Great Central Main Line
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The Great Central Main Line (GCML), also known as the London Extension of the
Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway The Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway (MS&LR) was formed in 1847 when the Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester Railway joined with authorised but unbuilt railway companies, forming a proposed network from Manchester to Grimsb ...
(MS&LR), is a former railway line in the United Kingdom. The line was opened in 1899 and built by the
Great Central Railway The Great Central Railway in England was formed when the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway changed its name in 1897, anticipating the opening in 1899 of its London Extension. On 1 January 1923, the company was grouped into the ...
running from
Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...
in the
North of England Northern England, also known as the North of England, the North Country, or simply the North, is the northern area of England. It broadly corresponds to the former borders of Angle Northumbria, the Anglo-Scandinavian Kingdom of Jorvik, and the ...
, southwards through
Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...
and
Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...
to
Marylebone Marylebone (usually , also , ) is a district in the West End of London, in the City of Westminster. Oxford Street, Europe's busiest shopping street, forms its southern boundary. An Civil parish#Ancient parishes, ancient parish and latterly a ...
in London. The GCML was the last main line railway to be built in Britain during the
Victorian period In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardian ...
. Built by the railway entrepreneur
Edward Watkin Sir Edward William Watkin, 1st Baronet (26 September 1819 – 13 April 1901) was a British Member of Parliament and railway entrepreneur. He was an ambitious visionary, and presided over large-scale railway engineering projects to fulfil his b ...
with the aim to run as a fast trunk route from the North and the
East Midlands The East Midlands is one of nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. It comprises the eastern half of the area traditionally known as the Midlands. It consists of Leicestershire, Derbyshire, Li ...
to London and the south of England. Initially not a financial success, it recovered under the leadership of
Sam Fay Sir Sam Fay TD (30 December 1856 – 30 May 1953), born in Hamble-le-Rice, Hampshire, England, was a career railwayman who joined the London and South Western Railway as a clerk in 1872 and rose to become the last General Manager of the Great Ce ...
. Although initially planned for long-distance passenger services, in practice the line's most important function became to carry goods traffic, notably coal. In the 1960s, the line was considered by
Dr Beeching Richard Beeching, Baron Beeching (21 April 1913 – 23 March 1985), commonly known as Dr Beeching, was a physicist and engineer who for a short but very notable time was chairman of British Railways. He became a household name in Britain in the ...
as an unnecessary duplication of other lines that served the same places, especially the
Midland Main Line The Midland Main Line is a major railway line in England from London to Nottingham and Sheffield in the Midlands. It comprises the lines from London's St Pancras station via Leicester, Derby/Nottingham and Chesterfield in the East Midlands ...
and to a lesser extent the
West Coast Main Line The West Coast Main Line (WCML) is one of the most important railway corridors in the United Kingdom, connecting the major cities of London and Glasgow with branches to Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester and Edinburgh. It is one of the busiest ...
. Most of the route was closed between 1966 and 1969 under the Beeching axe. Parts of the former main line have been preserved as the
Great Central Railway The Great Central Railway in England was formed when the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway changed its name in 1897, anticipating the opening in 1899 of its London Extension. On 1 January 1923, the company was grouped into the ...
between Leicester and
Loughborough Loughborough ( ) is a market town in the Charnwood borough of Leicestershire, England, the seat of Charnwood Borough Council and Loughborough University. At the 2011 census the town's built-up area had a population of 59,932 , the second larg ...
, and the
Nottingham Heritage Railway The Nottingham Heritage Railway (formerly known as Great Central Railway (Nottingham) and Nottingham Transport Heritage Centre) is a heritage railway and transport museum on the south side of the village of Ruddington in Nottinghamshire. Th ...
between Loughborough South Junction and Ruddington's former GCR station site. At the end of the 20th century and in the 21st century, the line has been subject to a range of proposals for its use and reuse.


