Midland Main Line


The Midland Main Line is a major railway line in England from London to Nottingham and Sheffield in the north of England. The line is under the Network Rail description of Route 19; it comprises the lines from London's St Pancras station via Leicester, Derby/Nottingham and Chesterfield in the East Midlands.
Express passenger services on the line are operated by East Midlands Railway. The section between St Pancras and Bedford is electrified and forms the northern half of Thameslink, with a semi-fast service to Brighton and other suburban services.
A northern part of the route, between Derby and Chesterfield, also forms part of the Cross Country Route operated by CrossCountry. Tracks from Nottingham to Leeds via Barnsley and Sheffield are shared with Northern. East Midlands Railway also operates regional and local services using parts of the line.

History

Midland Counties early developments

The Midland Main Line was built in stages between the 1830s and the 1870s. The earliest section was opened by the Midland Counties Railway between Nottingham and Derby on 4 June 1839. On 5 May 1840 the section of the route from Trent Junction to Leicester was opened.
The line at Derby was joined on 1 July 1840 by the North Midland Railway to Leeds Hunslet Lane via Chesterfield, Rotherham Masborough, Swinton and Normanton.
On 10 May 1844 the North Midland Railway, the Midland Counties Railway and the Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway merged to form the Midland Railway.

Midland Main Line southern extensions

Without its own route to London, the Midland Railway relied upon a junction at Rugby with the London and Birmingham Railway line for access to the capital at London Euston. By the 1850s the junction at Rugby had become severely congested. The Midland Railway employed Thomas Brassey to construct a new route from Leicester to via Kettering, Wellingborough and Bedford. giving access to London via the Great Northern Railway from Hitchin. The Crimean War resulted in a shortage of labour and finance, and only £900,000 was available for the construction, approximately £15,000 for each mile. To reduce construction costs the railway followed natural contours, resulting in many curves and gradients. Seven bridges and one tunnel were required, with 60 ft cuttings at Desborough and Sharnbrook. There are also major summits at Kibworth, Desbrough and at Sharnbrook where a 1 in 119 gradient from the south over 3 miles takes the line to above sea level. This route opened for coal traffic on 15 April 1857, goods on 4 May and passengers on 8 May and the section between Leicester and Bedford is still part of the Midland Main Line.
While this took some of the pressure off the route through Rugby, the GNR insisted that passengers for London alight at Hitchin, buying tickets in the short time available, to catch a GNR train to finish their journey. James Allport arranged a seven-year deal with the GN to run into Kings Cross for a guaranteed £20,000 a year. Through services to London were introduced in February 1858.
This line met with similar capacity problems at Hitchin as the former route via Rugby, so a new line was constructed from Bedford via Luton to which opened on 1 October 1868. The construction of the London extension cost £9 million.
As traffic built up, the Midland opened a new deviation just north of Market Harborough railway station on 26 June 1885 to remove the flat crossing of the Rugby and Stamford Railway.

Northernmost sections

Plans by the Midland Railway to build a direct line from Derby to Manchester were thwarted in 1863 by the builders of the Buxton line who sought to monopolise on the West Coast Main Line.
In 1870 the Midland Railway opened a new route from Chesterfield to Rotherham which went through Sheffield via the Bradway Tunnel.
The mid-1870s saw the Midland line extended northwards through the Yorkshire Dales and Eden Valley on what is now called the Settle–Carlisle Railway.
Before the line closures of the Beeching era, the lines to Buxton and via Millers Dale during most years presented an alternate main line from London to Manchester, carrying named expresses such as The Palatine and the "Blue Pullman" diesel powered Manchester - London service. Express trains to Leeds and Scotland such as the Thames–Clyde Express mainly used the Midland's corollary Erewash Valley line, returned to it then used the Settle–Carlisle line. Expresses to Edinburgh Waverley, such as The Waverley travelled through Corby and Nottingham.

