Louth from the south fails – but what about Mablethorpe?

A BID to secure a Restoring Your Railway Fund grant to relink the Lincolnshire town of Louth to the national network has failed.

As reported in issue 279, East Lindsay District Council, supported by Lincolnshire County Council, submitted one of 85 schemes bidding for £50,000 for a feasibility study in round three of the ‘reversing Beeching‘ fund, supported by local MPs Matt Warman (Boston and Skegness) and Victoria Atkins (Louth and Horncastle).

The bid was based around a proposal to restore the line from Firsby Junction to Louth via Willoughby, Alford, Aby and Authorpe – with further consideration to be given to restoring the Willoughby to Mablethorpe loop, including Mumby Road, Sutton-onSea, Theddlethorpe and Grimoldby stations.

Passenger services on the Louth to Mablethorpe line were withdrawn on December 5, 1960, and passenger services from Willoughby to Mablethorpe and Firsby to Louth ended on October 3 and 5, 1970, respectively.

A letter from Transport Minister Chris Heaton-Harris on October 27 said that the application for the funding was unsuccessful.

However, he added that the Department for Transport has asked Network Rail to consider the reinstatement of the line to Mablethorpe in its future Lincolnshire Rail Study.