Route

The GCML was very much a strategic line in concept. It was not intended to duplicate the Midland line by serving a great many centres of population. Instead it was intended to link the MS&LR's system stretching across northern England directly to London at as high a speed as possible and with a minimum of stops and connections: thus much of its route ran through sparsely populated countryside. The new construction started at north of
Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...
, running for in a relatively direct southward route ending at Quainton Road north of Aylesbury. The line left the crowded corridor through
Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...
(and ), which was also used by the Great Northern Railway (GNR), then struck off to its new railway station at , passing
Loughborough Loughborough ( ) is a market town in the Charnwood borough of Leicestershire, England, the seat of Charnwood Borough Council and Loughborough University. At the 2011 census the town's built-up area had a population of 59,932 , the second larg ...
''en route'', where it crossed the Midland main line. Four railway companies served Leicester: GCR, Midland, GNR, and LNWR. Avoiding
Wigston Wigston, or Wigston Magna, is a town in Leicestershire, England, just south of Leicester on the A5199. It had a population of 32,321 in 2011. Geography Wigston is south of the city of Leicester, at the centre of Leicestershire and the East ...
, the GCR served (the only town on the GCR not to be served by another railway company) before reaching the town of
Rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...
(at ), where it crossed at right-angles over, and did not connect with, the LNWR's
West Coast Main Line The West Coast Main Line (WCML) is one of the most important railway corridors in the United Kingdom, connecting the major cities of London and Glasgow with branches to Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester and Edinburgh. It is one of the busiest ...
. It continued southwards to , where there was a connection with the
East and West Junction Railway East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fac ...
(later incorporated into the
Stratford-upon-Avon and Midland Junction Railway Stratford-upon-Avon (), commonly known as just Stratford, is a market town and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon district, in the county of Warwickshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It is situated on the River Avon, north-we ...
), and slightly further south the GCR branch to the
Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...
station at diverged. From Woodford Halse the route continued approximately south-east via to and , where Great Central trains joined the Metropolitan Railway (later
Metropolitan and Great Central Joint Railway The Metropolitan and Great Central Joint Railway was a joint railway company that controlled a line extending from Harrow on the Hill in what is now north-western Greater London to Verney Junction in Buckinghamshire, England. Owned by the Met ...
) via into London. Partly because of disagreements with the Metropolitan Railway (MetR) over use of their tracks at the southern end of the route, the company built the
Great Western and Great Central Joint Railway The Great Western and Great Central Joint Railway was a railway built and operated jointly by the Great Western Railway (GWR) and Great Central Railway (GCR) between Northolt (in north west London) and Ashendon Junction (west of Aylesbury). It was ...
joint line (1906) from
Grendon Underwood Grendon Underwood is a village and civil parish in west Buckinghamshire, England, near the border with Oxfordshire. The village sits between Woodham and Edgcott, near the Roman road Akeman Street (now part of the A41), and around north-west o ...
to
Ashendon Junction Ashendon Junction in Buckinghamshire, England, was a major mainline railway junction where, from July 1910, the Great Western Railway's (GWR) London-Birmingham direct route diverged from the Great Central Railway's (GCR) main London-Sheffield r ...
, by-passing the greater part of the MetR's tracks. Apart from a small freight branch to Gotham between Nottingham and Loughborough, and the "
Alternative Route Alternative or alternate may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Alternative (''Kamen Rider''), a character in the Japanese TV series ''Kamen Rider Ryuki'' * ''The Alternative'' (film), a 1978 Australian television film * ''The Alternative ...
" link added later (1906), these were the only branch lines from the London extension. The line crossed several other railways but had few junctions with them. North of Sheffield, express trains on the London extension made use of the pre-existing MS&LR trans- Pennine main line, the Woodhead Line (now also closed) to give access to (now named Manchester Piccadilly).


History


Reasons for construction

In 1864 Sir
Edward Watkin Sir Edward William Watkin, 1st Baronet (26 September 1819 – 13 April 1901) was a British Member of Parliament and railway entrepreneur. He was an ambitious visionary, and presided over large-scale railway engineering projects to fulfil his b ...
took over directorship of the
Manchester, Sheffield & Lincolnshire Railway The Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway (MS&LR) was formed in 1847 when the Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester Railway joined with authorised but unbuilt railway companies, forming a proposed network from Manchester to Grimsb ...
(MS&LR). He had grand ambitions for the company: he had plans to transform it from a provincial middle-of-the-road railway company into a major national player. He grew tired of handing over potentially lucrative London-bound traffic to rivals, and, after several unsuccessful attempts in the 1870s to co-build a line to London with other companies, decided that the MS&LR needed to create its own route to the capital. Construction of the GCML was commissioned to enable Watkin's railway company to operate its own direct express route to London independently of — and in competition with — rival railway companies. At the time many people questioned the wisdom of building the line, as all the significant population centres which the line traversed were already served by other companies. However, Watkin defended it by arguing that growth in traffic would justify the new line. Watkin was an ambitious visionary; as well as running an independent trunk route into London, where he was chairman of the Metropolitan Railway, he was also involved in a project to dig a
channel tunnel The Channel Tunnel (french: Tunnel sous la Manche), also known as the Chunnel, is a railway tunnel that connects Folkestone (Kent, England, UK) with Coquelles ( Hauts-de-France, France) beneath the English Channel at the Strait of Dover. ...
under the
English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...
to connect with the rail network of France, a scheme vetoed several times by the
British Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative supremacy ...
for fear of military invasion by France; however, this project was effectively moribund by the time work on the GCML commenced, and historians who have examined the available
primary source In the study of history as an academic discipline, a primary source (also called an original source) is an artifact, document, diary, manuscript, autobiography, recording, or any other source of information that was created at the time under ...
s have found no contemporaneous statement by Watkin that he envisaged through workings over the lines he controlled from Manchester to France. Although it is frequently claimed (by authors not referencing primary sources) that Watkin's Great Central Main Line was designed to a continental European loading gauge, more generous than the usual specification on British railway lines, with the aim of accommodating larger continental rolling stock when the line could be connected to a future channel tunnel this is untrue: it was built to the standard Great Central loading gauge of the time, which was in fact slightly more restrictive than some other British railways; and it was certainly not to Berne gauge which is some 8 in. (200 mm) taller and was not agreed and adopted until 1912/13.


