Editing Robin Hood Line (section)

==Proposed extension==
Just north of Shirebrook station is a junction with a freight branch line that was used for coal traffic to High Marnham power station via [[Warsop]], [[Edwinstowe]] and [[Ollerton]]. Following closure of the power station the line is disused but has been kept open and fully maintained as a test track for driver training.<ref name="bbc">
{{cite web
  |url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/nottinghamshire/8191485.stm
  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200317160500/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/nottinghamshire/8191485.stm
  |archive-date=17 March 2020 |url-status=live
  |title = Hope for Robin Hood branch line
  |publisher = BBC
  |date = 9 August 2009
  |access-date = 21 February 2010
}}</ref>
In mid-2009 [[Nottinghamshire County Council]] commissioned a feasibility study to consider a plan to extend the Robin Hood Line along this route by extending the current hourly service between [[Nottingham railway station|Nottingham]] and [[Mansfield Woodhouse railway station|Mansfield Woodhouse]] to Ollerton, calling at Shirebrook, Warsop and Edwinstowe (for [[Center Parcs Sherwood Forest]] holiday resort). Nottinghamshire CC have remained keen on the idea, and met with the rail minister Claire Perry in March 2016 to press for the scheme to be adopted. The new line would be about {{convert|6|mi|km}} long, but as much of it is used for driver training, only about {{convert|2|mi|km}} of new track would be required, and the infrastructure is still in good condition.<ref name="guardian">
{{cite web
  |url=https://nottstv.com/talks-begin-extend-robin-hood-rail-line-build-new-stations/
  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160625085522/http://nottstv.com/talks-begin-extend-robin-hood-rail-line-build-new-stations/
  |archive-date=25 June 2016 |url-status=live
  |title=Talks begin to extend Robin Hood rail line and build new stations
  |first=Kieran |last=Matthews
  |publisher=Notts TV
  |date=1 March 2016
  |access-date=17 March 2020
}}</ref>
A report produced for Nottinghamshire CC in February 2016 suggested that the likely costs of reinstatement, including the rebuilding of the three stations, would be between £18.9M and £24.5M, with signalling accounting for more than half of that figure.{{sfn |Hodgson |2016 |p=6}} Operating costs were estimated to be some £1.6M per year, with revenue from fares expected to be a little over half of that, and the rest to be found from subsidies.{{sfn |Hodgson |2016 |p=4}} A condition of the awarding of a new East Midlands franchise for operating the line in 2019 was that the operator was required to produce a business case for the extension to Ollerton.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2019-07-23/debates/898E8423-2ACC-4983-96E2-DAB44B6FD3A9/TransportLinksNottinghamshire |title=Transport Links: Nottinghamshire, volume 663, column 564WH |publisher=Hansard |date=23 July 2019}}</ref>

There are also plans to reinstate passenger trains over the freight-only line from {{stnlnk|Kirkby-in-Ashfield}} to the closed [[Pye Bridge railway station]] on the [[Erewash Valley line]]. The line, which has been named the Maid Marian line, has been championed by Ashfield District Council, as it would greatly improve access to the proposed Toton HS2 station for residents in the area. In February 2020, they commissioned a public consultation on the idea,{{sfn|Sandeman |2020}} and in November 2020 submitted a bid for the second round of the government's [[Restoring Your Railway]] fund, to cover the cost of a feasibility study. The project was one of fifteen schemes which were successful in obtaining such funding.<ref name="NIS">{{Cite web|url=https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/938049/NIS_final_web_single_page.pdf|title=National Infrastructure Strategy|page=41|website=GOV.UK|publisher=HM Treasury|date=November 2020|access-date=4 August 2021}}</ref>