The West Coast Main Line (WCML) is one of the most important railway corridors in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
, connecting the major cities of
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
and
Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
with branches to
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 ...
,
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
,
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
and
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
. It is one of the busiest mixed-traffic railway routes in Europe, carrying a mixture of
intercity rail
Inter-city rail services are express passenger train services that run services that connect cities over longer distances than commuter or regional trains.
There is no precise definition of inter-city rail; its meaning may vary from country ...
,
regional rail
Regional rail, also known as local trains and stopping trains, are passenger rail services that operate between towns and cities. These trains operate with more stops over shorter distances than inter-city rail, but fewer stops and faster serv ...
,
commuter rail
Commuter rail, or suburban rail, is a passenger rail transport service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting commuters to a central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter towns. Generally commuter rail systems are con ...
and
rail freight
Rail freight transport is the use of railroads and trains to transport cargo as opposed to human passengers.
A freight train, cargo train, or goods train is a group of freight cars (US) or goods wagons (International Union of Railways) hauled ...
traffic. The core route of the WCML runs from London to Glasgow for and was opened from 1837 to 1869. With additional lines deviating to Northampton, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Edinburgh, this totals a route mileage of .
The
Glasgow–Edinburgh via Carstairs line
The Glasgow–Edinburgh via Carstairs line is a main railway route which connects the Scottish cities of Glasgow and Edinburgh, by means of their respective sections of the West Coast Main Line (WCML).
Along with the Shotts line, the Falki ...
connects the WCML to
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
, however the main London–Edinburgh route is the
East Coast Main Line
The East Coast Main Line (ECML) is a electrified railway between London and Edinburgh via Peterborough, Doncaster, York, Darlington, Durham and Newcastle. The line is a key transport artery on the eastern side of Great Britain running broa ...
. Several sections of the WCML form part of the
suburban railway
Commuter rail, or suburban rail, is a passenger rail transport service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting commuters to a central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter towns. Generally commuter rail systems are cons ...
systems in London, Coventry, Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester and Glasgow, with many more smaller commuter stations, as well as providing links to more rural towns.
It is one of the busiest freight routes in Europe, carrying 40% of all UK
rail freight
Rail freight transport is the use of railroads and trains to transport cargo as opposed to human passengers.
A freight train, cargo train, or goods train is a group of freight cars (US) or goods wagons (International Union of Railways) hauled ...
traffic. The line is the principal rail freight corridor linking the European mainland (via 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. ...
) through London and South East England to the West Midlands, North West England and Scotland. The line has been declared a strategic European route and designated a priority
Trans-European Networks
The Trans-European Networks (TEN) were created by the European Union by Articles 154–156 of the Treaty of Rome (1957), with the stated goals of the creation of an internal market and the reinforcement of economic and social cohesion. To various ...
(TENS) route. A number of railway writers refer to it as "The Premier line".
The WCML was not originally conceived as a single route, but was built as a patchwork of local lines which were linked together, built by various companies, the largest of which amalgamated in 1846 to create the
London and North Western Railway
The London and North Western Railway (LNWR, L&NWR) was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. In the late 19th century, the L&NWR was the largest joint stock company in the United Kingdom.
In 1923, it became a constituent of the Lo ...
(LNWR), which then gradually absorbed most of the others; the exceptions were the
Caledonian Railway
The Caledonian Railway (CR) was a major Scottish railway company. It was formed in the early 19th century with the objective of forming a link between English railways and Glasgow. It progressively extended its network and reached Edinburgh an ...
in Scotland, and the
North Staffordshire Railway
The North Staffordshire Railway (NSR) was a British railway company formed in 1845 to promote a number of lines in the Staffordshire Potteries and surrounding areas in Staffordshire, Cheshire, Derbyshire and Shropshire.
The company was based i ...
(NSR) which both remained independent until 1923. The core route was mostly built between the 1830s and 1850s, but several cut-off routes and branches were built in later decades. In 1923 the entire route came under the ownership of the
London, Midland and Scottish Railway
The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMSIt has been argued that the initials LMSR should be used to be consistent with LNER, GWR and SR. The London, Midland and Scottish Railway's corporate image used LMS, and this is what is generally u ...
(LMS) when the railway companies were grouped under the
Railways Act 1921
The Railways Act 1921 (c. 55), also known as the Grouping Act, was an Act of Parliament enacted by the British government and intended to stem the losses being made by many of the country's 120 railway companies, by "grouping" them into four la ...
. The LMS itself was
nationalised
Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to pri ...
in 1947 to form part of
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 ...
(BR).
As the most important long distance railway trunk route in the UK, BR carried out an extensive programme of modernisation of the WCML between the late-1950s and early-1970s, which included full overhead
electrification
Electrification is the process of powering by electricity and, in many contexts, the introduction of such power by changing over from an earlier power source.
The broad meaning of the term, such as in the history of technology, economic histor ...
of the route, and the introduction of modern intercity passenger services at speeds of up to . Further abortive modernisation schemes were proposed, including the introduction of the
Advanced Passenger Train
The Advanced Passenger Train (APT) was a tilting high speed train developed by British Rail during the 1970s and early 1980s, for use on the West Coast Main Line (WCML). The WCML contained many curves, and the APT pioneered the concept of activ ...
(APT) in the 1980s; an ill-fated high speed train which used
tilting technology
A tilting train is a train that has a mechanism enabling increased speed on regular rail tracks. As a train (or other vehicle) rounds a curve at speed, objects inside the train experience centrifugal force. This can cause packages to slide abo ...
, which was required to allow faster speeds on the curving route, and the abortive
InterCity 250
The InterCity 250 was an electric railway project undertaken by British Rail in the late 1980s. The InterCity 250 train would have consisted of a Class 93 electric locomotive, nine Mark 5 coaches and a Mark 5 Driving Van Trailer operating in a ...
project in the early-1990s. Further modernisation of the route finally occurred during the 2000s in the period of
privatisation
Privatization (also privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation when ...
, which saw speeds raised further to and the introduction of tilting
Class 390 "Pendolino" trains.
As much of the line has a maximum speed of , it meets the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
's definition of an
upgraded high-speed line,
although only
Class 390 Pendolinos and
Class 221 Super Voyagers with
tilting mechanisms operated by
Avanti West Coast
Avanti West Coast is a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by FirstGroup (70%) and Trenitalia (30%) that operates the West Coast Partnership franchise.
During November 2016, the Department for Transport (DfT) announced the Inter ...
travel at that speed. Non-tilting trains are limited to .
Geography
![Lune Gorge - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/54/Lune_Gorge_-_geograph.org.uk_-_600047.jpg)
The core section between
London Euston
Euston railway station ( ; also known as London Euston) is a central London railway terminus in the London Borough of Camden, managed by Network Rail. It is the southern terminus of the West Coast Main Line, the UK's busiest inter-city rail ...
and is long,
with principal
InterCity
InterCity (commonly abbreviated ''IC'' on timetables and tickets) is the classification applied to certain long-distance passenger train services in Europe. Such trains (in contrast to regional, local, or commuter trains) generally call at m ...
stations at , , , , , , , , , , and .
The central core
[British Railways Board (1974]
Electric All The Way
Information booklet. has branches serving the major towns and cities of
Northampton
Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...
,
Coventry
Coventry ( or ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its ...
, Birmingham,
Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunian ...
,
Stoke-on-Trent
Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England, with an area of . In 2019, the city had an estimated population of 256,375. It is the largest settlement ...
,
Macclesfield
Macclesfield is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Bollin in the east of the county, on the edge of the Cheshire Plain, with Macclesfield Forest to its east ...
,
Stockport
Stockport is a town and borough in Greater Manchester, England, south-east of Manchester, south-west of Ashton-under-Lyne and north of Macclesfield. The River Goyt and Tame merge to create the River Mersey here.
Most of the town is within ...
, Manchester,
Runcorn
Runcorn is an industrial town and cargo port in the Borough of Halton in Cheshire, England. Its population in 2011 was 61,789. The town is in the southeast of the Liverpool City Region, with Liverpool to the northwest across the River Mersey. ...
and
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
; there is also a link to
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
, but this is not the most direct route between London and Edinburgh.
Originally, the lines between Rugby, Birmingham and Stafford were part of the main route, until the
Trent Valley Line
The Trent Valley line is a railway line between Rugby and Stafford in England, forming part of the West Coast Main Line. It is named after the River Trent which it follows. The line was built to provide a direct route from London to North West E ...
was built in 1847; this formed a direct connection between Rugby and Stafford. South 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 ...
