A small Lincolnshire market town is home to the third least-used railway station in the whole of Great Britain – and it’s so tucked away that some residents don’t even know it’s there. Kirton Lindsey Station was built with two flanking platforms and opened in the mid 1800s, but it has since been reduced to a single track and passenger numbers have fallen to just 94 a year, according everylaststation.co.uk.
I decided pay it a visit and, after speaking to the only passenger and a few residents, I saw exactly why this beautiful little station was so underused. As I approached the station along a pothole-ridden road surrounded by farmland and the odd industrial estate, I was amazed to see the ample parking on offer but nobody using it.
Given that the station is served by only two trains per day to Sheffield and Cleethorpes on weekdays only, at strangely close together times of 10.57am and 2pm, I thought I’d try my luck and see if I could catch anyone using it in the afternoon. Arriving a bit early, I was unsurprised to find a deserted platform with the only signs of life being a couple of birds perched on a fence and workers at a nearby haulage firm.
(Image: Lincolnshire Live)
After I’d wondered around and gathered some views of local residents and workers, I returned to the platform at 1.55pm and was stunned to find a single passenger waiting for the train. Tom Hickingbottom, who works for Wilkin Chapman Solicitors, was heading to York for a partners conference and explained it was the easiest route to take without driving.
Although he lives in Redbourne nearby, Tom admitted he had never used Kirton Lindsey Station before and wasn’t surprised to learn it was among the quietest in Britain. He said: “I’ve lived in the area for a long time and never got a train here. When I looked I was surprised I could even get one.”
Tom was the only person to get on the 2pm train and nobody got off when it arrived. Despite the station being so underused, residents I spoke to said that many more people would use it if there were improved timings and routes.
(Image: Lincolnshire Live)
Dave Capell, who has lived in the town for 50 years and currently lives next to the station, claimed there would be 940 people using it instead of just 94 if there were more services. He said: “It would be well used if the timings were better.
“Lots of people want to use it but the times are all wrong. It’s not worth having. I used to use it regularly as a young lad to go to Brigg swimming baths, every Saturday.”
Jo Wooley, who works at Freightmaster next to the railway station, has lived in Kirton in Lindsey her whole life. She claimed more people would use it if it had more times in the day. She said: “The times are no good for people working 9 to 5.
“It’s not regular enough. It’s unfortunate that it’s not a commuter train. For the locals and older residents it’s quite valuable. I’ve only used it once as I’ve never needed it.”
(Image: Lincolnshire Live)
Paula Barstow, who has lived near the station for 17 years, said: “There used to be three trains on a Saturday, but if you caught the train to Sheffield you didn’t get any time before you had to come back. The service is not usable so people are not going to use it.
“You get lots of train spotters because it’s a crenulated tunnel but not much apart from that. People used to tell me things like ‘I’ve lived in Kirton for three years and I didn’t even know it had a station’.
“It is just so badly sign posted and so badly promoted and that’s another reason why people won’t use it. People don’t even know it’s here. It’s a real shame and a terrible indictment of how badly the railway is doing throughout the UK.”
The least used train in Britain is Denton in Greater Manchester with 34 passengers annually, followed by Elton and Orston in Nottinghamshire with 56.
A spokesperson for Northern Rail, which manages Kirton Lindsey Station, said: “We operate 2,500 services a day to more than 500 stations across the North of England. Our timetable is designed to reflect customer demand and maximise use of the trains in our fleet.
“Whilst Kirton Lindsey has a very limited service, we remain committed to serving the people travelling between Sheffield, Cleethorpes and beyond.”
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