The Derbyshire Lines

Prior to the construction of the London Extension proper, the MS&LR had extended its reach southwards from its main trans-Pennine axis. In 1889 the company obtained an Act of Parliament to construct a line from Woodhouse Junction on its original Sheffield to Lincoln main line to
Annesley Annesley is a village and civil parish in the Ashfield district of Nottinghamshire, England, between Hucknall and Kirkby-in-Ashfield. At the 2011 census, it had a population of 1,162 (including Annesley Woodhouse to the west). Annesley Hall ...
in
Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The traditi ...
. The 'Derbyshire Lines' also included a loop line passing through
Chesterfield Chesterfield may refer to: Places Canada * Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan * Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom * Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England ** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...
. The primary purpose of the Derbyshire Lines was to give the MS&LR access to the collieries of Nottinghamshire, but also served as the first phase in the company's plan to construct an independent route to London. At Annesley the line from Woodhouse ran into the northern end of the marshalling yard built and operated by the Great Northern Railway (GNR) since 1882. This yard was adjacent to Newstead colliery and also had a connection with the
Midland Railway The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had its headquarters. It am ...
. Thus MS&LR trains could run through onto the GNR's Leen Valley line and so southwards onto the rest of the GNR network via Nottingham and
Grantham Grantham () is a market and industrial town in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England, situated on the banks of the River Witham and bounded to the west by the A1 road. It lies some 23 miles (37 km) south of the Lincoln and ...
to the terminus of the GNR at King's Cross. This gave the MS&LR a more convenient route to send both freight and passenger traffic (the latter by through-coaches and ticketing agreements with the GNR) to London from its main line. Annesley was also only a little more than from London. The Derbyshire Lines opened in 1892 and 1893 and by the time these routes were in full operation the MS&LR was already seeking parliamentary approval for the London Extension. Once the London Extension was opened (and the MS&LR had become the Great Central Railway) the Derbyshire Lines were, for all practical purposes, treated as a continuation of the new main line to London, with the entire route from Sheffield Victoria to London Marylebone (via the original MS&LR main line, the Derbyshire Lines and the London Extension) being considered as the Great Central Main Line.