, there is a loop that serves
Northampton
Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...
; there is also a branch north of
Crewe
Crewe () is a railway town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. The Crewe built-up area had a total population of 75,556 in 2011, which also covers parts of the adjacent civil parishes of Willaston ...
to
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
, which is notable since
Weaver Junction
Weaver Junction is a railway junction connecting the West Coast Main Line (WCML) with the Weaver Junction–Liverpool line, opening on 1 April 1869. Trains bound for Liverpool from London diverge from the WCML at this junction. Weaver Junction i ...
on this branch is the oldest
flyover-type junction in Britain. A loop branches off to serve Manchester; another between Colwich Junction in the Trent Valley, south of Stafford via Stoke-on-Trent; one north of Stafford, also via Stoke-on-Trent; and one via Crewe and
Wilmslow
Wilmslow ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England, south of Manchester city centre. The population was 24,497 at the 2011 Census.
History
Toponymy
Wilmslow derives its name from Old ...
. A further branch at
Carstairs
Carstairs (, Scottish Gaelic: ''Caisteal Tarrais'') is a village in South Lanarkshire, Scotland. Carstairs is located east of the county town of Lanark and the West Coast Main Line runs through the village. The village is served by Carstairs ra ...
links Edinburgh to the WCML, providing a direct connection between the WCML and the
East Coast Main Line
The East Coast Main Line (ECML) is a electrified railway between London and Edinburgh via Peterborough, Doncaster, York, Darlington, Durham and Newcastle. The line is a key transport artery on the eastern side of Great Britain running broa ...
.
The geography of the route was determined by avoiding large estates and hilly areas, such as the
Chilterns (
Tring
Tring is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Dacorum, Hertfordshire, England. It is situated in a gap passing through the Chiltern Hills, classed as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, from Central London. Tring is linked to ...
cutting); the
Watford Gap and Northampton uplands, followed by the Trent Valley; the mountains of
Cumbria
Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumb ...
, with a summit at
Shap
Shap is a linear village and civil parish located among fells and isolated dales in Eden district, Cumbria, England, in the historic county of Westmorland. The parish had a population of 1,221 in 2001, increasing slightly to 1,264 at the 2011 ...
; and
Beattock Summit
Beattock Summit is the highest point of the West Coast Main Line (WCML) railway and of the A74(M) motorway as they cross between Dumfries and Galloway and South Lanarkshire in south west Scotland.
Railway history
The highest point on the Cal ...
in
South Lanarkshire
gd, Siorrachd Lannraig a Deas
, image_skyline =
, image_flag =
, image_shield = Arms_slanarkshire.jpg
, image_blank_emblem = Slanarks.jpg
, blank_emblem_type = Council logo
, image_map ...
. This legacy means the WCML has limitations as a long-distance main line, with lower maximum speeds than the
East Coast Main Line
The East Coast Main Line (ECML) is a electrified railway between London and Edinburgh via Peterborough, Doncaster, York, Darlington, Durham and Newcastle. The line is a key transport artery on the eastern side of Great Britain running broa ...
(ECML) route, the other main line between London and Scotland. The principal solution has been the adoption of
tilting train
A tilting train is a train that has a mechanism enabling increased speed on regular rail tracks. As a train (or other vehicle) rounds a curve at speed, objects inside the train experience centrifugal force. This can cause packages to slide abo ...
s, initially with
British Rail
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 ...
's
APT
Apt. is an abbreviation for apartment.
Apt may also refer to:
Places
* Apt Cathedral, a former cathedral, and national monument of France, in the town of Apt in Provence
* Apt, Vaucluse, a commune of the Vaucluse département of France
* A ...
and latterly the
Pendolino
Pendolino (from Italian ''pendolo'' "pendulum", and ''-ino,'' a diminutive suffix) is an Italian family of tilting trains used in Italy, Spain, Germany, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Finland, Russia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, the UK, the US, ...
trains constructed by
Alstom
Alstom SA is a French multinational rolling stock manufacturer operating worldwide in rail transport markets, active in the fields of passenger transportation, signalling, and locomotives, with products including the AGV, TGV, Eurostar, Avelia ...
and introduced by
Virgin Trains
Virgin Trains (legal name West Coast Trains Limited) was a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by Virgin Rail Group, a joint venture between Virgin Group and Stagecoach, which operated the InterCity West Coast franchise from 9 ...
in 2003. A 'conventional' attempt to raise line speeds as part of the
InterCity 250
The InterCity 250 was an electric railway project undertaken by British Rail in the late 1980s. The InterCity 250 train would have consisted of a Class 93 electric locomotive, nine Mark 5 coaches and a Mark 5 Driving Van Trailer operating in a ...
upgrade in the 1990s would have relaxed maximum
cant
Cant, CANT, canting, or canted may refer to:
Language
* Cant (language), a secret language
* Beurla Reagaird, a language of the Scottish Highland Travellers
* Scottish Cant, a language of the Scottish Lowland Travellers
* Shelta or the Cant, a la ...
levels on curves and seen some track realignments; this scheme faltered for lack of funding in the economic climate of the time.
History
Early history
The WCML was not originally conceived as a single trunk route, but was a number of separate lines built by different companies between the 1830s and the 1880s. After the completion of the successful
Liverpool and Manchester Railway
The Liverpool and Manchester Railway (L&MR) was the first inter-city railway in the world. It opened on 15 September 1830 between the Lancashire towns of Liverpool and Manchester in England. It was also the first railway to rely exclusively ...
in 1830, schemes were mooted to build more inter-city lines. The business practice of the
early railway era was for companies to promote individual lines between two destinations, rather than to plan grand networks of lines, as it was considered easier to obtain backing from investors.
The first stretch of what is now the WCML was the
Grand Junction Railway
The Grand Junction Railway (GJR) was an early railway company in the United Kingdom, which existed between 1833 and 1846 when it was amalgamated with other railways to form the London and North Western Railway. The line built by the company w ...
connecting Liverpool and Manchester to Birmingham, via , and , opening in 1837. The following year the
London and Birmingham Railway
The London and Birmingham Railway (L&BR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom, in operation from 1833 to 1846, when it became part of the London and North Western Railway (L&NWR).
The railway line which the company opened in 1838, betw ...
was completed, connecting to the capital via , and the
Watford Gap. The Grand Junction and London and Birmingham railways shared a Birmingham terminus at
Curzon Street station, so that it was now possible to travel by train between London, Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool.
[London and Birmingham Railway: History of the West Coast Main line](_blank)
Virgin Trains 2004.
![HLB Lok 2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5a/HLB_Lok_2.jpg)
These lines, together with the
Trent Valley Railway
The Trent Valley line is a railway line between Rugby and Stafford in England, forming part of the West Coast Main Line. It is named after the River Trent which it follows. The line was built to provide a direct route from London to North Wes ...
(between Rugby and Stafford, avoiding Birmingham) and the
Manchester and Birmingham Railway
The Manchester and Birmingham Railway was built between Manchester and Crewe and opened in stages from 1840. Between Crewe and Birmingham, trains were worked by the Grand Junction Railway. The M&BR was merged into the London and North Western ...
(Crewe–Manchester), amalgamated operations in
1846
Events
January–March
* January 5 – The United States House of Representatives votes to stop sharing the Oregon Country with the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom.
* January 13 – The Milan–Venice railway' ...
to form the
London and North Western Railway
The London and North Western Railway (LNWR, L&NWR) was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. In the late 19th century, the L&NWR was the largest joint stock company in the United Kingdom.
In 1923, it became a constituent of the Lo ...
(LNWR). Three other sections, the
North Union Railway
The North Union Railway was an early British railway company, operating in Lancashire. It was created in 1834, continuing independently until 1889.
Formation
The North Union Railway (NUR) was created by an Act of Parliament on 22 May 1834 whic ...
(Wigan–Preston), the
Lancaster and Preston Junction Railway
The Lancaster and Preston Junction Railway opened its twenty-mile line in 1840 in Lancashire, England. The company was not commercially successful. When the Lancaster and Carlisle Railway opened in 1846, the L&PJR became part of a busy trunk ra ...
and the
Lancaster and Carlisle Railway, were later absorbed by the LNWR.
