Modern Rail Scene in Nottinghamshire

Historically, Nottinghamshire was served by three different major rail routes: the Midland Main Line (MML) and Great Central Railway (GCR) running through the centre of the county and the East Coast Main Line (ECML) running through Newark and Retford on the border with Lincolnshire. Nottinghamshire was hit-hard by the ‘Beeching Cuts’ in the 1960s which led to the closure of the former GCR route, the Robin Hood Line and numerous minor routes and their stations, resulting in a significant reduction in passenger trains in and around the county. Freight train services were not significantly affected and continued to thrive until the closure of the coal mines; Thoresby became the last Nottinghamshire colliery to close in 2015. Beyond this, trains carrying imported coal for the remaining coal-fired power stations along the Trent Valley continued to ply their trade until January 2025 when the last remaining coal-fired power station in the UK, at Ratcliffe-on-Soar, closed. In recent times, there has been a revival of some passenger services, such as the re-opening of the Robin Hood Line and more recently the opening of the new East Midlands Parkway passenger station and also the East Midlands Gateway freight facility on the Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire and Derbyshire border.

With a wealth of colour images and detailed notes, Steve Liptrot provides a fascinating insight into the county’s modern rail scene.