Village rail service cut due to leaves on the line

Rail services to a Lincolnshire village have been cut in a bid to to reduce delays caused by leaves on the line.

East Midlands Railway said that, during autumn, leaves made rails slippery, and harder for trains to accelerate and brake effectively, meaning drivers had to pull out of stations more slowly and brake much earlier.

The operator said temporarily reducing the number of trains that stopped at Swinderby would help services between Nottingham and Lincoln keep to time.

Disgruntled locals said the move would discourage people from using public transport.

A spokesperson for the train operator said passengers had faced 5,000 minutes of delays on the route last year as a result of leaves on the line.

They added that Swinderby was a quiet station, with 40% of services having no-one getting on or off at the stop.

The reduced timetable would be in place until 30 November, with an on-demand taxi service provided for customers instead.

"Train services will still call at the station – albeit less frequently," the spokesperson added.

However, some residents, including Mike Batt, 69, criticised the operator.

"If they want us to use more public transport, and use the train service, then to start saying they are not going to stop at Swinderby, where I happen to live, is pretty useless," he told the BBC.

Another resident said: "There are children who live in the village trying to get to college, others trying to get to work or to appointments... it is going to cause disruption."

She added that some people had turned up to catch the train, unaware of the changes.

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