North of , the
Caledonian Railway
The Caledonian Railway (CR) was a major Scottish railway company. It was formed in the early 19th century with the objective of forming a link between English railways and Glasgow. It progressively extended its network and reached Edinburgh an ...
remained independent, and opened
its main line from Carlisle to on 10 September 1847, connecting to
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
in February 1848, and to
Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
in November 1849.
Another important section, the
North Staffordshire Railway
The North Staffordshire Railway (NSR) was a British railway company formed in 1845 to promote a number of lines in the Staffordshire Potteries and surrounding areas in Staffordshire, Cheshire, Derbyshire and Shropshire.
The company was based i ...
(NSR), which opened
its route in 1848 from
Macclesfield
Macclesfield is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Bollin in the east of the county, on the edge of the Cheshire Plain, with Macclesfield Forest to its east ...
(connecting with the LNWR from Manchester) to Stafford and
Colwich via
Stoke-on-Trent
Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England, with an area of . In 2019, the city had an estimated population of 256,375. It is the largest settlement ...
, also remained independent. Poor relations between the LNWR and the NSR meant that through trains did not run until 1867.
The route to Scotland was marketed by the LNWR as The Premier Line. Because the cross-border trains ran over the LNWR and Caledonian Railway, through trains consisted of jointly owned "West Coast Joint Stock" to simplify operations. The first direct London to Glasgow trains in the 1850s took 12.5 hours to complete the journey.
The final sections of what is now the WCML were put in place over the following decades by the LNWR. A direct branch to
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
, bypassing the earlier Liverpool and Manchester line, was opened in 1869, from
Weaver Junction
Weaver Junction is a railway junction connecting the West Coast Main Line (WCML) with the Weaver Junction–Liverpool line, opening on 1 April 1869. Trains bound for Liverpool from London diverge from the WCML at this junction. Weaver Junction i ...
north of to
Ditton Junction via the
Runcorn Railway Bridge
The Runcorn Railway Bridge, Ethelfleda Bridge or Britannia Bridge crosses the River Mersey at Runcorn Gap between Runcorn and Widnes in Cheshire, England. It is alongside the Silver Jubilee Bridge. The bridge is recorded in the National Herita ...
over the
River Mersey
The River Mersey () is in North West England. Its name derives from Old English and means "boundary river", possibly referring to its having been a border between the ancient kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria. For centuries it has formed part ...
.
To expand capacity, the line between London and was widened to four tracks in the 1870s. As part of this work, a new line, the
Northampton Loop, was built, opening in 1881, connecting before rejoining the main line at Rugby.
The worst-ever rail accident in UK history, the
Quintinshill rail disaster
The Quintinshill rail disaster was a multi-train rail crash which occurred on 22 May 1915 outside the Quintinshill signal box near Gretna Green in Dumfriesshire, Scotland, United Kingdom. It resulted in the deaths of over 200 people, and remai ...
, occurred on the WCML during
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, on 22 May 1915, between Glasgow Central and Carlisle, in which 227 were killed and 246 injured.
LMS era
![Coronation scot BNF](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c0/Coronation_scot_BNF.jpg)
The route came under the control of the
London, Midland and Scottish Railway
The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMSIt has been argued that the initials LMSR should be used to be consistent with LNER, GWR and SR. The London, Midland and Scottish Railway's corporate image used LMS, and this is what is generally u ...
(LMS) on 1 January 1923 when railway companies were
grouped, under the
Railways Act 1921
The Railways Act 1921 (c. 55), also known as the Grouping Act, was an Act of Parliament enacted by the British government and intended to stem the losses being made by many of the country's 120 railway companies, by "grouping" them into four la ...
.
The LMS competed fiercely with the rival
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 ...
's
East Coast Main Line
The East Coast Main Line (ECML) is a electrified railway between London and Edinburgh via Peterborough, Doncaster, York, Darlington, Durham and Newcastle. The line is a key transport artery on the eastern side of Great Britain running broa ...
for London to Scotland traffic (see
Race to the North). Attempts were made to minimise end-to-end journey times for a small number of powerful lightweight trains that could be marketed as glamorous premium crack expresses, especially between London and Glasgow, such as the 1937–39
Coronation Scot, hauled by
streamlined
Streamlines, streaklines and pathlines are field lines in a fluid flow.
They differ only when the flow changes with time, that is, when the flow is not steady.
Considering a velocity vector field in three-dimensional space in the framework of ...
Princess Coronation Class
The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) Coronation Class is a class of express passenger steam locomotives designed by William Stanier. They were an enlarged and improved version of his previous design, the LMS Princess Royal Class, and ...
locomotives, which made the journey in 6 hours 30 minutes, making it competitive with the rival East Coast
Flying Scotsman (British Railways in the 1950s could not match this, but did achieve a London-Glasgow timing of 7 hours 15 minutes in the 1959–60 timetable by strictly limiting the number of coaches to eight and not stopping between London and Carlisle.).
British Rail era
In 1948, following
nationalisation
Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to pri ...
, the line came under the control of
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 ...
'
London Midland
London Midland was a train operating company in England which operated the West Midlands franchise between 11 November 2007 and 10 December 2017. It was owned by the British transport group Govia.
London Midland was created as a result of Gov ...
and
Scottish Region
The Scottish Region (ScR) was one of the six regions created on British Railways (BR) and consisted of ex- London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) and ex- London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) lines in Scotland. It existed from the creatio ...
s, when the term "West Coast Main Line" came into use officially, although it had been used informally since at least 1912.
Modernisation by British Rail
As part of the
1955 modernisation plan
Events January
* January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama.
* January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut.
* January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijian ...
, the line was modernised and
electrified
Electrification is the process of powering by electricity and, in many contexts, the introduction of such power by changing over from an earlier power source.
The broad meaning of the term, such as in the history of technology, economic history ...
in stages between 1959 and 1974. The first stretch to be electrified was
Crewe
Crewe () is a railway town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. The Crewe built-up area had a total population of 75,556 in 2011, which also covers parts of the adjacent civil parishes of Willaston ...
to Manchester, completed on 12 September 1960. This was followed by Crewe to Liverpool, completed on 1 January 1962. Electrification was then extended south to London. The first electric trains from London ran on 12 November 1965, with full public service from 18 April 1966. Electrification of the
Birmingham line was completed on 6 March 1967. In March 1970 the government approved electrification between Weaver Junction (where the route to Liverpool diverges) and Glasgow, and this was completed on 6 May 1974.
The announcement, after five years of uncertainty, was made 48 hours before the writ was issued for a
by-election in South Ayrshire.
''
The Observer
''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...
'' commented that, if the £25 million decision was politically rather than financially motivated, it would have the makings of a major political scandal.
A new set of high-speed long-distance services was introduced in 1966, launching
British Rail
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 ...
's highly successful "
Inter-City" brand (the hyphen was later dropped) and offering journey times as London to Manchester or Liverpool in 2 hours 40 minutes (and even 2 hours 30 minutes for the twice-daily
Manchester Pullman
The ''Manchester Pullman'' was a first-class-only Pullman passenger train operated by British Rail, targeted at business travellers. The service began in 1966, operating between and , and offered an at-seat restaurant service to all passengers ...
). A new feature was that these fast trains were offered on a regular-interval service throughout the day: hourly to Birmingham, two-hourly to Manchester, and so on. With the completion of the northern electrification in 1974, London to Glasgow journey times were reduced to 5 hours.
![87020 Carlisle](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c2/87020_Carlisle.jpg)
Along with electrification came modern coaches such as the
Mark 2
Mark 2 is the second chapter of the Gospel of Mark in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. In this chapter, the first arguments between Jesus and other Jewish religious teachers appear. Jesus heals a paralyzed man and forgives his sins, m ...
and from 1974 the
fully integral, air-conditioned
Mark 3 design. These remained the mainstay of express services until the early 2000s. Line speeds were raised to a maximum , and these trains, hauled by and electric locomotives, came to be seen as BR's flagship passenger product. Passenger traffic on the WCML doubled between 1962 and 1975.
The modernisation also saw the demolition and redevelopment of several of the key stations on the line: BR was keen to symbolise the coming of the "electric age" by replacing the Victorian-era buildings with new structures built from glass and concrete. Notable examples were
Birmingham New Street
Birmingham New Street is the largest and busiest of the three main railway stations in Birmingham city centre, England, and a central hub of the British railway system. It is a major destination for Avanti West Coast services from , and vi ...
