UK Coal, who owned and maintained the mine, were waiting for a contract to make it worth investing money to open up a new seam.

[5] The ECML became very congested and a connection the South Yorkshire Joint Railway (SYJR) was considered, also linking the new Firbeck Colliery (sinking started in 1923) near Carlton in Lindrick.

The forecast for Harworth was 5000 tons per day; this would have meant more congestion, so the opportunity was taken by the new owners on the SYJR (LNER and the LMS) to build the line to connect both collieries.

The coal early on was from the Barnsley seam, the top layer being good for steaming and the lower parts for house and coking (mix).

The Flying Scotsman locomotive, one of the most famous steam engines in the world (now owned by the National Railway Museum) was burning Harworth coal[citation needed] when it covered the 392 miles from London to Edinburgh in a record seven hours and 27 minutes in 1932.

UK Coal, which operated four deep collieries and several surface mines, reported that pre-tax profits had jumped by 292% to £69 million in the year 2007.

In 2008 work started underground at Harworth Colliery to make good several kilometres of roadway and infrastructure to enable access to the millions of tonnes of coal that remain to be mined.

Also a team of experts was assembled at the groups HQ tasked with planning the methods of accessing the remaining coal[6] however in April 2016 the Harworth colliery was demolished to make way for housing.