52
FEATURE
I
n June 2013, Rail Engineer carried my article on electrification of the Midland Main Line (MML), entitled ‘Sparking the Midlands’. The Midlands centre of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers Railway Division arranges a businessrelated colloquium in Derby every two years. With the announcements of expanding electrification in the United Kingdom and, in particular, the Midland Main Line, the committee decided to organise the event that year around the emerging details of the project to electrify the route. The presentation was very positive about the works and the transformation they would make.
Since that successful conference, much has happened, with the national railway electrification programme changing out of all recognition. As for the plan to electrify the MML, this emerged from the design and consultation/review process as an abbreviated scheme carrying the short title ‘L2C’, or London to Corby. The physical aspect, however, actually covered Bedford to Corby, with a planned extension to Market
PETER STANTON
Harborough; the reconstruction and major track remodelling at that location being covered in Rail Engineer magazine (see Issue 181, Jan/Feb 2020). To recap, the Midland Railway’s main line from St Pancras to Sheffield, Derby and Nottingham has not received any significant investment for some considerable time. The southern part of the line, to Bedford, was electrified in the early 1980s and British Rail InterCity made a decision to deploy a portion of its High Speed Train diesel fleet to cover the longer distances, also in the 1980s. Signalling was modernised in a piecemeal fashion and mechanical signalling remained between Bedford and Trent Junction until the 1980s, when Leicester Power Signal Box was completed; opportunities being taken to upgrade the overall line speed to 110 mph. For such a strategically important route, the end-to-end speed remained low until proposals for electrification and linespeed improvement came to the fore in recent years. Much clearance and capacity work has taken place on the line, with electrification construction proceeding apace, reaching the current position at the end of the year with much of the electric railway infrastructure in place, and testing and commissioning under way.
Progress report Rail Engineer magazine was pleased to be invited to a presentation on behalf of the route and the Train Operating Company management hosted by Rachel Lowe, head of communications for the East Midlands route of Network Rail. Rachel was accompanied by her route and project colleagues, and further content was ably added by the East Midlands Railway team. The progress report highlighted the May 2021 timetable change and the results expected to emerge from it. Customers will benefit from a better experience with a considerable increase in the number of seats and quicker journeys. Whilst acknowledging that 2020 had been a challenging year for all, Rachel was able to emphasise the sustainable introduction of electric trains into the East Midlands franchise for the first time. This will result in more travel opportunities and a simpler and more consistent timetable, with earlier morning and later evening services. Further into this positive future, the works form a major milestone towards the new rolling stock - the Aurora trains planned for introduction in 2023. All of this progress could allow an exciting anticipation of electrification further north to Sheffield. Notwithstanding the significant route refurbishment and upgrade along the way, the electrification works take the high ground for visibility and some useful statistics emerged for the continuing construction between Bedford and Corby. Current progress had allowed the first stage (Bedford to Irchester) to go live on 19 July 2020 and the final stage (Irchester to Corby) to go live on 23 August 2020.
Midland Main Line
Rail Engineer | Issue 189 | Mar-Apr 2021
revisited
