History
The current Robin Hood Line never previously existed as it does now: it was formed from two formerly separate railways. The bulk of the line re-uses the former Midland Railway route from Nottingham London Road to Worksop. However, to keep the costs of the re-opening initiative as low as possible, as much still extant line as possible was to be re-used.
From Nottingham, the line remained intact as far as Newstead, where it had served the now closed Newstead Colliery.
From Worksop, the line followed the old Midland route as far as Sutton-in-Ashfield. Between Sutton-in-Ashfield and Kirkby-in-Ashfield, the line had been diverted to join the former Great Northern Railway (GNR) route through the area. This had allowed British Rail to sell land right in the centre of Kirkby-in-Ashfield whilst keeping a route through the town. After crossing the town on the GNR route, the line re-joined the old MR route, where it remained as a freight line to Pye Bridge, near Ironville.
When plans for the Robin Hood Line were drawn up, it was decided to stay with the GNR route through Kirkby-in-Ashfield (to avoid having to buy back land), then swing southeast via Kirkby South Junction onto the former Great Central Railway main line from Manchester to London.
After briefly following the GCR, the line would then climb to re-join the Midland route to Nottingham to allow reconnection at Newstead.
This plan had a major obstacle: the Robin Hood Hills at Annesley. Both the Great Central Railway and the Midland Railway had driven tunnels through these picturesque landmarks, but since both lines closed, both tunnels had been filled in. The Great Central Railway's tunnel had been at a lower level than the Midland's and so was much longer. It was therefore much cheaper to re-excavate the Midland's tunnel, which was found to be in excellent condition.
The new line from Nottingham to Newstead opened in 1993 although Bulwell station opened only in 1994. It was extended to Mansfield Woodhouse in 1995, with Kirkby-in-Ashfield station opening in 1996. The through passenger route from Nottingham to Worksop opened in 1998.
Since then the section between Bulwell and Hucknall has been converted from double track to single track to allow space for the new Nottingham Express Transit tramway, which follows the route as far north as Hucknall and opened in March 2004.
Currently, the Robin Hood Line operates a Monday to Saturday service between 05:30am and 10:30pm. During the day, trains run at half hourly intervals between Nottingham and Mansfield Woodhouse, with one service an hour continuing to Worksop.
A Sunday service began on 7 December 2008, with ten trains running between Nottingham and Mansfield Woodhouse between 09:15am and 10:30pm. Four of those continued to Worksop. The Sunday service was funded by Derbyshire County Council and Nottinghamshire County Council. An understanding was made with the Department for Transport that, if the patronage reached an agreed threshold after two years, they would consider taking over the service and incorporate it within the East Midlands Trains franchise. However, this service was not a commercial success north of Mansfield Woodhouse, and Nottinghamshire County Council decided to reduce its funding and prioritise running a reduced service from 22 May 2011 between Nottingham and Mansfield Woodhouse only.
Therefore as of 22 May 2011, the Sunday service runs as far as Mansfield Woodhouse on a reduced basis.
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