,
Manchester Piccadilly
Manchester Piccadilly is the principal railway station in Manchester, England. Opened as Store Street in 1842, it was renamed Manchester London Road in 1847 and became Manchester Piccadilly in 1960. Located to the south-east of Manchester city ...
, , and
London Euston
Euston railway station ( ; also known as London Euston) is a central London railway terminus in the London Borough of Camden, managed by Network Rail. It is the southern terminus of the West Coast Main Line, the UK's busiest inter-city rail ...
. To enable the latter, the famous
Doric Arch portal into the original
Philip Hardwick
Philip Hardwick (15 June 1792 in London – 28 December 1870) was an English architect, particularly associated with railway stations and warehouses in London and elsewhere. Hardwick is probably best known for London's demolished Euston Arch ...
-designed terminus was demolished in 1962 amid much public outcry.
Electrification of the
Edinburgh branch was carried out in the late 1980s as part of the
East Coast Main Line
The East Coast Main Line (ECML) is a electrified railway between London and Edinburgh via Peterborough, Doncaster, York, Darlington, Durham and Newcastle. The line is a key transport artery on the eastern side of Great Britain running broa ...
electrification project in order to allow
InterCity 225 sets to access Glasgow via Carstairs Junction.
![APT at Crewe](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/91/APT_at_Crewe.jpg)
Modernisation brought great improvements in speed and frequency. However some locations and lines were no longer served by through trains or through coaches from London, such as:
Windermere
Windermere (sometimes tautology (language), tautologically called Windermere Lake to distinguish it from the nearby town of Windermere, Cumbria (town), Windermere) is the largest natural lake in England. More than 11 miles (18 km) in leng ...
;
Barrow-in-Furness
Barrow-in-Furness is a port town in Cumbria, England. Historically in Lancashire, it was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1867 and merged with Dalton-in-Furness Urban District in 1974 to form the Borough of Barrow-in-Furness. In 2023 the ...
,
Whitehaven
Whitehaven is a town and port on the English north west coast and near to the Lake District National Park in Cumbria, England. Historically in Cumberland, it lies by road south-west of Carlisle and to the north of Barrow-in-Furness. It is th ...
and
Workington
Workington is a coastal town and civil parish at the mouth of the River Derwent on the west coast in the Allerdale borough of Cumbria, England. The town was historically in Cumberland. At the 2011 census it had a population of 25,207.
Loca ...
;
Huddersfield
Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into ...
,
Bradford Interchange,
Leeds
Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...
and
Halifax (via Stockport);
Blackpool South;
Colne
Colne () is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Pendle in Lancashire, England. Located northeast of Nelson, north-east of Burnley, east of Preston and west of Leeds.
The town should not be confused with the unrelated Colne Val ...
(via Stockport);
Morecambe
Morecambe ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster district in Lancashire, England. It is in Morecambe Bay on the Irish Sea.
Name
The first use of the name was by John Whitaker in his ''History of Manchester'' (1771), w ...
and
Heysham
Heysham ( ) is a coastal town in Lancashire, England, overlooking Morecambe Bay. It is a Heysham Port, ferry port, with services to the Isle of Man and Ireland, and the site of two Heysham nuclear power station, nuclear power stations.
Demogra ...
;
Southport
Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England.
Southport lies on the Irish ...
(via );
Blackburn
Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the Ribble Valley, east of Preston and north-n ...
and
Stranraer
Stranraer ( , in Scotland also ; gd, An t-Sròn Reamhar ), also known as The Toon, is a town in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It is located in the historical parish of Inch in the historic county of Wigtownshire. It lies on the shores of L ...
Harbour. Notable also is the loss of through services between Liverpool and Scotland; however these were restored by
TransPennine Express
TransPennine Express (TPE), legally First TransPennine Express Limited, is a British train operating company owned by FirstGroup that operates the TransPennine Express franchise. It runs regional and inter-city rail services between the major c ...
in 2019.
British Rail introduced the
Advanced Passenger Train
The Advanced Passenger Train (APT) was a tilting high speed train developed by British Rail during the 1970s and early 1980s, for use on the West Coast Main Line (WCML). The WCML contained many curves, and the APT pioneered the concept of activ ...
APT project, which proved that London–Glasgow WCML journey times of less than 4 hours were achievable and paved the way for the later tilting Virgin
Pendolino
Pendolino (from Italian ''pendolo'' "pendulum", and ''-ino,'' a diminutive suffix) is an Italian family of tilting trains used in Italy, Spain, Germany, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Finland, Russia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, the UK, the US, ...
trains.
In the late 1980s
British Rail
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 ...
put forward a track realignment scheme to raise speeds on the WCML; a proposed project called
InterCity 250
The InterCity 250 was an electric railway project undertaken by British Rail in the late 1980s. The InterCity 250 train would have consisted of a Class 93 electric locomotive, nine Mark 5 coaches and a Mark 5 Driving Van Trailer operating in a ...
, which entailed realigning parts of the line in order to increase curve radii and smooth gradients in order to facilitate higher-speed running. The scheme, which would have seen the introduction of new rolling stock derived from that developed for the East Coast electrification, was scrapped in 1992.
Modernisation by Network Rail
![Pendolino at Milton Keynes Central](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/Pendolino_at_Milton_Keynes_Central.JPG)
By the dawn of the 1990s, it was clear that further modernisation was required. Initially this took the form of the InterCity 250 project. But then the
privatisation
Privatization (also privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation when ...
of BR intervened, under which
Virgin Trains
Virgin Trains (legal name West Coast Trains Limited) was a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by Virgin Rail Group, a joint venture between Virgin Group and Stagecoach, which operated the InterCity West Coast franchise from 9 ...
won a 15-year franchise in 1996 for the running of long-distance express services on the line. The modernisation plan unveiled by Virgin and the new infrastructure owner
Railtrack
Railtrack was a group of companies that owned the track, signalling, tunnels, bridges, level crossings and all but a handful of the stations of the British railway system from 1994 until 2002. It was created as part of the privatisation of ...
involved the upgrade and renewal of the line to allow the use of tilting
Pendolino
Pendolino (from Italian ''pendolo'' "pendulum", and ''-ino,'' a diminutive suffix) is an Italian family of tilting trains used in Italy, Spain, Germany, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Finland, Russia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, the UK, the US, ...
trains with a maximum line speed of , in place of the previous maximum of . Railtrack estimated that this upgrade would cost £2 billion, be ready by 2005, and cut journey times to 1 hour for London to Birmingham and 1 hr 45 mins for London to Manchester.
However, these plans proved too ambitious and were subsequently cancelled. Central to the implementation of the plan was the adoption of
moving block signalling
In railway signalling, a moving block is a signalling block system where the blocks are defined in real time by computers as safe zones around each train. This requires both knowledge of the exact location and speed of all trains at any given ti ...
, which had never been proven on anything more than simple
metro lines and
light rail systems – not on a complex high-speed heavy-rail network such as the WCML. Despite this, Railtrack made what would prove to be the fatal mistake of not properly assessing the technical viability and cost of implementing moving block prior to promising the speed increase to Virgin and the government. By 1999, with little headway on the modernisation project made, it became apparent to engineers that the technology was not mature enough to be used on the line. The bankruptcy of Railtrack in 2001 and its replacement by Network Rail following the
Hatfield crash brought a reappraisal of the plans, while the cost of the upgrade soared. Following fears that cost overruns on the project would push the final price tag to £13 billion, the plans were scaled down, bringing the cost down to between £8 billion and £10 billion, to be ready by 2008, with a maximum speed for tilting trains of a more modest – equalling the speeds available on the East Coast route, but some way short of the original target, and even further behind BR's original vision of speeds planned and achieved with the APT.
![Pendolino and Freight train](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/37/Pendolino_and_Freight_train.jpg)
The first phase of the upgrade, south of Manchester, opened on 27 September 2004 with journey times of 1 hour 21 minutes for London to Birmingham and 2 hours 6 minutes for London to Manchester. The final phase, introducing running along most of the line, was announced as opening on 12 December 2005, bringing the fastest journey between London and Glasgow to 4 hours 25 mins (down from 5 hours 10 minutes).
["High-speed tilting train on track"](_blank)
''BBC News Online'', 12 December 2005. However, considerable work remained, such as the quadrupling of the track in the Trent Valley, upgrading the slow lines, the second phase of remodelling Nuneaton, and the remodelling of Stafford, Rugby, Milton Keynes and Coventry stations, and these were completed in late 2008. The upgrading of the Crewe–Manchester line via Wilmslow was completed in summer 2006.