Construction of the line

In the 1890s the MS&LR set about building its own line, having received parliamentary approval on 28 March 1893, for the London extension. The bill nearly failed due to opposition from cricketers at the
Marylebone Cricket Club Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London. The club was formerly the governing body of cricket retaining considerable global influence ...
in London through which the line would pass, but it was agreed to put the line through a tunnel under the grounds. The first sod of the new railway was cut at Alpha Road, St John's Wood, London, on 13 November 1894 by Countess Wharncliffe, wife of 1st Earl of Wharncliffe, the chairman of the board. The new line, long, started at Annesley, being in effect an extension of the newly completed Derbyshire Lines. The new London-bound line started at the northern entrance to the Annesley marshalling yard (this point becoming the new Annesley North Junction) from where it passed to the east of the sidings and the GNR Leen Valley line before bridging over both the GNR and Midland lines at
Linby Linby is a small village and civil parish in Nottinghamshire, England. The nearest town is Hucknall which is immediately to the south-west. The village grew up around the mills on the River Leen, from which Linby's name is derived. Small stre ...
and heading to Nottingham. The southern end of the London Extension was at Quainton Road in
Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...
. From here, the route followed the existing Metropolitan Railway (MetR) extension which became joint MetR/GCR owned as far as Harrow and thence along the (GCR owned) final section to
Marylebone station Marylebone station ( ) is a Central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station in the Marylebone area of the City of Westminster. On the National Rail network it is also known as London Marylebone and is the southern ter ...
. Construction of the route involved some major engineering works, including three new major city-centre stations (, and Marylebone) along with many smaller ones. A number of new
viaduct A viaduct is a specific type of bridge that consists of a series of arches, piers or columns supporting a long elevated railway or road. Typically a viaduct connects two points of roughly equal elevation, allowing direct overpass across a wide v ...
s were constructed for the line including the 21-arch Brackley Viaduct, and viaducts at
Braunston Braunston is a village and civil parish in West Northamptonshire, England, next to the border with Warwickshire. At the 2011 Census, the parish had a population of 1,759. Braunston is situated just off the A45 main road and lies between the to ...
, Staverton and Catesby in
Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...
, a steel lattice viaduct known as the 'bird cage' bridge carried the GCML over the
West Coast Main Line The West Coast Main Line (WCML) is one of the most important railway corridors in the United Kingdom, connecting the major cities of London and Glasgow with branches to Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester and Edinburgh. It is one of the busiest ...
at
Rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...
, while another viaduct was built over the River Soar, along with two over
Swithland Reservoir Swithland Reservoir is a reservoir in the English county of Leicestershire. It is north-east of the village of Swithland from which it takes its name, north-west of Rothley and approximately south-west of Mountsorrel Quarry. It is part of the ...
in
Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...
, and one over the
River Trent The Trent is the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, third-longest river in the United Kingdom. Its Source (river or stream), source is in Staffordshire, on the southern edge of Biddulph Moor. It flows through and drains the North Midland ...
near Nottingham. Several tunnels had to be built, the longest of which was the
Catesby Tunnel Catesby Tunnel is a disused railway tunnel in Northamptonshire on the route of the former Great Central Main Line. Its northern portal is about south of Catesby Viaduct and west of Upper Catesby, with the tunnel ending at Charwelton to th ...
. Many miles of cuttings and embankments were also built. The construction of the railway through Nottingham and the station involved heavy earthworks with of tunnelling and almost of viaduct. The site for
Nottingham Victoria railway station Nottingham Victoria railway station was a Great Central Railway and Great Northern Railway railway station in Nottingham, England. It was designed by the architect Albert Edward Lambert, who also designed the rebuild of the Nottingham Midland ...
required the demolition of 1,300 houses, 20 public houses and the clearing of a cutting from which of sandstone were removed. The purchase of the land cost £473,000 (), and the construction of the station brought the sum to over £1,000,000. The original estimated cost for the construction of the line was £3,132,155, however in the event it cost £11,500,000 (), nearly four times the original estimate. Features of the line were: * The line was engineered to very high standards: a ruling gradient of 1 in 176 (
Per mille (from Latin , "in each thousand") is an expression that means parts per thousand. Other recognised spellings include per mil, per mill, permil, permill, or permille. The associated sign is written , which looks like a percent si ...
) (exceeded in only a few locations on the London extension) was employed; curves of a minimum radius of (except in city areas) were used; and there was only one level crossing between Sheffield Victoria and London Marylebone (at , still in use). * The standardised design of stations, almost all of which were built to an "
island platform An island platform (also center platform, centre platform) is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway interchange. Island platforms are popular on ...
" design with one platform between the two tracks instead of two at each side. This would aid any future plans to add extra tracks (as was done in several locations). The line was formally opened by
Charles Ritchie, 1st Baron Ritchie of Dundee Charles Thomson Ritchie, 1st Baron Ritchie of Dundee, (19 November 1838 – 9 January 1906) was a British businessman and Conservative politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1874 until 1905 when he was raised to the peerage. He ser ...
,
President of the Board of Trade The president of the Board of Trade is head of the Board of Trade. This is a committee of the His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, Privy Council of the United Kingdom, first established as a temporary committee of inquiry in the 17th centu ...
on 9 March 1899. Three special corridor trains, forming part of the new rolling stock constructed for the new line, were run from Manchester, Sheffield and Nottingham to the terminus at Marylebone for the inaugural ceremony. A lunch for nearly 300 guests was provided, and then the trains made the return trip. Public passenger services began on 15 March 1899, and for goods traffic on 11 April 1899. Shortly before the opening of the new line, the MS&LR changed its name to the grander-sounding "
Great Central Railway The Great Central Railway in England was formed when the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway changed its name in 1897, anticipating the opening in 1899 of its London Extension. On 1 January 1923, the company was grouped into the ...
" (GCR) to reflect its new-found national ambitions. The London extension was the last mainline railway line to be built in Britain until section one of
High Speed 1 High Speed 1 (HS1), legally the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL), is a high-speed railway linking London with the Channel Tunnel. It is part of a line carrying international passenger traffic between the United Kingdom and mainland Europe; ...
opened in 2003. It was also the shortest-lived intercity railway line.


