A councillor has claimed a Sunday train service through Spalding ‘will happen’ despite it being missed from a new announcement for Sleaford, due to increased freight trains going through the town.
There’s long been a campaign to have services seven days a week to the town’s station, something that last happened in the 1970s.
Earlier this year hundreds signed a petition set up by district council chairman Jan Whitbourn.
Last week Network Rail announced it will start a new Sunday service from Lincoln, but only as far as Sleaford.
A meeting of Lincolnshire County Council’s Highways and Transport Committee on Monday (Nov 2) heard the new service can’t go one further station along the line to Spalding due to the increased number of freight trains using the part of the track in this area.
Coun Charlotte Vernon raised the issue calling Spalding not being included in the service ‘disappointing’.
George Selby, representing East Midlands Railway at the meeting said he sympathised with everyone campaigning for a Sunday service in Spalding, saying he’d met with MP Sir John Hayes and was due to meet with Coun Whitbourn.
“If you’re looking over the garden fence and Sleaford’s getting a service, it must be especially frustrating,” he said. “Sir John was making the point quite rightly getting to Peterborough and onward travel to London would be desirable.
“The problem we have is there’s some engineering works that have to take place six weeks in every 12 on that line ever since the December 2025 timetable change which means there’s an additional amount of freight running along the line.
“For safety and engineering purposes, the line needs a bit more attention. There’s nothing unsafe about it, it’s just good practice.
“It means unfortunately, at this moment in time, we’re not able to progress it on to Stamford and Spalding.
“It’s not something we’re going to be able to deliver, hopefully I’ll be up front and honest about the challenges and what might need to be unlocked to overcome those in future time table changes.
“We want to improve provision during the week and make Sunday as close to Monday to Saturday operations as possible.”
Following the question Coun Thomas Sneath claimed: “I am reassured it will happen. It’s just not going to happen yet.”
He did not say who had ‘reassured’ him.
Mr Selby responded: “There’s some hurdles we’d have to overcome, so it’s not a case of it certainly coming.
“But we can explain what the nuances and hurdles and see how we can progress to overcome that.
“Sleaford itself is a good example, a few years ago many might have said it’s never coming back, but it is happening.”
