The Azuma trains can run up to 125mph and will operate from May 2019.
Lincoln’s promised extra trains to London have been in the balance since the termination of the Virgin Trains and Stagecoach Group East Midlands Mainline contract – and now it’s looking like the services will be delayed at the very least.
Before the franchise collapse and takeover by LNER, Lincoln’s long lasting campaign for extra links was finally met with the promise of five trains to London and six returns from May 2019.
The 11 trains would have been every two hours and would be direct to and from the capital.
Commuters were given assurances in May by Secretary of State for Transport Chris Grayling that the scheme would still be upheld.
On Wednesday, MPs met for a House of Commons debate over the East Coast Mainline Investment.
Lincoln MP Karen Lee said she had been led to believe the trains would not come to fruition: “I have heard through the grapevine—even though I am the MP—that we are not now getting those extra trains. Apparently there is a problem with the trains and the timetables.”
Chris Grayling previously gave assurance that the commitments for Lincoln to London trains would be upheld.
She added: “Additional services would provide a huge boost to the local economy. Tourism is a big deal in Lincoln. There would be benefits to residents, businesses and Lincoln’s industry in general.
“For months, I have been fighting to ensure that Lincoln gets the extra services that have long been promised. My constituents should not have to suffer because of the Government’s mismanagement of the rail travel system. Neither should businesses.”
Jo Johnson, Minister of State for the Department for Transport, responded with more commitments to Lincoln’s London rail links.
However, he acknowledged there would be a delay.
“The industry is reviewing proposed changes to the May 2019 timetable as part of a new and strengthened process to ensure that everything is ready before improvements are introduced and avoid the unacceptable disruption that passengers experienced in parts of the country this summer”, he said.
“That process is ongoing for the whole industry, but at this stage LNER has taken the decision to introduce improvements more gradually than was previously planned.
“The hon. Lady will get her services at Lincoln, and the rail industry intends to provide an update on plans for the May 2019 timetable across the country in the coming months.”
An LNER spokesperson said: “We have previously announced plans to introduce additional services to Lincoln in 2019. We are working closely with our industry partners to deliver these improvements as soon as possible.
“The rail industry is reviewing its approach to upcoming timetable changes and it remains our intention to deliver further service enhancements and journey time reductions when it is possible to do so.”
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A litter picking group has said they are horrified by rubbish being dumped on a Lincoln roadside, which they described as “the street that the council forgot”.
Scattered litter and rubbish bags, a trolley, fly tipped whitegoods and a dumped office chair were a sorry sight on Portland Street on Wednesday, August 4.
The problem was first reported to Lincolnshire County Council under the fly-tipping option on the FixMyStreet website back in April, they said.
It was flagged up again by the group to the city council on Wednesday. A spokesperson for the group said the city council has responded saying it will be passed on to the relevant team.
The rubbish was found on Portland Street in Lincoln on August 4, 2021. | Photo: Wombles of Lincoln
Even a discarded shopping trolly was found among the rubbish. | Photo: Wombles of Lincoln
A spokesperson for the Wombles of Lincoln told The Lincolnite: “We are horrified by the state of the street in our city centre. It is like the street that the council forgot.
“Visitors to our beautiful city will be enjoying these following sites. This is shameful that in a county that is deemed first world people are living next to this. I just find it so heartbreakingly frustrating.
“Some of it was fly-tipping, much of it was general detritus from split bags and dropped litter. It needs a preventative solution and a lot more action to tackle it.”
The problem has been ongoing since at least April 2021. | Photo: Wombles of Lincoln
An old chair was found discarded amongst the other shocking rubbish down Portland Street in Lincoln. | Photo: Wombles of Lincoln
The group says more action is needed to tackle to tackle the problem. | Photo: Wombles of Lincoln
The litter problem has been described as “heartbreakingly frustrating”, | Photo: Wombles of Lincoln
The group, which now has around 800 members, used social media to come together and tackle the littering problem in the area.
It was set up at the beginning of March 2021, inspired by the 1960s fictional characters The Wombles who taught children how to recycle properly. The group was created by Rebecca Dunn, Alice Kinloch and Rebecca Sinclair, in an aim to clean up the streets, parks and roadsides of Lincoln.