Traffic on the London extension


Passenger

The London Extension's main competitor was the
Midland Railway The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had its headquarters. It am ...
which had served the route between London, the East Midlands and Sheffield since the 1860s on its
Midland Main Line The Midland Main Line is a major railway line in England from London to Nottingham and Sheffield in the Midlands. It comprises the lines from London's St Pancras station via Leicester, Derby/Nottingham and Chesterfield in the East Midlands ...
. Traffic was slow to establish itself on the new line, passenger traffic especially so. Enticing customers away from the established lines into London was more difficult than the GCR's builders had hoped. However, there was some success in appealing to higher-class 'business' travellers in providing high-speed luxurious trains, promoted by the jingle 'Rapid Travel in Luxury'. These were in a way the first long-distance commuter trains. The Great Central also became important for cross-country trains, which took advantage of its connections to other lines. In the late-1930s heyday of fast long-distance passenger steam trains, there were six crack expresses a day from Marylebone to Sheffield, calling at Leicester and Nottingham, and onto Manchester. Some of these achieved a LondonSheffield timing of 3 hours and 6 minutes in 1939, making them fully competitive with the rival Midland service out of St Pancras as far as journey time was concerned.


Freight

Freight traffic grew healthily and became the lifeblood of the line, the staples being coal, iron ore, steel, and fish and banana trains. The connection with the
Stratford-upon-Avon and Midland Junction Railway Stratford-upon-Avon (), commonly known as just Stratford, is a market town and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon district, in the county of Warwickshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It is situated on the River Avon, north-we ...
at
Woodford Halse Woodford Halse is a village about south of Daventry in Northamptonshire. It is in the civil parish of Woodford cum Membris , which includes also village of Hinton and hamlet of West Farndon. Hinton and Woodford Halse are separated by the inf ...
proved strategically important for freight on the route. Another major centre for freight was at
Annesley Annesley is a village and civil parish in the Ashfield district of Nottinghamshire, England, between Hucknall and Kirkby-in-Ashfield. At the 2011 census, it had a population of 1,162 (including Annesley Woodhouse to the west). Annesley Hall ...
. The relatively sparse passenger service on the GCML, especially as traffic declined after the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, allowed time and room on the line for more heavy fast freight services than on the busier Midland Main Line or East Coast Main Line. In 1947 the
LNER LNER may refer to: * London and North Eastern Railway, a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1923 until 1947 * London North Eastern Railway, a train operating company in the United Kingdom since 2018 * Liquid neutral earthing resistor, a typ ...
began running special fast coal trains between
Annesley Annesley is a village and civil parish in the Ashfield district of Nottinghamshire, England, between Hucknall and Kirkby-in-Ashfield. At the 2011 census, it had a population of 1,162 (including Annesley Woodhouse to the west). Annesley Hall ...
and
Woodford Halse Woodford Halse is a village about south of Daventry in Northamptonshire. It is in the civil parish of Woodford cum Membris , which includes also village of Hinton and hamlet of West Farndon. Hinton and Woodford Halse are separated by the inf ...
- a distance of around 70 miles (112km). Wagons filled from the South Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire collieries were assembled into trains at Annesley and taken to Woodford Halse where they would be sorted into separate onward trains depending on the wagons' destination to the south. The relatively sparse service pattern on the GCML and the line's high engineering standards with near-continuous but gentle rising and falling gradients, made it possible to run these trains at much higher speeds than was normal. Coal trains, consisting of mineral wagons not equipped with brakes that could be controlled by the driver, usually ran at no more than and had to descend steep gradients at little more than walking pace. On the GCML these trains could run at , continually but slowly accelerating away from Annesley (which kept the couplings between taught and the wagons stable) and being able to run without needing to slow for gradients or for other traffic until they slowed for arrival at Woodford Halse. Originally known as the 'Annesley Runners', these trains became known as the 'Windcutters' in the
British Railways British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...
era.


