Spalding petitioner calls for support to get a Sunday train service

jenny.beake@iliffepublishing.co.uk

Published: 05:00, 21 April 2024

A frustrated passenger is appealing for help to help fight for a Sunday train service.

Karen Wakefield feels that Spalding needs a Sunday service due to its growing population and is calling on people to voice their support in a bid to force the authorities – including the Department of Transport - to introduce it.

The 68-year-old says she has to rely on others to pick her up from Peterborough station on a Sunday to get back to her Spalding home after she has visited her children in Kent.

Karen Wakefield, of Spalding, is calling for support in petitioning for a Sunday train service.

Rail campaigners have been calling for a Sunday service – which was also supported by Network Rail in it’s long-term strategy for the network in Lincolnshire – for some time.

Mrs Wakefield, who does not drive, said: “It is frustrating that there are no trains running from Spalding to Peterborough and back on a Sunday.

“When I go to Kent to visit my family I need to get someone to pick me up from Peterborough.

“I would like more people to come forward as I bet there are loads of people who feel the same.”

Visiting her children for a weekend in Gillingham and Chatham in Kent, where she used to live, is made difficult without a connecting service to Spalding for the return trip on a Sunday.

Mrs Wakefield added: “A lot of people are moving here, kids are travelling and the population is getting bigger so we need this service.”

She is now urging people to show their support for a Sunday service by writing into this website.

A spokesman for East Midlands Railway, which runs the line from Peterborough to Lincoln that covers Spalding, said: “We do not operate any services on Sundays.

“This has been, I believe, the case since the 1970s when services were removed.

“We continue to work with the Department for Transport to develop the timetable where network access and demand dictate.

“The introduction of any future services, if operationally feasible, are also subject to the allocation of the necessary funding and maintaining levels of performance.

“Therefore, the implementation of such services would depend on a robust business case, particularly in the challenging times we are currently experiencing.”

Do you feel a Sunday service is needed? Post a comment below or write to news@lincsonline.co.uk

Lincoln Lincs Homepage Politics Spalding Traffic and Travel Transport Jenny Beake

Comments | 8

Da Pa wrote:

24/04/2024 01:20

It would be nice and convienient for the addition of a sunday service, even if it is limited trains or limited times between Lincoln and Peterborough. It's not cost or time effective by means of Buses or taxis. Some could either be spending around 2 hours from where they live (like myself) to get to Peterborough or roughly £70 (on a sunday) to get there directly. And also someone spending an hour commuting to get you there and travelling back.

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+2
Colette Ladley wrote:

22/04/2024 17:23

It is very inconvenient when relatives visit as, if they are returning home on a Sunday, need taking to Peterborough - which can be a hour long round trip. Petrol isn't cheap and an hour just to take someone to a railway station is wrong.
The service at other times I've found awkward but workable. No trains on a Sunday is out of date with our society.
With the Flower Parade once again gaining prominence, a Sunday service would help to improve the accessibility of the parade to those that can't or don't want to drive here, relieving the congestion around the town.

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+6
Optimistic wrote:

22/04/2024 14:16

Has also the question of students going between Lincoln and Peterborough who can come home on the Saturday but cannot go back on Sunday so we need a committee to push EMR to fund a pilot scheme

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+11
Optimistic wrote:

22/04/2024 14:06

When the Spalding transport forum was around, nobody seem to support the idea of Sunday service. They even talked to East Midlands Railway to get one running but they said the cost was prohibitive but would not run a pilot service to see if it is feasible.

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1 Reply

+7
aurora1111 wrote:

21/04/2024 23:26

I agree. It's frustrating that there is no Sunday service because sometimes I want to go to events that are on a Sunday say in Peterborough/Lincoln/London etc but I can't go as there is no train from Spalding. I live near Spalding and it's also frustrating that Brylaine have cut their services so there is no longer a bus service at the weekend in the villages around Spalding which isn't good as not everyone drives and a lot of people rely on the bus service to get out and about.

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+15
Spalding Spalding wrote:

21/04/2024 12:39

Good Luck and Best Wishes for the campaign a very worthy cause. I worked in London for many years and commuted but had to drive to Peterborough to get my train. Unfortunately the powers that be would rather see the station closed and it will never happen. It's a shame but it's like everything here nothing is invested in, roads, railways, NHS, armed forces they would rather send the money to Afghanistan, Pakistan and any other stan going!. So frustrating, all SHDC want is more and more houses for their over inflated council tax they are raking in and wanting to provide less and less services. Don't even mention a bus service that's even worse than the railways!..

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+33
Crusader wrote:

21/04/2024 12:36

I agree Spalding as a growing town needs a Sunday service because if you work or need a connection to somewhere from Peterborough or Lincoln or another town , city or airport , its just rubbish there are no trains on a Sunday. Come on railway operators get it sorted it's not like you need to lay the track is it !!

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+43

Spalding petitioner calls for support to get a Sunday train service

Comments | 8

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