August 27, 2013 10.07 am This story is over 126 months old

Buses replace Lincoln to Nottingham trains after freight train derails

Derailed train: A derailed freight train disrupted Lincoln services to Nottingham, with bus replacements extended for another week.

Update on September 6: Bus replacement services will continue until Monday, September 9 as work continues on the damaged tracks.

For more information on the bus replacements and timetable, visit East Midland Trains‘ website.

Original story: Trains between Lincoln and Nottingham are being replaced with buses from Newark after a freight train derailed between Nottingham and Newark Castle.

Two of the DB Shenker freight train’s carriages, travelling from a Humber refinery to Tamworth, derailed shortly after passing the Stoke Lane level crossing in the Carlton village at around 4.35am on Tuesday.

The carriages derailed but remained in an upright position.

The incident caused considerable damage to a mile of track, which will take up to five days to repair once the carriages are removed.

All trains from Lincoln and Nottingham on Tuesday morning have been cancelled.

East Coast Trains and Northern Rail will accept tickets for passengers trying to travel to Nottingham via other routes.

— Update: Network Rail has advised that the railway line between Nottingham and Newark is likely to remain closed for the rest of the week following the incident.

From Wednesday, August 28, the following arrangements will be in place:

  • Trains will run between Lincoln and Newark Northgate. (Please note, services that would usually operate between Lincoln and Newark Castle will instead operate between Lincoln and Newark Northgate)
  • Buses will run between Lincoln and Nottingham in both directions calling at Newark Castle & Newark Northgate
  • Buses will run between Nottingham and Newark Northgate in both directions calling at Newark Castle, Rolleston, Fiskerton, Bleasby, Thurgarton, Lowdham, Burton Joyce and Carlton

You can view the amended timetable here.

People are advised to check for service updates before travelling and to allow extra time for their journeys.

This arrangement is likely to remain in place for the rest of the week as Network Rail engineers work to repair damage to the track and the level crossing at Stoke Lane.

A Network Rail spokesman said: “We apologise that services between Nottingham and Newark are likely to remain suspended for the rest of the week while we deal with this incident. Around 1,000 metres of track need to be replaced.

“We are also working with a third party who has been working near Stoke Lane crossing to understand the extent of the damage and plan a repair there. We will do everything possible to re-open the railway as quickly as possible.”

Tuesday was meant to be the first day trains between Lincoln and Nottingham returned to normal operation following completion of the Nottingham re-signalling scheme.

As previously reported, during the refurbishment works at Nottingham Station, trains between Lincoln and Nottingham were swapped for buses for several of weeks.

The bus replacement service was then lifted between 8am and 10pm from August 8, allowing for overnight refurb work.

The location of the freight train derailment was not part of the recently completed Nottingham resignalling project.