Under British Railways and privatisation

Most Leicester-Nottingham local passenger trains were taken over by diesel units from 14 April 1958, taking about 51 minutes between the two cities.
When the Great Central Main Line closed in 1966, the Midland became the only direct main-line rail link between London and the East Midlands and parts of South Yorkshire.
The Beeching cuts and electrification of the West Coast Main Line brought an end to the marginally longer London–Manchester service via Sheffield.
In 1977 the Parliamentary Select Committee on Nationalised Industries recommended considering electrification of more of Britain's rail network, and by 1979 BR presented a range of options that included electrifying the Midland Main Line from London to Yorkshire by 2000. By 1983 the line had been electrified from Moorgate to Bedford, but proposals to continue electrification to Nottingham and Sheffield were not implemented.
, at in 2005
The introduction of the High Speed Train in May 1983, following the Leicester area resignalling, brought about an increase of the ruling line speed on the fast lines from to.
Between 2001 and 2003 the line between Derby and Sheffield was upgraded from to as part of Operation Princess, the Network Rail funded CrossCountry route upgrade.
In January 2009 a new station, East Midlands Parkway, was opened between Loughborough and Trent Junction, to act as a park-and-ride station for suburban travellers from East Midlands cities and to serve nearby East Midlands Airport.
Most recently running has been introduced on extended stretches. Improved signalling, increased number of tracks and the revival of proposals to extend electrification from Bedford to Sheffield are underway. Much of this £70 million upgrade, including some line-speed increases, came online on 9 December 2013.

Network Rail route strategy for freight 2007

Network Rail published a Route Utilisation Strategy for freight in 2007; over the coming years a cross-country freight route will be developed enhancing the Birmingham to Peterborough Line, increasing capacity through Leicester, and remodelling Syston and Wigston junctions.

Network Rail 2010 route plan

Traffic levels on the Midland Main Line are rising faster than the national average, with continued increases predicted. In 2006 the Strategic Rail Authority produced a Route Utilisation Strategy for the Midland Main Line to propose ways of meeting this demand; Network Rail started a new study in February 2008 and this was published in February 2010.
After electrification, the North Northamptonshire towns are planned to have an additional 'Outer Suburban service' into London St Pancras, similar to the West Midlands Trains' Crewe – London Euston services to cater for the growing commuter market. North Northamptonshire is a major growth area, with over 7,400 new homes planned to be built in Wellingborough and 5,500 new homes planned for Kettering.
Highlights include:
On 16 July 2012, the Department for Transport announced plans to reconfigure the existing electrified section and to electrify most of the line by 2020 at an expected cost of £800 million. In January 2013 Network Rail expected the electrification to cost £500 million and be undertaken in stages during Control Period 5, with Bedford to Corby section electrified by 2017, Kettering to Derby and Nottingham by 2019 and Derby to Sheffield by 2020.
In the Route Utilisation Strategy, Network Rail recommended the in 10 car formations for the InterCity services, two freight loops south of Bedford and between Kettering and Leicester for longer and heavier freight services, additional infrastructure to accommodate additional freight and passenger train paths and also recommended an additional stop at Kettering for the semi-fast London-Sheffield service.
The electrification plan was part of the wider Electric Spine project to create an electrified route from the Port of Southampton to Sheffield and possibly Doncaster. The project planned to electrify the Varsity Line, the Cherwell Valley/Great Western Main Lines and the Reading to Basingstoke Line. The South Western Main Line between Basingstoke and Southampton would have been converted to overhead AC electrification from third rail DC power.
The plans were put on hold in June 2015 by the Transport Secretary, Patrick McLoughlin. In September 2015, the Department for Transport announced revised completion dates of 2019 for Corby and Kettering and 2023 for the line further north to Leicester, Nottingham and Sheffield.
On 20 July 2017, it was announced that the Kettering-Leicester-Nottingham/Derby-Sheffield electrification project had been cancelled and that bi-mode trains would be used on the route.
The section of line between Clay Cross and Sheffield is planned to be electrified for HS2 by 2033 to enable classic-compatible services to reach Sheffield along the "M18/Eastern Route", this will leave an approximate 70 mile non-electrified "gap" between Kettering North Junction and Clay Cross.
On 6 November 2017 it was announced that Carillion Powerlines had been awarded the contract by Network Rail for the electrification from Bedford to Kettering and Corby. The contract is valued at £260m. The installation of overhead catenary is due to be completed by December 2019. A separate contract was awarded at the same time to the same company for £62m track upgrades on the same route. The first overhead line mast was installed in November 2017.
On 26 February 2019 Andrew Jones, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Transport, announced that electrification would be extended northwards from Kettering to Market Harborough, enabling the connection of the railway to a new power supply point at Braybrooke.

