing Great Coates Grimsby Town Grimsby Docks New Clee Cleethorpes

The Sheffield–Lincoln line is a railway line in England. It runs from Sheffield east to Lincoln via Worksop, Retford and Gainsborough Lea Road. The route comprises the main line of the former Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway, to Gainsborough, Trent Junction, where it then follows the former Great Northern and Great Eastern Joint Line to Lincoln Central. The former main line continues from Trent Junction to Wrawby Junction, Barnetby, much of it now single line, where it then runs to Cleethorpes. This is currently served by six trains (three each way) on Saturdays only.^[1]

The cities, towns and villages served by the route are listed below.

Sheffield–Lincoln

• Sheffield
• Darnall
• Woodhouse
• Kiveton Bridge
• Kiveton Park
• Shireoaks
• Worksop
  • connections with Worksop–Nottingham line
• Retford
  • connections with ECML services at Retford
  • former main line continues forward from Trent Junction, just prior to reaching Gainsborough Central to Cleethorpes.
• Gainsborough Lea Road
  • connections with Doncaster–Lincoln line
• Saxilby
• Lincoln Central

Former MS&LR (later GCR) main line to Grimsby

• Gainsborough Central
• Kirton Lindsey
• Brigg
• Barnetby
  • connections with South TransPennine route and Nottingham–Grimsby line
• Habrough
  • connections with Barton on Humber–Cleethorpes line
• Grimsby Town
• Cleethorpes

Services on the line are provided by Northern Rail.

Clarborough Junction–Cottam–Sykes Junction branch

Clarborough Junction is about 3.75 miles (6.04 km) east of Retford.^[2] This Sheffield and Lincolnshire Junction Railway branch had originally been proposed in 1844.^[3] It opened on 7 August 1850^[4]

There were stations at Leverton, Cottam and Torksey. Opening of the line was delayed for four months by controversy over the safety of Torksey Viaduct. It is now a Grade II listed building, though the line closed to passengers on 2 November 1959.^[5]

In 1967 the line was reopened from Clarborough Junction to Cottam to serve Cottam power stations. On reopening, Clarborough Junction signalbox was closed and control passed to Thrumpton, and the two level crossings were converted to automatic half barriers.^[6] The Thrumpton box was rebuilt in 2014.^[7]

The line and its stations are shown on the 1947 one inch to one mile map of the branch.

Accidents and incidents

On 30 June 2015, a freight train was derailed near the site of Langworth station.^[8]

Types of train

The line is operated by Northern Rail, who mainly utilise Class 142 and Class 144 sets (though Class 153 single railcars can also appear^[9]). From Gainsborough Trent Junction (where the line from Doncaster joins) eastwards to Lincoln, class 153 and Class 156 units operated by East Midlands Trains share the route. The Brigg route is also used by freight traffic between Immingham docks and the power stations at West Burton, Cottam (after reversing in Worksop sidings) and West Yorkshire & the East Midlands.

References