In September 2006, a new speed record was set on the WCML – a Pendolino train completed the Glasgow Central – London Euston run in a record 3 hours 55 minutes, beating the APT's record of 4 hours 15 minutes, although the APT still holds the overall record on the northbound run.
The decade-long modernisation project was finally completed in December 2008. This allowed Virgin's VHF (very high frequency) timetable to be progressively introduced through early 2009, the highlights of which are a three-trains-per-hour service to both Birmingham and Manchester during off-peak periods, and nearly all London-Scottish timings brought under the 4 hours 30 minutes barrier – with one service (calling only at Preston) achieving a London–Glasgow time of 4 hours 8 minutes.
Some projects that were removed from the modernisation as a result of the de-scoping, such as a flyover at Norton Bridge station, were later restarted. A £250 million project to grade-separate the tracks at Norton Bridge that allowed for increased service frequency as well as improved line-speeds was completed in spring 2016. Other projects such as the replacement of a weak bridge in Watford allowed line-speeds to be increased from to decreasing journey times.
Infrastructure
Track
![Roade cutting](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/da/Roade_cutting.JPG)
The main spine of the WCML is
quadruple track
A quadruple-track railway (also known as a four-track railway) is a railway line consisting of four parallel tracks with two tracks used in each direction. Quadruple-track railways can handle large amounts of traffic, and so are used on very bus ...
almost all of the route from London to Weaver Junction, south east of
Runcorn
Runcorn is an industrial town and cargo port in the Borough of Halton in Cheshire, England. Its population in 2011 was 61,789. The town is in the southeast of the Liverpool City Region, with Liverpool to the northwest across the River Mersey. ...
. At
Hanslope Junction (near
Milton Keynes
Milton Keynes ( ) is a city and the largest settlement in Buckinghamshire, England, about north-west of London. At the 2021 Census, the population of its urban area was over . The River Great Ouse forms its northern boundary; a tributary ...
), the line divides with one pair going direct to and the other pair diverting via to rejoin at Rugby. The spine continues north in quadruple track until Brinklow, where it reduces to triple track. The line between Brinklow and Nuneaton has three tracks, with one northbound track and fast and slow southbound tracks. The line then reverts to quadruple track at Nuneaton. North of Rugeley, there is a short double track stretch through the Shugborough Tunnel. The line is then quadruple track most of the way to Acton Bridge railway station, except for a double track section between
Winsford
Winsford is a town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the River Weaver south of Northwich and west of Middlewich. It grew around the salt mining industry ...
and Hartford. The line is double track from Acton Bridge railway station to Weaver Junction (where a double track spur to Liverpool branches off). The line is double track from Weaver Junction to Warrington Bank Quay, but the line is quadruple track between Warrington Bank Quay to Wigan North Western. At Newton-le-Willows, the slow tracks join the Liverpool to Manchester line to pass through the centre of the town, while the fast tracks take the direct route via the Golborne cut-off. There are two more stretches of quadruple track, otherwise the line is double track to Scotland. The first is from Euxton Balshaw Lane to Preston, and the second is a busy section around Glasgow.
The WCML is noted for the diversity of branches served from the spine, notably those to/from the
West Midlands
West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth.
Etymology
The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...
and
North Wales
, area_land_km2 = 6,172
, postal_code_type = Postcode
, postal_code = LL, CH, SY
, image_map1 = Wales North Wales locator map.svg
, map_caption1 = Six principal areas of Wales common ...
,
Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority, combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: City of Manchester, Manchester, City of Salford, Salford ...
, and
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
. These are
detailed in the route diagram.
The complete route has been cleared for W10
loading gauge
A loading gauge is a diagram or physical structure that defines the maximum height and width dimensions in railway vehicles and their loads. Their purpose is to ensure that rail vehicles can pass safely through tunnels and under bridges, and ke ...
freight traffic, allowing use of higher hi-cube
shipping containers
A shipping container is a container with strength suitable to withstand shipment, storage, and handling. Shipping containers range from large reusable steel boxes used for intermodal shipments to the ubiquitous corrugated boxes. In the context of ...
. The route passes through Nuneaton and the Midlands and this area has been called the "
Golden Triangle of Logistics".
Electrification
Nearly all of the WCML is
electrified
Electrification is the process of powering by electricity and, in many contexts, the introduction of such power by changing over from an earlier power source.
The broad meaning of the term, such as in the history of technology, economic history ...
with
overhead wires
An overhead line or overhead wire is an electrical cable that is used to transmit electrical energy to electric locomotives, trolleybuses or trams. It is known variously as:
* Overhead catenary
* Overhead contact system (OCS)
* Overhead equipment ...
at . Several of the formerly unelectrified branches of the WCML in the
North West
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...
have recently been electrified such as the to Line on which electric service commenced in May 2018 along with the – line which saw electric service commence in February 2019. Wigan to Liverpool via St Helens Shaw Street and St Helens Junction were also electrified in the 2010-2017 timeframe.
The to branch is also in the process of being electrified.
Rolling stock
The majority of stock used on the West Coast Main Line is new-build, part of Virgin's initial franchise agreement having been a commitment to introduce a brand-new fleet of tilting Class 390 "Pendolino" trains for long-distance high-speed WCML services. The 53-strong Pendolino fleet, plus three tilting
SuperVoyager diesel sets, were bought for use on these InterCity services. One Pendolino was written off in 2007 following the
Grayrigg derailment
The Grayrigg derailment was a fatal railway accident that occurred at approximately 20:15 GMT on 23 February 2007, just to the south of Grayrigg, Cumbria, in the North West England region of the United Kingdom. The accident investigation conc ...
. After the 2007 franchise "shake-up" in the Midlands, more SuperVoyagers were transferred to Virgin West Coast, instead of going to the new CrossCountry franchise. The SuperVoyagers are used on London–Chester and Holyhead services because the Chester/North Wales line is not electrified, so they run "under the wires" between London and Crewe. SuperVoyagers were also used on Virgin's London-Scotland via Birmingham services, even though this route is entirely electrified – this situation is, however, changing since the expansion of the Pendolino fleet; from 2013 onward Class 390 sets have been routinely deployed on Edinburgh/Glasgow–Birmingham services.
By 2012, the WCML Pendolino fleet was strengthened by the addition of two coaches to 31 of the 52 existing sets, thus turning them into 11-car trains. Four brand new 11-car sets are also part of this order, one of which replaced the set lost in the Grayrigg derailment. Although the new stock was supplied in Virgin livery, it was not expected to enter traffic before 31 March 2012, when the InterCity West Coast franchise was due to be re-let, though the date for the new franchise was later put back to December 2012, and any effect of this on the timetable for introducing the new coaches remains unclear.
Previous franchisees
Central Trains
Central Trains was a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by National Express that operated a variety of local and inter-regional trains from 2 March 1997 until 11 November 2007.
Overview
Created out of the Central division of ...
and
Silverlink
Silverlink was a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by National Express that operated the North London Railways franchise from March 1997 until November 2007. At the end of 2007 Silverlink Metro services were taken over by Lond ...
(operating local and regional services partly over sections of the WCML) were given 30 new
"Desiro" Class 350s, originally ordered for services in the south-east. Following
Govia
Govia is a transport company based in the United Kingdom. It was formed in November 1996 as a joint venture between Go-Ahead Group (65%) and Keolis (35%) to bid for rail franchises during the privatisation of British Rail.
History
Establis ...
's successful bid for the West Midlands franchise in 2007, another 37 Class 350s were ordered to replace its older fleet of s.