Thameslink Programme

The Thameslink Programme has lengthened the platforms at most stations south of Bedford to 12-car capability. St Pancras, Cricklewood, Hendon and Luton Airport Parkway were already long enough, but bridges at Kentish Town mean it cannot expand beyond the current 8-car platform length. West Hampstead Thameslink has a new footbridge and a new station building. In September 2014 the current Thameslink Great Northern franchise was awarded and trains on this route are currently operated by Thameslink. In 2018 the Thameslink network will expand when some Southern services are merged into it.

Station improvements

In 2013/14 station was refurbished and the platforms restructured.
As part of Wellingborough's Stanton Cross development, station is to be expanded.
between and was opened on 2 April 2017.
Two new stations are planned:
Some new stations have been proposed:
The term Midland Main Line has been used from the late 1840s to describe any route of the Midland Railway on which express trains were operated.
It is first recorded in print in 1848 in Bradshaw's railway almanack of that year. In 1849 it begins to be mentioned regularly in newspapers such as the Derby Mercury.
In 1867 the Birmingham Journal uses the term to describe the new railway running into St Pancras railway station.
In 1868 the term was used to describe the Midland Railway main route from North to South through Sheffield and also on routes to Manchester, Leeds and Carlisle.
Under British Rail the term was used to define the route between St Pancras and Sheffield, but in more recent times, Network Rail has restricted it in its description of Route 19 to the lines between St. Pancras and Chesterfield.

Accidents

East Midlands Railway

The principal operator is East Midlands Railway, which operates five InterCity trains every hour from London St Pancras with two trains per hour to both Nottingham and and one train per hour to. EMR use Meridian trains in various carriage formations for most of its InterCity services. Older 8 coach High Speed Trains are used for its Nottingham fast service as well morning/evening Leeds services.

Thameslink

provides frequent, 24-hour commuter services south of Bedford as part of its Thameslink route to London Bridge,, and Sutton, using 8-car and 12-car electric trains.

Other operators

runs half-hourly services between Derby and Sheffield on its route between the South West and North East, and hourly services from Nottingham to Birmingham and Cardiff. Northern runs an hourly service to Leeds from Nottingham via Alfreton and Barnsley.
Other operators include TransPennine Express in the Sheffield area.

Route description

The cities, towns and villages currently served by the MML are listed below. Stations in bold have a high usage. This table includes the historical extensions to Manchester and Carlisle.
Network Rail groups all lines in the East Midlands and the route north as far as Chesterfield and south to London as route 19. The actual line extends beyond this into routes 10 and 11.

London to Nottingham and Sheffield (Network Rail Route 19)

