Near-normal train service to resume from Nottingham today

East Midlands Trains confirmed that it is planning to run a near normal train service at the start of the working week on Monday following the fire at Nottingham Station last Friday (12 January).

The station re-opened with reduced facilities on Saturday at 04.45 after the all-clear from structural engineers – less than 12 hours after Friday’s fire was extinguished – thanks to a huge effort by rail staff, emergency services and contractors.

Teams worked overnight to undertake a deep clean of the station to deal with smoke and water damage, as well as putting up boarding to close off parts of the station. Special queuing arrangements were also put in place to ensure passengers could enter the station and access platforms safely.

Work behind the scenes by train planners and operations teams ensured that trains which had been at different maintenance depots overnight were in the right place on Saturday morning when the majority of train services resumed.

Initially only platforms 1-5 were available, but the remaining two platforms were released back into use over the weekend. The lifts on platforms 1, 3, 5 and 6 are also now in service. Temporary station toilet facilities have been arranged and the station car park is open. Three of the four entrances into the station – Carrington Street, Queen’s Road, and Station Street – are also open, along with both overbridges.

Jake Kelly, managing director of East Midlands Trains, said: “Getting the station open has been a great team effort, involving not just our own staff, but also Network Rail, contractors and the emergency services. The positive response of passengers and local people also shows just how valued the station is in the community.

“Today’s train services have run very well and the clean-up operation in the parts of the station we have open has been really impressive in view of the short time since the fire was put out. We will be working hard in the days ahead to restore more station facilities.

“We are very pleased to be running a near full service from Sunday into the start of the working week on Monday. Even so, we would still advise passengers to check before they travel and also allow a little more time for their journeys.”

Network Rail, which is managing ongoing repairs to the building, expects to provide an update early this week. Fire damage means there are still some reduced facilities at Nottingham Station.

Information screens are not yet in use as a result of IT system issues following the fire. There are limited ticket facilities at the station and the ticket office remains closed. However, a dedicated team of staff are on site to sell tickets, as well as to provide information and advice to passengers to make sure they can continue their journeys.

East Midlands Trains is continuing to support the investigation into the cause of the fire, which was reported over the weekend as thought to be arson, and is asking anyone who may have any information to contact British Transport Police.

Minister Jo Johnson said: “This has clearly been a devastating incident and my thoughts are with all those affected.

“I am grateful for the courage of both the emergency services who tackled this fire and those staff who evacuated the station and kept the public safe.

“Thankfully it appears that nobody was injured but it is clear that this will have a disruptive effect on passengers who use Nottingham station.”