City of Lincoln Council were contacted for a statement of response, but there was no reply by the time of publication.
The Boeing E-3D Sentry has returned to its home base at RAF Waddington after its final mission on Operation Shader, bringing to a close 30 years of operational service.
The Sentry aircraft flew its final operational sortie on July 30 over Iraq as part of the counter-Daesh Op Shader and returned to RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire on Wednesday, August 4.
The aircraft from No.8 Squadron had been deployed to RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus and was the latest and last deployment since 2015.
The E-3D Sentry will be retired later this year and will be replaced in 2023 by a fleet of three Boeing E-7 Wedgetails that will operate from RAF Lossiemouth in Scotland.
During the period between retirement and the Wedgetail becoming operational, the ISTAR requirements will be covered by a combination of other aircraft and E-3s from NATO partners.
Air Officer Commanding Number 1 Group, Air Vice -Marshall Al Marshall, speaking to the crew of ZH101 after they returned safely from Op SHADER. | Photo: SAC Shauna Martin RAF / MOD
Air Officer Commanding Number 1 Group, Air Vice -Marshall Al Marshall, holding a toast to the crew of ZH101 after their return flight from Op SHADER. | Photo: SAC Shauna Martin RAF / MOD
Describing the aircraft’s lengthy service, the Commander of the Intelligence, Surveillance, Targeting and Reconnaissance (ISTAR) Force, Air Commodore Nicholas Hay said: “Whilst this moment is undoubtedly the time for all those who enabled Numbers 8, 23 54 and 56 Squadrons’ endeavours in the air to look back with immense pride and satisfaction.
“We have continued to learn much that will ensure other ISTAR platforms, including the new Wedgetail Airborne Early Warning aircraft, are able to maintain a significant operational edge going forwards.”
NATO Commander, Officer Commanding 8 Squadron, Station Commander, Air Officer Commanding 1 Group, Deputy ISTAR Force Commander, Deputy NATO AEW&C Force Commander and ZH101’s crew. | Photo: SAC Amelia Turnbull RAF
The E-3D Sentry, entered RAF service in 1991 as part of the RAF’s ISTAR fleet and was immediately deployed tosupport Air Operations during the first Gulf War.
Since then the Sentry aircraft have been involved in UK operations ever since including Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, the broader Middle East and the Caribbean, together with a NATO role.
The Sentry is also known as the Airborne Warning and Control System or AWACS.
This recent deployment has seen operational sorties being flown on Op Shader, and also sorties to support Operation Fortis, the deployment of HMS Queen Elizabeth and the Carrier Strike Group.
A member of the Royal Air Force greeting his children under the wing of the aircraft for the first time since deployment. | Photo: SAC Amelia Turnbull / MOD
Describing its most recent missions, the Officer Commanding 8 Sqn, Wing Commander Victoria Williams said: “The deployment of the Sentry fleet to RAF Akrotiri in support of the maiden operational deployment of the Queen Elizabeth Aircraft Carrier and operations in the Middle-East has been a resounding success.
“This was the first operational detachment of the fleet since 2016 and involved a Whole Force of RAF, Reservists and contractors to deliver 30 missions in 9 weeks.
“The Sentry was able to provide the recognised air and surface picture to the Carrier Strike Group to facilitate its safe transit from the Straits of Gibraltar to the Suez.
“The skills and experience of Sentry crews, particularly those developed through working closely with naval assets during this deployment, will now be re-invested. The E-7 Wedgetail programme will enter service in 2023, replacing Sentry as the RAF’s Airborne Early Warning and Airborne Command & Control platform.”
The RAF families waving as their family comes off the aircraft and a banner held by two little girls. | Photo: SAC Amelia Turnbull / MOD
An officer holding his children for the first time since deployment.| Photo: SAC Amelia Turnbull / MOD
Deployed personnel reuniying with their children for the first time. | Photo: SAC Amelia Turnbull / MOD
A family holding a banner made to greet their family as they land back from deployment. | Photo: SAC Amelia Turnbull / MOD
An officer greeting his child for the first time since deployment and two children in the background running towards their family member out of frame. | Photo: SAC Amelia Turnbull / MOD
A deployed member of the Royal Air Force greeting his family. | Photo: SAC Amelia Turnbull / MOD
Reflecting on the return of the E-3D Sentry to RAF Waddington Group Captain Robert O’Dell, the Deputy Head Capability at the ISTAR Force HQ said: “I am exceptionally proud to have been associated with Sentry in a variety of operational aircrew, training, test and support roles since it entered service in 1991. Sentry has defined my career and it is inevitably with mixed feelings I now find myself involved with its retirement.