Tunnels, viaducts and major bridges

Major civil engineering structures on the Midland Main Line include the following.
Railway StructureLengthDistance from London St Pancras InternationalELRLocation
East Bank Tunnel158 miles 05 chains – 158 miles 01 chainsTJC1South of Sheffield station
Bradway Tunnel153 miles 61 chains – 152 miles 49 chainsTJC1North of Dronfield station
Unstone Viaduct 149 miles 75 chains – 149 miles 69 chainsTJC1Between Dronfield and Chesterfield stations
Former Broomhouse TunnelTJC1Between Dronfield and Chesterfield stations
Whitting Moor Road Viaduct148 miles 45 chainsTJC1Between Dronfield and Chesterfield stations
Alfreton Tunnel135 miles 50 chains – 135 miles 11 chains TCCErewash Valley Line between Alfreton and Langley Mill stations
Cromford Canal132 miles 67 chains TCCErewash Valley Line between Alfreton and Langley Mill stations
Erewash Canal128 miles 09 chains TCCErewash Valley Line south of Langley Mill station
Clay Cross Tunnel147 miles 22 chains – 146 miles 21 chainsSPC8Between Chesterfield and Belper stations
River Amber140 miles 40 chainsSPC8Between Chesterfield and Belper stations
Wingfield Tunnel139 miles 59 chains – 139 miles 47 chainsSPC8Between Chesterfield and Belper stations
Toadmoor Tunnel138 miles 12 chains – 138 miles 07 chainsSPC8Between Chesterfield and Belper stations
River Derwent / Broadholme Viaducts,
136 miles 47 chains – 136 miles 41 chains, 136 miles 18 chains – 136 miles 11 chainsSPC8Between Chesterfield and Belper stations
Swainsley Viaduct 134 miles 61 chains – 134 miles 57 chainsSPC8Between Belper and Duffield stations
Milford Tunnel134 miles 25 chains – 133 miles 67 chainsSPC8Between Belper and Duffield stations
Burley Viaduct 131 miles 58 chains – 131 miles 54 chainsSPC8Between Duffield and Derby stations
Nottingham Road Viaduct128 miles 43 chains – 128 miles 40 chainsSPC8Between Duffield and Derby stations
River Derwent Viaduct128 miles 06 chains – 128 miles 03 chainsSPC8Between Duffield and Derby stations
Trent Viaduct119 miles 08 chains – 118 miles 77 chainsSPC6Between Long Eaton and East Midlands Parkway station
Redhill Tunnels,
118 miles 74 chains – 118 miles 66 chainsSPC6Between Long Eaton and East Midlands Parkway station
River Soar112 miles 74 chainsSPC5Between East Midlands Parkway and Loughborough stations
Flood openings112 miles 60 chains – 112 miles 58 chainsSPC5Between East Midlands Parkway and Loughborough stations
Hermitage Brook Flood Openings111 miles 41 chains – 111 miles 38 chainsSPC5South of Loughborough station
River Soar109 miles 55 chainsSPC5North of Barrow-upon-Soar station
River Wreak104 miles 60 chainsSPC5South of Sileby station
Knighton Tunnel98 miles 07 chains – 98 miles 02 chainsSPC4South of Leicester station
Knighton Viaduct97 miles 34 chains – 97 miles 30 chainsSPC4South of Leicester station
Wellingborough Viaducts 64 miles 57 chains – 64 miles 51 chainsSPC2South of Wellingborough station
Irchester Viaducts 63 miles 67 chains – 63 miles 60 chainsSPC2South of Wellingborough station
Sharnbrook Tunnel 60 miles 04 chains – 59 miles 00 chainsWYMBetween Wellingborough and Bedford stations
Sharnbrook Viaducts56 miles 25 chains – 56 miles 16 chainsSPC2Between Wellingborough and Bedford stations
Radwell Viaducts55 miles 03 chains – 54 miles 76½ chainsSPC2Between Wellingborough and Bedford stations
Milton Ernest Viaducts54 miles 25 chains – 54 miles 17 chainsSPC2Between Wellingborough and Bedford stations
Oakley Viaducts53 miles 35 chains – 53 miles 29 chainsSPC2Between Wellingborough and Bedford stations
Clapham Viaducts 52 miles 04 chains – 51 miles 78 chainsSPC2Between Wellingborough and Bedford stations
Bromham Viaducts 50 miles 79 chains – 50 miles 72 chainsSPC2Between Wellingborough and Bedford stations
River Great Ouse Viaduct49 miles 38 chains – 49 miles 33 chainsSPC1Between Bedford and Flitwick stations
Ampthill Tunnels42 miles 52 chains – 42 miles 19 chainsSPC1Between Bedford and Flitwick stations
Hyde/Chiltern Green Viaduct 26 miles 72 chains – 26 miles 66 chainsSPC1South of Luton Airport Parkway station
Elstree Tunnels12 miles 06 chains – 11 miles 38 chainsSPC1South of Elstree & Borehamwood station
Stoneyfield/Deans Brook Viaduct10 miles 36 chains – 10 miles 32 chainsSPC1Between Elstree & Borehamwood and Hendon stations
Welsh Harp/Brent Viaduct 6 miles 31 chains – 6 miles 21 chainsSPC1South of Hendon station
Belsize Slow Tunnel3 miles 34 chains – 2 miles 29 chainsSPC1Between West Hampstead Thameslink and Kentish Town stations
Belsize Fast Tunnel3 miles 32 chains – 2 miles 33 chainsSPC1Between West Hampstead Thameslink and Kentish Town stations
Lismore Circus Tunnel2 miles 22 chains – 2 miles 17 chainsSPC1Between West Hampstead Thameslink and Kentish Town stations
Hampstead Tunnel1 mile 76 chains – 1 mile 74 chainsSPC1
Camden Road Tunnels1 miles 13 chains – 0 miles 79 chainsSPC1South of Kentish Town station
Canal Tunnels0 miles 0 chains – 0 miles 0 chainsConnecting to ECML at Belle Island Junction