Rundown and closure

In the 1923 Grouping the Great Central Railway was merged into the
London and North Eastern Railway The London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) was the second largest (after LMS) of the " Big Four" railway companies created by the Railways Act 1921 in Britain. It operated from 1 January 1923 until nationalisation on 1 January 1948. At th ...
, which in 1948 was nationalised along with the rest of Britain's railway network. The Great Central thrived in the early years of nationalisation. However, from the late 1950s onwards the freight traffic upon which the line relied started to decline, and the GCR route was largely neglected as other railway lines were thought to be more important. Although a very straight and direct line, it was designated a duplicate of the curvier
Midland Main Line The Midland Main Line is a major railway line in England from London to Nottingham and Sheffield in the Midlands. It comprises the lines from London's St Pancras station via Leicester, Derby/Nottingham and Chesterfield in the East Midlands ...
. In 1958 the line was transferred from the management of the Eastern Region to the
London Midland Region The London Midland Region (LMR) was one of the six regions created on the formation of the nationalised British Railways (BR), and initially consisted of ex-London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) lines in England, Wales and Northern Irelan ...
, whose management still had loyalties to former companies (Midland/LMS) and against their rivals GCR/LNER. In January 1960, express passenger services from London to Sheffield and Manchester were discontinued, leaving only three "semi-fast" London-Nottingham trains per day. In March 1963 local trains on many parts of the route were cancelled and many rural local stations were closed. However, at this time it was still hoped that better use of the route could be made for parcels and goods traffic. In the 1960s Beeching era, Dr Beeching decided that the London to northern England route was already well served by other lines, to which most of the traffic on the GCR could be diverted. Closure came to be seen as inevitable. The sections between Rugby and Aylesbury and between Nottingham and Sheffield were closed in 1966, leaving only an unconnected stub between Rugby and Nottingham, on which a skeleton shuttle service operated. This last stretch was closed to passenger services in May 1969. Goods trains continued to run on the London Extension between Nottingham and East Leake until 1973, and continue to run between Loughborough and East Leake to this day. There is a north branch from the Midland Main Line onto the Great Central tracks at Loughborough. The closure of the GCR was the largest single closure of the Beeching era, and one of the most controversial. In a letter published in ''
The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...
'' on 28 September 1965, Denis Anthony Brian Butler, 9th Earl of Lanesborough, a peer and railway supporter, wrote:


Remaining infrastructure

The trackbed of the stretch of main line between Calvert and Rugby, closed in 1966, is still intact except for missing viaducts at Brackley and Willoughby. Various proposals for its reopening have been made. Frequent passenger services operated by
Chiltern Railways Chiltern Railways, formally The Chiltern Railway Company Limited, is a British train operating company that has operated the Chiltern Railways franchise since July 1996. Since 2009, it has been a subsidiary of Arriva UK Trains. Chiltern Railw ...
run over the joint line between and , and also between Marylebone and (continuing northwards to , , and via the
Chiltern Main Line The Chiltern Main Line is a railway line which links London () and Birmingham ( Moor Street and Snow Hill), the United Kingdom's two largest cities, by a route via High Wycombe, Bicester, Banbury, Leamington Spa and Solihull. It is one of t ...
) using the line between Neasden South Junction and Northolt Junction which was built, maintained and run by the GCR. A short extension of Chiltern passenger services to a new Aylesbury Vale Parkway station on the Aylesbury-Bicester main road opened on 14 December 2008. There are also heritage diesel shuttle services on the May Bank Holiday and August Bank Holiday weekends between Aylesbury and Quainton Road stations, the latter serving the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre. In November 2011 HM Government allocated funding for reopening of the section between and (via
Claydon Junction Claydon railway station is a former railway station on the 'Varsity Line' (former Oxford  Cambridge line), that served the village of Steeple Claydon in Buckinghamshire. History Claydon was opened by the Buckinghamshire Railway on 1 May ...
), and between Aylesbury Vale Parkway and Claydon Junction, as part of the
East West Rail East West Rail is a major project to establish a strategic railway connecting East Anglia with Central, Southern and Western England. In particular, it plans to build (or rebuild) a line linking Oxford and Cambridge via Bicester, Milton Keyn ...
scheme, which might have seen passenger services operating between and (via ) and between London Marylebone and Milton Keynes (via Aylesbury). , this element is 'under review'; the Transport and Works Order states that no provision is to be made for a Milton Keynes Central–Marylebone service. Currently, this stretch of route is used for freight consisting of binliner (containerised domestic waste) and spoil trains going to the Calvert Waste Facility (
landfill A landfill site, also known as a tip, dump, rubbish dump, garbage dump, or dumping ground, is a site for the disposal of waste materials. Landfill is the oldest and most common form of waste disposal, although the systematic burial of the waste ...
) site at Calvert just south of Calvert station. Four container trains each day use the site, originating from
Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...
, Cricklewood and
Northolt Northolt is a town in West London, England, spread across both sides of the A40 trunk road. It is west-northwest of Charing Cross and is one of the seven major towns that make up the London Borough of Ealing. It had a population of 30,304 at ...
. There was also a daily train from Bath and
Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
(known as the "Avon Binliner") until April 2011. The containers, each of which contains 14 tonnes of waste, are unloaded at the transfer station onto lorries awaiting alongside which then transport the waste to the landfill site. The site, dating from 1977 and now one of the largest in the country, stretches to 106 hectares and partly reuses the clay pits dug out by Calvert Brickworks which closed in 1991. The
Main Line Preservation Group The Main Line Preservation Group was an organisation formed in 1968, "to acquire a suitable length of main line, for the operation of steam hauled passenger trains, at realistic speeds". The organisation's contemporary literature and advertising cl ...
was established in 1968, to preserve part of the remaining section of the Great Central main line. The group was reformed, in 1971, as Main Line Steam Trust Limited and the group's original ambitions were trimmed to exclude the section north of Loughborough. Restoration work on the line between Loughborough Central and the northern outskirts of Leicester commenced and, by 1973, Steam train services were operated under the supervision of a British Railways Inspector. In 1976 operations were transferred to Great Central Railway (1976) Limited a company that, as Great Central Railway plc, remains active to this day. The section of line between Loughborough South Junction, where the branch is connected to the Midland Mainline, and Ruddington is operated as a heritage railway by the
Great Central Railway (Nottingham) The Nottingham Heritage Railway (formerly known as Great Central Railway (Nottingham) and Nottingham Transport Heritage Centre) is a heritage railway and transport museum on the south side of the village of Ruddington in Nottinghamshire. The ...
(GCRN). The section of GCRN route between Loughborough South Jn and East Leake is maintained to mainline standard and used by trains serving the Gypsum works at East Leake. North of Ruddington, and as far as Nottingham, sections of the GCML right of way are used by the Nottingham Express Transit (NET), Nottingham's second generation
tram A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...
way. The first section is north from Ruddington Lane tram stop as far as the
River Trent The Trent is the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, third-longest river in the United Kingdom. Its Source (river or stream), source is in Staffordshire, on the southern edge of Biddulph Moor. It flows through and drains the North Midland ...
, used by the 2015-opened line 2 of NET. North of the river the Great Central route was eliminated by housing development in the 1970s and the tramway uses a different route across the river and north to
Nottingham railway station Nottingham station, briefly known as Nottingham City and for rather longer as Nottingham Midland, is a railway station and tram stop in the city of Nottingham. It is the principal railway station of Nottingham. It is also a nodal point on the ...
(the former Midland station). The GCML crossed above this on a bridge, and NET uses the same alignment to provide a tram stop at the station before transitioning back to the city streets. North of here the GCML route is blocked by the
Victoria shopping centre Victoria Centre is a shopping centre in Nottingham, England, constructed between 1967 and 1972. It contains fashion and high street chain stores as well as cafes, restaurants, a health and fitness centre, and the Nottingham Victoria bus station. ...
, built on the site of the GCR's Nottingham station. Sections of the GCML around
Rotherham Rotherham () is a large minster and market town in South Yorkshire, England. The town takes its name from the River Rother which then merges with the River Don. The River Don then flows through the town centre. It is the main settlement of ...
are open for passenger and freight traffic, indeed in the 1980s using the Great Central lines which were closer to the town centre than the former
Midland Railway The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had its headquarters. It am ...
station. Commuter
EMU The emu () (''Dromaius novaehollandiae'') is the second-tallest living bird after its ratite relative the ostrich. It is endemic to Australia where it is the largest native bird and the only extant member of the genus '' Dromaius''. The emu ...
trains run from to via . These are modern trains using 25 kV overhead wires that were installed to replace the 1500 V DC system. Daily
steel Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant ty ...
trains run from
Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...
to
Deepcar Deepcar is a village located on the eastern fringe of the town of Stocksbridge, South Yorkshire, England. It is in the electoral ward of Stocksbridge and Upper Don, approximately north-west of Sheffield city centre.Ordnance survey. 1:25000. ...
where they feed the nearby
Stocksbridge Stocksbridge is a town and civil parish, in the City of Sheffield, in South Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it lies just to the east of the Peak District. The town is located in the steep-sided valley of th ...
Steelworks owned by
Tata Group The Tata Group () is an Indian multinational conglomerate headquartered in Mumbai. Established in 1868, it is India's largest conglomerate, with products and services in over 150 countries, and operations in 100 countries across six continents ...
.