“However, all E-3D aircrew, groundcrew and supporting civilians should feel justifiably proud of the enormous contribution it has made to NATO and UK Air Policing, combat and humanitarian operations in the Balkans, Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and Libya, as well as countering drug-smuggling in the Caribbean.”
The crew passing down luggage down the stairs from the aircarft. | Photo: SAC Amelia Turnbull / MOD
E-3D, ZH101, on the 8 Squadron pan after landing at RAF Waddington. | Photo: SAC James Skerrett RAF / MOD
The last Royal Air Force E3-D Sentry Aircraft landing back at is home base at RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire after its final Operational Tour. | Photo: Sgt Nik Howe / MOD
With so many people excited about Taco Bell preparing to open not one but two restaurants in Lincoln in the coming weeks, The Lincolnite went to try out the Mexican-style fast food restaurant in Scunthorpe to see what all the fuss is about.
The first of the Lincoln Taco Bell stores will be a drive-thru store on Nettleham Road at the former Pizza Hut site, with an opening date set for August 25.
That will then be followed by a dine-in restaurant on Lincoln High Street, at the former Everest Xpress Nepalese and Indian takeaway, around three weeks later, meaning the city will have two Taco Bell sites to choose from by the end of September at the latest.
Taco Bell has proven a very popular fast food chain both in America and the UK. | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
Inside the seating area at the Scunny Taco Bell. | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
These dates are still pending approval, but excitement is continuing to build for what is being promised as one of the most exciting food ventures for the city recently.
Area coach for Taco Bell, David Pratt, will be involved with the running of the Lincoln branches, and he said there is adequate potential for these two sites to be among the most popular in the country.
The excitement is rife as Taco Bell’s arrival in Lincoln edges nearer. | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
He told The Lincolnite: “Lincoln has a huge student community, and we think they’ll really enjoy what Taco Bell has to offer in the city. We’re so excited to open our restaurants in Lincoln and hope people will enjoy them, whether it’s for drive-thru or dine-in.”
Until the two Lincoln stores open, there are currently two Taco Bells in Greater Lincolnshire, one in Cleethorpes and another in Scunthorpe.
The Lincolnite paid a visit to the Scunthorpe branch at Gallagher Retail Park on Doncaster Road, to try the food out in anticipation of the Lincoln openings, and it did not disappoint.
Taco Bell’s famous chalupa supreme meal comes with three cheese blend and sour cream, mixed in with seasoned beef and salad. | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
The variety of quesadillas, wraps, burritos, nachos and chalupas make it a unique fast food experience compared to the other big chains, such as McDonalds and Burger King, operating in a field on its own.
The wraps are large and filling, but full of flavour. | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
The volcano burrito promised plenty of heat on the tastebuds, and thankfully the balance between mildness and discomfort was found perfectly.
It would be wrong to go to Taco Bell and not have at least one taco, right? | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
The quesadilla box may just have been the highlight of the bunch, with a scrumptious grilled chicken quesadilla being accompanied by a crunchy beef taco and seasoned fries.
Sweet delights in the form of churros with caramel sauce. | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
We also tried out the cinnamon twists and tasty churros with caramel sauce, which are ideal for those of you with a sweet tooth.
Nachos Bell Grande are a bit messy, but that’s the whole point! | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
Fries Bell Grande and Nachos Bell Grande are twists on loaded fries/nachos, with melted cheese, sauce, beef, and salad on top. They were really tasty.
Fries Bell Grande, as tasty as they look. | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
Taco Bell Scunthorpe certainly gets The Lincolnite seal of approval, let’s hope that Lincoln’s branches can maintain those standards when they open to the public.
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