Butlin's check-out times 'could ease train crowds'
BBCButlin's could be asked to stagger check-out times at its Skegness resort to help ease overcrowding on trains leaving the town.
It comes after passengers travelling to the town on East Midlands Railway (EMR) trains this summer complained of overcrowding in 30C heat.
EMR said approaching Butlin's was one of the options being considered, but the holiday park declined to comment.
Speaking to Lincolnshire County Council highways and transport committee, stakeholder engagement manager George Selby said heatwaves had "impacted performance in terms of air conditioning units" and "engine difficulties".
Each year the population of Skegness swells from 20,000 to around 250,000, due to tourists visiting the coast.
With more than 1,000 rooms, chalets, apartments, lodges and caravans, the Butlin's holiday camp is a popular choice for holidaymakers.
In August the BBC travelled on a train between Nottingham and Skegness and witnessed passengers standing in corridors and a lack of air conditioning even though it was 30C outside.
Selby told the committee that EMR would "love to engage with Butlin's to see if there's something we could do around their exit times" to avoid "a rump of passengers all wanting to return to the Midlands or wherever they are going all heading to Skegness station at the same time".
Installing lockers at Butlin's to encourage travellers to arrive earlier in the day and offering cheaper tickets during off-peak times is also being considered, he said.
Check-out days at Butlin's are Mondays and Friday and guests can leave up to 12noon.
Committee member councillor Kevin Clarke (Labour) asked if the trains have enough carriages.
"Is there a capacity for people travelling on the train, because it seems to me that it's [a case of] 'just get as many people on the train as you can'?" he asked.
Selby said EMR is "running the rolling stock that we have from, effectively, our funding from the DfT and what we're able to sustain" and puts on four carriages on Fridays, Saturdays and Mondays during the summer.
"But it still shows that that often isn't enough and there's still and overcrowded services which are unacceptable," he added.
Paul Collins of Skegness Town Council has campaigned for improved services.
He said varying check-out times "is nothing new".
"I had a meeting with EMR earlier in the year and they said the same to me," he said.
He also said Skegness "already has luggage storage".
"It's dreadful because I know people who cut short their holidays because they don't want to travel home on the really busy trains or they come over the day before and stay somewhere else before they check-in to Butlin's or wherever they're going," he said.
EMR is expected to transfer into public ownership by the end of 2027.
In a statement following the meeting, EMR said it provided 8,200 more seats per week on the service during the summer and that "the air-conditioning system on the nearly 30-year-old fleet was operating at the maximum capacity available".
It said increasing the number of carriages is "subject to wider constraints" and would require approval from the Department for Transport and Network Rail.
The Department for Transport said: "Performance on EMR's Skegness route during the summer fell below the standards passengers rightly expect, and we have been clear that privately operated EMR needs to do everything they can to resolve the issues as quickly as possible to minimise the impact and give passengers a more reliable service.
"We continue to work with EMR and other industry partners to consider how EMR could best meet passenger demand, taking into account passenger experience, infrastructure and value for money."
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