Friends Of The Brigg Line Group

The Friends Of The Brigg & Lincoln Lines Rail Group was set up in 2012 by a few rail enthusiasts with the main aim of promoting the 72 mile long Sheffield Midland - Cleethorpes via Brigg railway line as well as the Sheffield Midland - Lincoln Central line.

The 72 mile long line has suffered from horrendous neglect and cut backs over the years which lead to part of the line threatened with closure in the late 1980’s under British Rail, it just survived but to add insult to injury the Sheffield Midland – Cleethorpes via Brigg passenger service was cut back to a Saturday Only service of which it has retained since 1993, this has had a devastating affect on the communities that the line serves.

The Stations on the line are Sheffield Midland Darnall, Woodhouse, Kiveton Bridge, Kiveton Park, Shireoaks, Worksop, Retford, Gainsborough Central, Kirton In Lindsey, Brigg, Barnetby, Haborough, Grimsby Town and Cleethorpes.  

In 2013 The Friends Of The Brigg & Lincoln Lines Rail Group joined forces with the Gainsborough Rail & Bus Group ( GRaB ) despite both groups having very little money we have managed through partnership working with the train operator, businesses and the community managed to promote the line through the Northern Rail A3 timetable posters and via the social media, Passenger numbers are up 35% on the Brigg Line in the last year alone.

As well as the 1 day a week service the line has the poor honour of having officially the UK’s worst railway station “ Gainsborough Central “ situated behind the award winning Marshall’s Yard shopping complex and the busy market town of Gainsborough, due to years of neglect the station was described in RAIL magazine as “ Something you would find in worn torn Beirut “ 
 
Sadly there seems to be a stigma attached to Lincolnshire's passenger services by the railway industry, represented no better than by the Brigg Line as an example of how poor some public transport east of Sheffield has become. Our aim is to educate, and campaign for the improvement of train services along this corridor to unlock its unrealised potential and to restore what could, once more, be a valuable local facility.

With any money we gratefully receive all of it will go towards promoting the line, e.g though a printed line guide or the purchase of poster boards, this will increase passenger numbers and give us a case for running more trains on the route, this will lead to a boost in economic development, tourism, and education on the areas that the line serves. 

Please give what you can to help our little rail group, even if it is a £1, this will help promote the iconic Brigg Line and the 72 miles of communities that it serves 

FoBLL Webpage