The older BR-vintage locomotive-hauled passenger rolling stock still has a limited role on the WCML, with the overnight
Caledonian Sleeper
''Caledonian Sleeper'' is the collective name for overnight sleeper train services between London and Scotland, in the United Kingdom. It is one of only two currently operating sleeper services on the railway in the United Kingdom, the other b ...
services between London Euston and Scotland using Mark 3 and Mark 2 coaches until their replacement with
Mark 5
Mark 5 is the fifth chapter of the Gospel of Mark in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. Taken with the calming of the sea in , there are "four striking works hichfollow each other without a break": an exorcism, a healing, and the raisin ...
stock in October 2019. Virgin also retained and refurbished one of the original Mark 3 rakes with a
Driving Van Trailer
A Driving Van Trailer (DVT) is a Great Britain, British purpose-built control car railway vehicle that allows the driver to operate with a locomotive in Push-pull train, push-pull formation from the opposite end of a train. A key benefit of ...
and a locomotive as a standby set to cover for Pendolino breakdowns. This set was retired from service on 25 October with a rail tour the following day. In November 2014 the "Pretendolino" was transferred to Norwich Crown Point depot to enter service with
Abellio Greater Anglia
Greater Anglia (legal name Abellio East Anglia Limited) is a train operating company in Great Britain owned as a joint venture by Abellio (transport company), Abellio, the international arm of the state-owned Dutch national rail operator Neder ...
having come to the end of its agreed lease to Virgin Trains.
In September 2022, following the
death of Queen Elizabeth II
On 8 September 2022, at 15:10 BST, Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms, and the longest-reigning British monarch, died of old age at Balmoral Castle in Scotland, at the age of 96. The Queen's death wa ...
, locomotive hauled services returned briefly to the WCML once more when incumbent operator Avanti West Coast employed a rake of Mark 3 coaches (hauled by a Class 90 locomotive) to provide additional services to Euston for those wishing to travel to London for the Queen's lying-in-state and subsequent funeral.
The following table lists the rolling stock which forms the core passenger service pattern on the WCML serving its principal termini; it is not exhaustive since many other types use sections of the WCML network as part of other routes – notable examples include the
HST on certain CrossCountry services (primarily through the West Midlands area) and the London North Eastern Railway
InterCity 225 between Edinburgh and Glasgow Central.
Commuter/regional trains
High-speed trains
Sleeper trains
Future trains
Operators
Avanti West Coast
The current principal
train operating company
A train operating company (TOC) is a business operating Passenger Trains, passenger trains on the Rail transport in Great Britain, railway system of Great Britain under the collective National Rail brand. TOCs have existed since the Privatisation ...
on the West Coast Main Line is
Avanti West Coast
Avanti West Coast is a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by FirstGroup (70%) and Trenitalia (30%) that operates the West Coast Partnership franchise.
During November 2016, the Department for Transport (DfT) announced the Inter ...
, which runs the majority of long-distance services under the
West Coast Partnership
The West Coast Partnership (WCP) is a railway franchise in the United Kingdom for passenger trains on the West Coast Main Line (WCML)(and branches thereof), between London Euston, the West Midlands, Shropshire, North Wales, Liverpool, Manchest ...
rail franchise. In November 2016, the government announced that the (then named)
InterCity West Coast
InterCity West Coast (ICWC) was a 1997–2019 railway franchise in the United Kingdom for passenger trains on the West Coast Main Line (and branches thereof), between London Euston, the West Midlands, North Wales, Liverpool, Manchester, Carlis ...
franchise would be replaced by a new franchise called 'West Coast Partnership', which includes operating the planned
High Speed 2
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 ...
(HS2) service as well as the existing West Coast Main Line express services. In August 2019, the DfT announced that First Trenitalia West Coast Rail (trading as
Avanti West Coast
Avanti West Coast is a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by FirstGroup (70%) and Trenitalia (30%) that operates the West Coast Partnership franchise.
During November 2016, the Department for Transport (DfT) announced the Inter ...
) was the successful bidder.
Avanti West Coast
Avanti West Coast is a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by FirstGroup (70%) and Trenitalia (30%) that operates the West Coast Partnership franchise.
During November 2016, the Department for Transport (DfT) announced the Inter ...
commenced operating the franchise on 8 December 2019.
Avanti operates nine trains per hour on the WCML from , with three trains per hour to each of and , one train per hour to each of , and via the Trent Valley (one train per hour continues to Scotland via alternating between or ), five trains on a weekday to and three trains on a weekday to
Bangor. There is also one weekday train in to/from . Additional peak terminating services run between London Euston and , , , , and . Additional trains during the early morning, late evening, rush hour and night that terminate or start at Birmingham. There are also two daily services between London Euston and and four daily (Monday to Friday) services between and .
West Midlands Trains
West Midlands Trains
West Midlands Trains (WMT) is a train operating company in the United Kingdom. It operates passenger trains on the West Midlands franchise between London and the English Midlands under two trade names: West Midlands Railway (WMR) (within the ...
provides commuter and long-distance services on the route, which terminate at . They are all operated under the
London Northwestern Railway
West Midlands Trains (WMT) is a train operating company in the United Kingdom. It operates passenger trains on the West Midlands franchise between London and the English Midlands under two trade names: West Midlands Railway (WMR) (within the ...
brand. There are two trains an hour from London to Birmingham; one calling at the majority of stations ''en route'' and one calling only at , , , , , , , , , and . There are three trains per hour from to . These London–Birmingham stopping services are roughly one hour slower, end to end, than the
Avanti West Coast
Avanti West Coast is a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by FirstGroup (70%) and Trenitalia (30%) that operates the West Coast Partnership franchise.
During November 2016, the Department for Transport (DfT) announced the Inter ...
fast service. There is also an hourly service from to calling at , , and .
West Midlands Trains also operates an hourly service between and , serving , , (peak times and Sundays only), , , , (once a day on Mondays to Saturdays), , , , and . Some services also call at , , , , and . Trains also call at (Sundays only). This service was introduced in 2008 to coincide with the withdrawal of the similar
Virgin Trains
Virgin Trains (legal name West Coast Trains Limited) was a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by Virgin Rail Group, a joint venture between Virgin Group and Stagecoach, which operated the InterCity West Coast franchise from 9 ...
service. Under 'Project 110' this service was reconfigured in December 2012 and to operate 10 mph faster using enhanced
British Rail Class 350
The British Rail Class 350 is a class of electric multiple-unit built by Siemens Transportation Systems to its Siemens Desiro, Desiro design between 2004 and 2014. All 87 are now operated by West Midlands Trains, having previously been operated ...
/1 units.
A service to is provided half-hourly from Euston; one calling at , , , , , and and one calling at , , , , , , and . An hourly service operates to calling at , , , , , and .
West Midlands Trains
West Midlands Trains (WMT) is a train operating company in the United Kingdom. It operates passenger trains on the West Midlands franchise between London and the English Midlands under two trade names: West Midlands Railway (WMR) (within the ...
also operates an hourly stopping train on the
Marston Vale Line from to as well as a 45-minute service on the
Abbey Line
The Abbey Line, also called the St Albans Abbey branch line, is a railway line from Watford Junction to St Albans Abbey. The route passes through town and countryside in the county of Hertfordshire, just outside the boundaries of the Oyster C ...
to . These are both local branches off the WCML and classified as part of it.
After the
Central Trains
Central Trains was a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by National Express that operated a variety of local and inter-regional trains from 2 March 1997 until 11 November 2007.
Overview
Created out of the Central division of ...
franchise was revised,
London Midland
London Midland was a train operating company in England which operated the West Midlands franchise between 11 November 2007 and 10 December 2017. It was owned by the British transport group Govia.
London Midland was created as a result of Gov ...
took over services running on the WCML between
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 ...
and
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
. In August 2017,
London Midland
London Midland was a train operating company in England which operated the West Midlands franchise between 11 November 2007 and 10 December 2017. It was owned by the British transport group Govia.
London Midland was created as a result of Gov ...
lost the West Midlands franchise;
West Midlands Trains
West Midlands Trains (WMT) is a train operating company in the United Kingdom. It operates passenger trains on the West Midlands franchise between London and the English Midlands under two trade names: West Midlands Railway (WMR) (within the ...
took over in December 2017. Services on the WCML are all branded London Northwestern Railway services, and all local services around Birmingham are branded
West Midlands Railway
West Midlands Trains (WMT) is a train operating company in the United Kingdom. It operates passenger trains on the West Midlands franchise between London and the English Midlands under two trade names: West Midlands Railway (WMR) (within the ...
services.
TransPennine Express
TransPennine Express
TransPennine Express (TPE), legally First TransPennine Express Limited, is a British train operating company owned by FirstGroup that operates the TransPennine Express franchise. It runs regional and inter-city rail services between the major c ...
provides services along the WCML between
Manchester Airport
Manchester Airport is an international airport in Ringway, Manchester, England, south-west of Manchester city centre. In 2019, it was the third busiest airport in the United Kingdom in terms of passenger numbers and the busiest of those n ...
or
Liverpool Lime Street
Liverpool Lime Street is a terminus railway station and the main station serving the city centre of Liverpool. Opened in August 1836, it is the oldest still-operating grand terminus mainline station in the world. A branch of the West Coast ...