Reinstatement

An section of the line from Leicester North station to Ruddington station, south of Nottingham, is to open for heritage trains. Network Rail were involved in reinstating a bridge taking the Great Central over the Midland Main Line.


Plans and proposals


High Speed 2

In March 2010 the government announced plans for a future high-speed railway between London and
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
that would reuse about 12 miles of the GCR route. The proposed line would parallel the current Aylesbury line (former Met/GCR joint) corridor and then continue alongside the GCR line between Quainton Road and Calvert. From there it would roughly follow the disused but still extant GCR trackbed via Finmere as far as Mixbury before diverging on a new alignment towards Birmingham.


East West Rail

Plans to reopen the section of the Great Central north of Aylesbury Vale Parkway have been submitted by Network Rail as part of phase two of the proposed OxfordCambridge East–west rail. This would link Aylesbury with Bletchley and Milton Keynes. With consent granted, work could begin in 2019.


Aylesbury to Rugby

Chiltern Railways Chiltern Railways, formally The Chiltern Railway Company Limited, is a British train operating company that has operated the Chiltern Railways franchise since July 1996. Since 2009, it has been a subsidiary of Arriva UK Trains. Chiltern Railw ...
had a long-term plan to reopen the Great Central Main Line north of Aylesbury as far as Rugby and onward at a later stage to Leicester. However, in 2013 Chiltern Railways stated that the plan was "no longer active". In January 2019, advocacy group the Campaign for Better Transport released a report in which they listed the line between Aylesbury and Rugby (and between Marylebone and Leicester) as Priority 2 for reopening. Priority 2 is for those lines which require further development or a change in circumstances (such as housing developments).


Freight and relief line reopening

Central Railway Ltd, a company founded in 1991, proposed to re-open the GCR largely as a freight link following the completion of the
Channel Tunnel The Channel Tunnel (french: Tunnel sous la Manche), also known as the Chunnel, is a railway tunnel that connects Folkestone (Kent, England, UK) with Coquelles ( Hauts-de-France, France) beneath the English Channel at the Strait of Dover. ...
rail link. These proposals faced financial, environmental and social difficulties and were rejected by Parliament twice. In 2002 the Labour MP for Luton North,
Kelvin Hopkins Kelvin Peter Hopkins (born 22 August 1941) is a British politician. He was first elected as the Labour Member of Parliament for Luton North in 1997. Hopkins was suspended by the Labour Party in 2017 after allegations of sexual misconduct were ...
, proposed the re-opening of the GCR as Central Railway, a freight line for a direct container transport connection between northern England and the rest of Europe. He advocated the line's reopening in 2013 as a cheaper alternative to
HS2 High Speed 2 (HS2) is a planned high-speed railway line in England, the first phase of which is under construction in stages and due for completion between 2029 and 2033, depending on approval for later stages. The new line will run from its m ...
. In August 2017, a voluntary lobby group (the English Regional Transport Association) proposed that the line between and be reopened using the European standard loading gauge. The proposal includes a new stretch bypassing the western side of Rugby and would join the
West Coast Main Line The West Coast Main Line (WCML) is one of the most important railway corridors in the United Kingdom, connecting the major cities of London and Glasgow with branches to Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester and Edinburgh. It is one of the busiest ...
. A petition online by ERTA has proposed the line should be reopened all the way to Manchester as it would increase capacity on the network with a loop at
Buckingham Buckingham ( ) is a market town in north Buckinghamshire, England, close to the borders of Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire, which had a population of 12,890 at the 2011 Census. The town lies approximately west of Central Milton Keynes, sou ...
and new stations at
Daventry Daventry ( , historically ) is a market town and civil parish in the West Northamptonshire unitary authority in Northamptonshire, England, close to the border with Warwickshire. At the 2021 Census Daventry had a population of 28,123, making ...
and
Brackley Brackley is a market town and civil parish in West Northamptonshire, England, bordering Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire, from Oxford and from Northampton. Historically a market town based on the wool and lace trade, it was built on the inters ...
with a link to the East West Rail at . New sections of track will be required in some areas if this does happen. In October 2017, the group proposed that the line be reopened between Calvert and Rugby for a new relief route from the West Coast Main Line with a new link to Nuneaton. These proposals have no official recognition and are unfunded.


Restoring Your Railway Fund bids

In March 2021, two bids were submitted to restore the line from to via and the line between and via , as part of the third round of the Restoring Your Railway fund.


References


Sources

* *


External links

* {{Transport in Buckinghamshire Great Central Railway Railway lines opened in 1899 1899 establishments in England