Chamber supporting Cleethorpes MP in bid to secure direct London trains to Cleethorpes

Martin Vickers MP (centre) with Chamber Chief Executive Dr Ian Kelly and Adam Fowler from the City of Hull & Humber Environment Forum.

THE Hull & Humber Chamber of Commerce is supporting efforts by Cleethorpes MP Martin Vickers to secure direct trains from Cleethorpes to London.

Mr Vickers has been holding talks with Open Access Operator Grand Central Trains and Virgin East Coast about extending services on the South Bank, a move which complements the Chamber’s published Transport Priorities for the region.

Restoring direct rail links to London on the South Bank has been a long-held ambition of the Chamber which has previously worked with former Grimsby MP Austin Mitchell and Mr Vickers’ Conservative predecessor, Michael Brown on the issue, but Mr Vickers’ work with the Transport Select Committee has got closer than ever to restoring the rail services which are seen as increasingly important in light of the growing Renewables industry in Grimsby and port of Immingham expansion.

Although the two services would follow different routes to Cleethorpes, both would pass through Habrough, the nearest station to the UK’s busiest port at Immingham.

The possibility of direct London trains has steamed back up the agenda in recent months as Virgin East Coast has said it will hand back its franchise to the Government earlier than expected, raising the possibility of such a service being included in the next franchise agreement which would mean the new East Coast operator would have to run trains up to Grimsby and Cleethorpes.

Virgin is already extending its services to Lincoln next year, so there is hope that a move will open up the possibility of at least a couple of trains a day up to Cleethorpes via Market Rasen.

The other possibility is for Open Access Operator Grand Central Trains to provide a service which would run via Scunthorpe through Northern Lincolnshire, however it is understood there are difficulties to be overcome with this plan in that the train would split at Doncaster, giving rise to the possibility of delays if one part of the train were to be held up for any reason.

Splitting trains is a common practice in southern England, but can lead to complications. A 10-car train, or set, would run from London up to Doncaster where it would then split, with five carriages continuing to service stations in Yorkshire, while the other five carriages would head for Lincolnshire. The reverse would happen for the south-bound journey, but if either half of the train was late arriving at Doncaster, it would get held up as delays to other trains on the East Coast main line would have to be avoided.

David Hooper, External Affairs Manager for the Chamber of Commerce, said: “The Chamber welcomes and will support any long-term plans to secure sustainable direct train services to the Capital to aid the long-term growth and sustainability of Northern Lincolnshire.

“Martin has been talking to the train companies and looking at several options and we are happy to work with him to ensure these important ambitions become a reality sooner, rather than later, as had originally been feared”.