, and
Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
or
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
(alternating serving each every 2 hours).
Southern
Southern provide an hourly service between
East Croydon
East Croydon is a railway station and tram stop in Croydon, Greater London, England, and is located in Travelcard Zone 5. At from , it is one of the busiest non-terminal stations in London, and in the United Kingdom as a whole. It is one of t ...
and Watford Junction, which calls at all station on the
West London Line, then
Wembley Central, Harrow & Wealdstone and Watford Junction. 2 trains per day extend to Hemel Hempstead.
London North Eastern Railway
London North Eastern Railway
London North Eastern Railway (LNER) is a British train operating company. It is owned by the DfT OLR Holdings for the Department for Transport (DfT). The company's name echoes that of the London and North Eastern Railway, one of the Big Four ...
operates one train per day between
Glasgow Central and
London King's Cross via
Edinburgh Waverley
Edinburgh Waverley railway station (also known simply as Waverley; gd, Waverley Dhùn Èideann) is the principal railway station serving Edinburgh, Scotland. It is the second busiest station in Scotland, after Glasgow Central. It is the north ...
, operating over the West Coast Main Line route between Edinburgh and Glasgow.
CrossCountry
CrossCountry operates services from Plymouth, Bournemouth and Bristol Temple Meads to Manchester Piccadilly; these trains run along the West Coast Main Line between Coventry and Manchester Piccadilly. Some trains from Manchester Piccadilly to Bristol Temple Meads are extended to Paignton and Plymouth, and on summer weekends to Penzance and Newquay. CrossCountry services between Reading and Newcastle also use a small portion of the West Coast Main Line between Coventry and Birmingham New Street. Services towards Reading are often extended to Southampton Central (or occasionally Bournemouth) and 1 train per day towards Reading is extended to Guildford.
CrossCountry also operates a 2 hourly service to/from Glasgow Central, which operates to either Penzance, Plymouth, Newcastle upon Tyne, Bristol Temple Meads or Birmingham New Street. On summer weekends trains from Glasgow Central also operate to Paignton, Penzance and Newquay. These services use the West Coast Main Line from Edinburgh to Glasgow Central.
Abellio ScotRail
Abellio ScotRail operates services on sections of the West Coast Main Line for example near Glasgow with
Argyle Line
The Argyle Line is a suburban railway located in West Central Scotland. The line serves the commercial and shopping districts of Glasgow's central area, and connects towns from West Dunbartonshire to South Lanarkshire. Named for Glasgow's Argyl ...
trains running on the section from to before veering off on the short branch to
Lanark
Lanark (; gd, Lannraig ; sco, Lanrik) is a town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, located 20 kilometres to the south-east of Hamilton. The town lies on the River Clyde, at its confluence with Mouse Water. In 2016, the town had a population of 9 ...
or heading along till
Carstairs
Carstairs (, Scottish Gaelic: ''Caisteal Tarrais'') is a village in South Lanarkshire, Scotland. Carstairs is located east of the county town of Lanark and the West Coast Main Line runs through the village. The village is served by Carstairs ra ...
. The
North Berwick Line
The North Berwick Branch is a short railway branch line built by the North British Railway to connect North Berwick, in East Lothian, Scotland to the East Coast Main Line (at Drem). It was built as a tactical means of excluding competitors fro ...
runs from Glasgow Central High Level via
Motherwell
Motherwell ( sco, Mitherwall, gd, Tobar na Màthar) is a town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Historically in the parish of Dalziel and part of Lanarks ...
to
Carstairs
Carstairs (, Scottish Gaelic: ''Caisteal Tarrais'') is a village in South Lanarkshire, Scotland. Carstairs is located east of the county town of Lanark and the West Coast Main Line runs through the village. The village is served by Carstairs ra ...
and onto
Haymarket Haymarket may refer to:
Places
Australia
* Haymarket, New South Wales, area of Sydney, Australia
Germany
* Heumarkt (KVB), transport interchange in Cologne on the site of the Heumarkt (literally: hay market)
Russia
* Sennaya Square (''Hay Squ ...
,
Edinburgh Waverley
Edinburgh Waverley railway station (also known simply as Waverley; gd, Waverley Dhùn Èideann) is the principal railway station serving Edinburgh, Scotland. It is the second busiest station in Scotland, after Glasgow Central. It is the north ...
and
North Berwick
North Berwick (; gd, Bearaig a Tuath) is a seaside town
A seaside resort is a town, village, or hotel that serves as a vacation resort and is located on a coast. Sometimes the concept includes an aspect of official accreditation based on th ...
.
At the
Glasgow South Western Line
The Glasgow South Western Line is a mainline railway in Scotland that runs from Glasgow to Kilmarnock, and then either via Dumfries, or Stranraer via Ayr, with a branch to East Kilbride.
History
The line was built by several railway compan ...
runs for several miles before heading west towards , , and
Stranraer
Stranraer ( , in Scotland also ; gd, An t-Sròn Reamhar ), also known as The Toon, is a town in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It is located in the historical parish of Inch in the historic county of Wigtownshire. It lies on the shores of L ...
.
Caledonian Sleeper
Caledonian Sleeper operates services down the length of the West Coast Main Line, providing an overnight service between London and Scotland.
Recent developments
Felixstowe and Nuneaton freight capacity scheme
A number of items of work are under way or proposed to accommodate additional freight traffic between the
Haven ports
Haven or The Haven may refer to:
* Harbor or haven, a sheltered body of water where ships can be docked
Arts and entertainment
Fictional characters
* Haven (Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter), from the novel series
* Haven (comics), from the ''X-Men ...
and the Midlands including track dualling. The 'Nuneaton North Chord' was completed and opened on 15 November 2012. The chord will ease access for some trains between the
Birmingham to Peterborough Line and the WCML.
The Ipswich chord was opened at the end of March 2014 allowing trains to run without reversing from Felixstowe towards the Midlands.
Stafford Area Improvements Programme
Planned
flying junction
A flying junction or flyover is a railway junction at which one or more diverging or converging tracks in a multiple-track route cross other tracks on the route by bridge to avoid conflict with other train movements. A more technical term is "gr ...
and track diversion in the –
Norton Bridge area. This replaced the previous level junction where the
Stafford to Manchester via Stoke-on-Trent line diverges from the trunk route at Norton Bridge, avoiding conflicting train movements to enhance capacity and reduce journey times, additional freight capacity was also provided around Stafford station. This allowed two extra off-peak trains per hour from Euston to the North West, one extra train per hour from Manchester to Birmingham and one additional freight train per hour. The resignalling work associated with this project was due to be completed in summer 2015 and the Norton Bridge work was complete in December 2016, followed by a new timetable introduced in December 2017.
Weaver Junction to Liverpool signalling
Re-signalling work the WCML spur track from Liverpool to
Weaver Junction
Weaver Junction is a railway junction connecting the West Coast Main Line (WCML) with the Weaver Junction–Liverpool line, opening on 1 April 1869. Trains bound for Liverpool from London diverge from the WCML at this junction. Weaver Junction i ...
was underway in 2016. Signal control moved to the Manchester Rail Operating Centre removing five local signal boxes. The signal improvements will improve journey times on this section of track.
Proposed development
Increased line speed
Virgin Trains put forward plans in 2007 to increase the line speed in places on the WCML – particularly along sections of the
Trent Valley Line
The Trent Valley line is a railway line between Rugby and Stafford in England, forming part of the West Coast Main Line. It is named after the River Trent which it follows. The line was built to provide a direct route from London to North West E ...
between Stafford and Rugby from 125 to 135 mph (200 to 217 km/h) after the quadrupling of track had been completed. This would permit faster services and possibly allow additional train paths. was claimed to be achievable by Pendolino trains while using existing lineside signalling without the need for
cab signalling
Cab signaling is a railway safety system that communicates track status and condition information to the cab, crew compartment or driver's compartment of a locomotive, railcar or multiple unit. The information is continually updated giving an ...
via the use of the TASS system (
Tilt Authorisation and Speed Supervision The Tilt Authorisation and Speed Supervision System, abbreviated as TASS, is an overlay to train protection systems allowing the control of speeds of tilting trains. It is only installed on the West Coast Main Line in the United Kingdom. Its trainbo ...