Line-side monitoring equipment

Line-side train monitoring equipment includes hot axle box detectors and wheel impact load detectors ‘Wheelchex’, these are located as follows.
Name / TypeLineLocation Engineers Line Reference
Dore HABD Down Main154 miles 72 chainsTJC1
Belper HABD Up Main134 miles 70 chainsSPC8
Duffield Junction HABD Up Main132 miles 63 chainsSPC8
Langley Mill HABDUp Erewash Fast, Up & Down Erewash Slow129 miles 27 chainsTCC
Loughborough HABDUp Fast, Up Slow111 miles 05 chainsSPC5
Barrow-upon-Soar HABDDown Fast, Down Slow108 miles 72 chainsSPC5
Thurmaston WheelchexDown Fast, Up Fast, Up & Down Slow101 miles 78 chainsSPC5
East Langton HABDDown Main, Up Main86 miles 20 chainsSPC3
Harrowden Junction HABDDown Fast, Up & Down Slow67 miles 36 chainsSPC3
Oakley HABDUp Fast, Up Slow53 miles 60 chainsSPC2
Chiltern Green HABDDown Fast, Down Slow27 miles 69 chainsSPC1
Napsbury HABDUp Fast, Up Slow18 miles 00 chainsSPC1

Ambergate Junction to Manchester

For marketing and franchising, this is no longer considered part of the Midland Main Line: see Manchester, Buxton, Matlock and Midlands Junction Railway
The line was once the Midland Railway's route from London St Pancras to Manchester, branching at Ambergate Junction along the Manchester, Buxton, Matlock and Midlands Junction Railway, now known as the Derwent Valley line.
In days gone by, it featured named expresses such as The Palatine. Much later in the twentieth century, it carried the Midland Pullman.
Town/CityStationOrdnance Survey
grid reference
Ambergate'
Whatstandwell'
Cromford'
Matlock Bath'
Matlock
Closed section stations--
Darley DaleDarley Dale
RowsleyRowsley
Bakewell
Hassop
Great Longstone
Monsal Dale
Millers Dale
Blackwell Mill
BuxtonBuxton
Peak Forest
Chapel-en-le-Frith
Now part of the Hope Valley line or other lines--
Chinley
Bugsworth
New Mills
Strines
Marple
Romiley
Bredbury
Brinnington
Reddish
Gorton
Belle Vue/Gorton
StockportStockport Tiviot Dale
Manchester

This line was closed in the 1960s between and, severing an important link between Manchester and the East Midlands, which has never been satisfactorily replaced by any mode of transport. A section of the route remains in the hands of the Peak Rail preservation group, operating between Matlock and Rowsley to the north.

Leeds to Carlisle

For marketing and franchising, this is no longer considered part of the Midland Main Line: see Settle–Carlisle Railway.
on a through line and provided a direct connection to Scotland..
World War I prevented the Midland Railway from finishing its direct route through the West Riding to join the Settle and Carlisle.
The first part of the Midland's West Riding extension from the main line at Royston to Dewsbury was opened before the war. However, the second part of the extension was not completed.
This involved a viaduct at Dewsbury over the River Calder, a tunnel under Dewsbury Moor and a new approach railway into Bradford from the south at a lower level than the existing railway leading into Bradford Midland station.
The gap between the stations at Bradford still exists. Closing it today would also need to take into account the different levels between the two Bradford stations, a task made easier in the days of electric rather than steam traction, allowing for steeper gradients than possible at the time of the Midland's proposed extension.
Two impressive viaducts remain on the completed part of the line between Royston Junction and Dewsbury as a testament to the Midland's ambition to complete a third direct Anglo-Scottish route. The line served two goods stations and provided a route for occasional express passenger trains before its eventual closure in 1968.
The failure to complete this section ended the Midland's hopes of being a serious competitor on routes to Scotland and finally put beyond all doubt that Leeds, not Bradford, would be the West Riding's principal city. Midland trains to Scotland therefore continued to call at Leeds before travelling along the Aire Valley to the Settle and Carlisle. From Carlisle they then travelled onwards via either the Glasgow and South Western or Waverley Route. In days gone by the line enjoyed named expresses such as the Thames–Clyde Express and The Waverley.
As with most railway lines in Britain, the route used to serve far more stations than it currently does. Places that the current main line used to serve include