EAST MIDLANDS TRAINS’ EXPERTISE WAS DEMONSTRATED AT NOTTINGHAM AND DERBY
There can be few operators which, in 11 years, have had major closures affecting two of their busiest stations for lengthy periods. But that is exactly what East Midlands Trains has faced, with the resignalling projects at Nottingham in 2013 and Derby in 2018.
Each presented their own individual logistical challenges, notably the presence of key depots adjacent to both stations. But common to both was the intensive planning necessary to keep as many train services as possible running and to communicate the planned changes to customers. Owning group Stagecoach has certainly built a fine pedigree of such schemes, with South West Trains also facing the major works at Waterloo during summer 2017.
NOTTINGHAM
The £100 million resignalling at Nottingham took place during a 37-day period in summer 2013. The station is used by over 15,000 passengers per day, so clearly the disruption would be considerable, but East Midlands Trains went to great lengths to avoid negative messaging while still promoting the need to use alternative routes and, in many cases, bus replacement.
While limited services were able to operate east of the station for m…