) to prevent overspeeding. In practice, regulations introduced by the HMRI (now ORR) at the time of the ECML high-speed test runs in 1991 are still in force prohibiting this. Network Rail was aware of Virgin Train's aspirations;
[''Business plan 2007''](_blank)
Network Rail. however, in November 2009
Chris Mole MP (then Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Transport) announced that there were no plans for this to happen and thus for the foreseeable future the maximum speed will remain at .
In promoting this proposal, Virgin Trains reported that passenger numbers on Virgin West Coast increased from 13.6 million in 1997/98 to 18.7 million in 2005/6, while numbers on CrossCountry grew from 12.6 million to 20.4 million over the same period.
Crossrail extension
In the ''London & South East Rail Utilisation Strategy'' (RUS) document published by
Network Rail
Network Rail Limited is the owner (via its subsidiary Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, which was known as Railtrack plc before 2002) and infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in Great Britain. Network Rail is an "arm's leng ...
in 2011, a proposal was put forward to extend the
Crossrail
Crossrail is a railway construction project mainly in central London. Its aim is to provide a high-frequency hybrid commuter rail and rapid transit system crossing the capital from suburbs on the west to east, by connecting two major railway ...
lines, currently under construction in central London, along the West Coast Main Line as far as and . The scheme would involve the construction of a tunnel in the vicinity of the proposed new station at in West London connecting the Crossrail route to the WCML slow lines with a potential for interchange with the planned
High Speed 2
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 ...
line. Under current plans, a proportion of westbound Crossrail trains will terminate at due to capacity limitations; the RUS recommends the WCML extension as it will enable these services to continue beyond Paddington, maximising the use of the central London tunnels. The RUS also notes that diversion of WCML regional rail services via Crossrail into central London would alleviate congestion at Euston station, and consequently reduce the need for infrastructure work on the
London Underground network which would be required to accommodate HS2 passengers arriving at Euston. The Crossrail extension proposal has not been officially confirmed or funded.
In August 2014, the government launched a study into the Crossrail extension.
Accidents
Route
![West Coast Main Line Map](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/89/West_Coast_Main_Line_Map.png)
In June 2019
Network Rail
Network Rail Limited is the owner (via its subsidiary Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, which was known as Railtrack plc before 2002) and infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in Great Britain. Network Rail is an "arm's leng ...
formed five 'regions' for helping to support Britain's railways. In August and September 2019, 14 'routes' responsible for the operation, maintenance and renewal of infrastructure were assigned across these regions. The West Coast Main Line runs through two of these regions ("Scotland's Railway" and "North West and Central") and is a part of 3 routes ("Scotland", "North West" and "West Coast Mainline South").
The cities and towns served by the WCML are listed in the tables below. Stations on loops and branches are marked **. Those stations in ''italics'' are not served by inter-city services run by Avanti West Coast but only by local trains. Between Euston and Watford Junction the WCML is largely but not exactly paralleled by the operationally independent
Watford DC Line
The Watford DC line is a suburban line from London Euston to Watford Junction in Watford, Hertfordshire. Its services are operated by London Overground.
The line runs beside the West Coast Main Line (WCML) for most of its length. The London ...
, a local stopping service now part of
London Overground
London Overground (also known simply as the Overground) is a Urban rail in the United Kingdom, suburban rail network serving London and its environs. Established in 2007 to take over Silverlink Metro routes, (via archive.org). it now serves a ...
, with 17 intermediate stations, including three with additional platforms on the WCML.
The final table retraces the route specifically to indicate the many loops, branches, junctions and interchange stations on the core of the WCML.
The North Wales Coast Line between Crewe and Holyhead is not electrified. Services between London, Chester and Holyhead are operated by
Super Voyager tilting diesel trains. Formerly in the case of one of the Holyhead services, a
Pendolino
Pendolino (from Italian ''pendolo'' "pendulum", and ''-ino,'' a diminutive suffix) is an Italian family of tilting trains used in Italy, Spain, Germany, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Finland, Russia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, the UK, the US, ...
set was hauled from Crewe by a
Class 57/3 diesel locomotive
A diesel locomotive is a type of railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine. Several types of diesel locomotives have been developed, differing mainly in the means by which mechanical power is conveyed to the driving whee ...
.
London to Glasgow and Edinburgh
Branches and loops
The WCML is noted for the diversity of branches served between the London and Glasgow main line. The adjacent diagram deals with the very complex network of lines in the West Midlands that link the old route via Birmingham with the new WCML route via the Trent Valley (i.e. 1830s versus 1840s).
In the following tables, related to the WCML branches, only the Intercity stations are recorded:
=Rugby–Birmingham–Wolverhampton–Stafford
=
=Crewe–Manchester–Preston
=
Tunnels, viaducts and major bridges
Major civil engineering structures on the West Coast Main Line include the following.
WCML branches and junctions
See also
*
Castle Douglas and Dumfries Railway
The Castle Douglas and Dumfries Railway was a railway in south west Scotland which linked Castle Douglas in Kirkcudbrightshire to Dumfries.
It opened in 1859. Other companies' lines extended westwards and southwards, and the CD&D line formed ...
*
East Coast Main Line
The East Coast Main Line (ECML) is a electrified railway between London and Edinburgh via Peterborough, Doncaster, York, Darlington, Durham and Newcastle. The line is a key transport artery on the eastern side of Great Britain running broa ...
*
Great Central Main Line
The Great Central Main Line (GCML), also known as the London Extension of the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway (MS&LR), is a former railway line in the United Kingdom. The line was opened in 1899 and built by the Great Central Railw ...
*
Highland Main Line
The Highland Main Line is a railway line in Scotland. It is long and runs through the Scottish Highlands linking a series of small towns and villages with Perth at one end and Inverness at the other. Today, services between Inverness and Edi ...
*
Irish Sea tunnel
There are a number of proposed fixed connections—road or rail, bridge or tunnel—designed to connect the islands of Ireland and Great Britain, connect the island of Great Britain to mainland Europe, as well as to build other connections amongs ...
*
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.
...
*
Midland Main Line railway upgrade
The Midland Main Line railway upgrade is a proposed upgrade to the Midland Main Line, a railway line in the United Kingdom. There have been a number of proposals to electrify the line over many years but the 2012 proposal and announcement by the UK ...
*
Portpatrick Railway
The Portpatrick and Wigtownshire Joint RailwaysThe final word is in the plural. was a network of railway lines serving sparsely populated areas of south-west Scotland. The title appeared in 1885 when the previously independent Portpatrick Rai ...
*
Rail transport in Great Britain
The railway system in Great Britain is the oldest railway system in the world. The first locomotive-hauled public railway opened in 1825, which was followed by an era of rapid expansion. Most of the track is managed by Network Rail, which in ...
*
West Coast Main Line route modernisation
The West Coast Main Line is a key strategic railway line in the United Kingdom. It links the cities of London, Glasgow, Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester and Preston. Virgin Trains took on the franchise to run train services on the routes in 19 ...
References
Sources
*
*
**
**
**
Further reading
*
* *
*
*
*
*
*
*
External links
Electric All The Way– 1974 British Rail information booklet about the completion of electrification to Glasgow.
Rail Industry www page which monitors the progress of the projectDepartment of Transport – 2006 – West Coast Main Line – Update ReportNetwork Rail Business Plans and ReportsLondon to Glasgow in five minutes– BBC video, December 2008
{{Trans-European Transport Networks
Main inter-regional railway lines in Great Britain
Railway lines in London
Railway lines in North West England
Railway lines in South East England
Railway lines in Scotland
Railway lines in Wales
Railway lines in the West Midlands (region)
Rail transport in Bedfordshire
Rail transport in Birmingham, West Midlands
Rail transport in Buckinghamshire
Rail transport in Cheshire
Rail transport in Coventry
Rail transport in Cumbria
Rail transport in Greater Manchester
Rail transport in Hertfordshire
Rail transport in Lancashire
Rail transport in Merseyside
Rail transport in Northamptonshire
Rail transport in Scotland
Rail transport in Staffordshire
Rail transport in Warwickshire
Rail transport in the West Midlands (county)
Rail transport in Wolverhampton
Standard gauge railways in England
Standard gauge railways in Scotland
Transport in the London Borough of Brent
Transport in the London Borough of Camden
Transport in the London Borough of Harrow