Retford railway station

The station

The first railway into Retford was the Sheffield and Lincolnshire Junction Railway which opened on 16 July 1849 on their line between Sheffield (Bridgehouses) and Gainsborough. The Great Northern Railway line from Doncaster arrived on 4 September 1849 crossing the S&LJR on the level. It used the latter's station until its own was completed (on the site of today's higher-level platforms) on 1 August 1852. On 1 July 1859, the S&LJR (now the Manchester, Sheffield & Lincolnshire Railway) began using the GNR station via a short connecting curve, and closed its original station.

The higher-level platforms (numbered 1 and 2) respectively serve southbound and northbound East Coast Main Line trains calling at Retford. Platform 1 (on the eastern side of the layout) adjoins the main station building. Between the two platforms tracks there are two further lines, used by fast trains not booked to call here.

Prior to the remodelling of the station, the two lines crossed at a flat crossing with a curve connecting the northern and eastern tracks, allowing trains on the Sheffield-Gainsborough line to call at the station. There were two northbound platforms - platform 2 (now closed) was on the eastern side of an island platform and platform 3 on the opposite side (still in use, now renumbered 2). Platform 1 handled southbound and eastbound trains. In addition, there was a single southbound line which passed in between platforms 1 and 2, rather than the two lines in place today. To relieve congestion on platform 1, there was a timber-built extension on the south curve (platform 1A) to allow Lincoln-bound trains to clear platform 1 proper.

The new lower-level platforms (originally numbered 4 and 5, now re-numbered 3 and 4) were added when the flat crossing between the two lines was removed and replaced with a bridge in 1965 and the Sheffield-Gainsborough tracks lowered to pass beneath the main line. These works also necessitated the removal of the direct north-to-east curve, meaning that trains between Sheffield and Lincoln could no longer call at the original platforms without a reversal.

The former Buffet and First Class Dining room on platform 1 are currently used as clubrooms by The Bassetlaw (North Notts) Railway Society. The club has installed an interesting display of local railway images in the windows of the rooms.

Accidents and incidents

ECML

The station's High Level platforms are served by Virgin Trains East Coast on a basic two-hourly frequency each way Mon-Fri, northbound to York and southbound to London Kings Cross. Additional peak period services run to/from Leeds, Edinburgh and Newcastle. A similar basic frequency also operates on Saturdays, but trains run through to Edinburgh or Leeds. Most services run by open access operator Hull Trains also call here.

Low Level

Northern services on the Sheffield to Lincoln Line call hourly each way Mon-Sat at the low level station, running eastbound to Lincoln Central and westbound to Sheffield and Adwick via Meadowhall. Northern's service to Doncaster is more frequent than the main line alternative, but takes considerably longer due to the indirect route. A small number of trains from Sheffield start/terminate here, including two that use the surviving connection via Whisker Hill Junction to reach platform 2 at High Level (a practice that was much more common in the 1970s when the Lincoln route had fewer through trains).

On Saturdays only, there are also three trains to Grimsby Town and Cleethorpes via Brigg. On Sundays, the frequency is two-hourly and only runs in the afternoon and evening; there are four services to and from Lincoln, with the rest starting and finishing here.

The new Northern franchise agreement came into effect in April 2016 and will see significant improvements on this route - the Lincoln to Sheffield service will become part of the Northern Connect network (and be extended to Leeds via Barnsley), whilst the service frequency to and from Sheffield will be doubled (2tph weekdays, hourly on Sundays with all trains running to/from Lincoln).