Sheffield–Lincoln line

Sheffield–Lincoln line
Kiveton Bridge station
Overview
Type	Heavy rail
System	National Rail
Status	Operational
Locale	East Midlands Yorkshire and the Humber
Termini	Sheffield Lincoln (main line), Cleethorpes (Brigg Branch Route)
Stations	11 (main Line), 20 (Brigg branch route)
Operation
Owner	Network Rail
Operator(s)	Northern East Midlands Trains
Rolling stock	Class 142 "Pacer" Class 144 "Pacer" Class 153 "Sprinter" Class 158 "express sprinter"
Technical
Number of tracks	Two (One on sections on Brigg branch)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification	No
Operating speed	60 miles per hour (97 km/h) (Max.)

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 sidings Worksop Retford link loop Retford High Level Low Level East Coast Main Line to Newark North Gate│to Doncaster Clarborough Tunnel Clarborough Junction Leverton Cottam West Burton power stations Cottam power stations Doncaster–Lincoln line to Doncaster Torksey Viaduct over River Trent West Trent Junction Torksey East Trent Junction Main Line Brigg Branch Gainsborough Lea Road Gainsborough Central Lea Blyton Stow Park Northorpe Sykes Junction Kirton Lindsey Saxilby Kirton Tunnel Fossdyke Navigation Scawby Nottingham–Lincoln line to Newark Castle Boultham Jn ◁ Pyewipe Jn W Holmes Jn Lincoln Central Brigg Peterborough–Lincoln line to Sleaford South Humberside Main Line to Hatfield and Stainforth   Grimsby–Lincoln– Newark line   Barnetby Brocklesby Barton line to Barton-on-Humber Habrough Stallingborough Healing Great Coates Barton Line to Immingham Docks Grimsby Town East Lincolnshire Railway to Louth 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 (MS&LR), to Gainsborough Trent Junction, where it then follows the former Great Northern and Great Eastern Joint Railway (GNGEJR) to Lincoln Central. The former MS&LR 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]

Routes

Accidents and incidents

• On 9 December 1983, a freight train collided at low speed with the side of a local passenger train at Wrawby Junction. The first carriage of the passenger train was derailed and turned over onto its side, and one passenger was killed instantly.^[10]
• On 28 February 2007, a EWS freight train derailed at a set of points between Lincoln Central train station and Lincoln High Street level crossing. There were no injuries.^[11]
• On 27 April 2012, a Northern Rail passenger train running the Lincoln-Adwick route derailed as it was leaving Clarborough tunnel on the retford side. this was due to a landslip onto the line. The driver and a passenger were taken to hospital with minor injuries.^[12]
• 4 December 2012, a Northern Rail Passenger train running a Scunthorpe-Lincoln route, struck and fatally injured a worker on the tracks near Saxilby. ^[13]
• On 30 June 2015, a DB Schenker freight train was derailed near the site of Langworth station, on the Lincoln-Grimsby line.^[14]

Types of train

The line is operated by Northern, who mainly utilise Class 142 and Class 150 sets (though Class 153 single railcars can also appear^[15]). 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.

Retford dive-under

The Sheffield and Lincolnshire Junction Railway (S&LJR) (later Great Central Railway (GCR), now the Sheffield-Lincoln line) was the first railway in Retford, arriving on 6 July 1849. This was the joined by the Great Northern Railway (GNR) line from Doncaster, arriving on 4 September 1849 with the GNR crossing the S&LJR at a flat crossing. This flat crossing caused congestion as trains could not run on both lines at the same time, this was to become a bigger problem with the commenced constructions of West Burton and Cottam power stations, which would require 5million imperial tons (approx. 5.08 tonnes) of coal a year - to be sourced from the NCB's east midlands and north east coalfields. The flat crossing also placed a speed restriction on express trains using the GNR line.^[16]

In order to alleviate these problems a dive-under was constructed which saw the GCR pass under a new bridge which the LNER passed over. Construction started in 1963 and was completed in 1965 - during the time of construction trains continued to use the flat crossing. upon completion of the dive-under the flat crossing was finally removed on 13 June 1965, allowing through trains on the LNER to finally use normal operating speeds, and allowing trains to run on both lines at the simultaneously.^[17] The approach slopes into the dive-under's 2,160 feet (660 m) long channel have a gradient of 1 in 100 on the east and 1 in 133 on the west side. ^[17]

References