| West Coast Main Line | |
| Status: | Operational |
| System: | National Rail |
| Stations: | 46 |
| Owner: | Network Rail |
| Open: | 1837–1881 |
| Tracks: | Two, four or six |
| Load Gauge: | W10 |
The West Coast Main Line (WCML) is one of the most important railway corridors in the United Kingdom, connecting the major cities of London and Glasgow with branches to Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Edinburgh. It is one of the busiest mixed-traffic railway routes in Europe, carrying a mixture of intercity rail, regional rail, commuter rail and rail freight traffic. The core route of the WCML runs from London to Glasgow for 400miles and was opened from 1837 to 1881. With additional lines deviating to Northampton, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Edinburgh, this totals a route mileage of 7000NaN0.[1] [2] The Glasgow–Edinburgh via Carstairs line connects the WCML to Edinburgh. However, the main London–Edinburgh route is the East Coast Main Line. Several sections of the WCML form part of the suburban railway systems in London, Coventry, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool 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 traffic. The line is the principal rail freight corridor linking the European mainland (via the Channel Tunnel) through London and South East England to the West Midlands, North West England and Scotland.[3] The line has been declared a strategic European route and designated a priority Trans-European Networks (TENS) route. A number of railway writers refer to it as "The Premier line".[4]
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 (LNWR), which then gradually absorbed most of the others; the exceptions were the Caledonian Railway in Scotland, and the North Staffordshire Railway (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 (LMS) when the railway companies were grouped under the Railways Act 1921. The LMS itself was nationalised in 1947 to form part of British Railways (BR).
As the WCML is the most important long-distance railway trunk route in the UK, BR carried out an extensive programme of modernisation of it between the late 1950s and early 1970s, which included full overhead electrification of the route, and the introduction of modern intercity passenger services at speeds of up to 110mph.[5] Further abortive modernisation schemes were proposed, including the introduction of the Advanced Passenger Train (APT) in the 1980s; an ill-fated high speed train which used tilting technology, which was required to allow faster speeds on the curving route, and the abortive InterCity 250 project in the early-1990s. Further modernisation of the route finally occurred during the 2000s in the period of privatisation, which saw speeds raised further to 125mph and the introduction of tilting Class 390 Pendolino trains.
As much of the line has a maximum speed of 125mph, it meets the European Union's definition of an upgraded high-speed line,[6] although only Class 390 Pendolinos and Class 221 Super Voyagers with tilting mechanisms operated by Avanti West Coast travel at that speed. Non-tilting trains are limited to 110mph.[7]
The spine between London Euston and is 3990NaN0 long,[8] with principal InterCity stations at,,,,,,,,,, and .
The spine[9] has bypasses serving the major towns and cities of Northampton, Coventry, Birmingham and Wolverhampton. Spurs serve Stoke-on-Trent, Macclesfield, Stockport, Manchester, Runcorn and Liverpool. There is also a branch to Edinburgh, at Carstairs in Scotland which is not the most direct route between London and Edinburgh.[10] It provides a direct connection between the WCML and the East Coast Main Line.
Originally, the lines between Rugby, Birmingham and Stafford were part of the main spine, until the Trent Valley Line was built in 1847. This line formed a direct connection between Rugby and Stafford becoming the a part of the spine. South of Rugby, there is a bypass loop that serves Northampton. There is a spur at Weaver Junction north of Crewe to Liverpool. Weaver Junction on this branch is the oldest flyover-type junction in Britain. A spur branches off from Crewe to serve Manchester. There is also a spur between Colwich Junction in the Trent Valley, south of Stafford to Stoke-on-Trent, with another spur north of Stafford, also to Stoke-on-Trent.
The geography of the route was determined by avoiding large estates and hilly areas, such as the Chilterns (Tring Cutting); the Watford Gap and Northampton uplands, followed by the Trent Valley; the mountains of Cumbria, with a summit at Shap; and Beattock Summit in South Lanarkshire. This legacy means the WCML has limitations as a long-distance main line, with lower maximum speeds than the East Coast Main Line (ECML) route, the other main line between London and Scotland. The principal solution has been the adoption of tilting trains, initially with British Rail's APT and latterly the Pendolino trains constructed by Alstom and introduced by Virgin Trains in 2003. A 'conventional' attempt to raise line speeds as part of the InterCity 250 upgrade in the 1990s would have relaxed maximum cant levels on curves and seen some track realignments; this scheme faltered for lack of funding in the economic climate of the time.
The early history of the WCML is complex, as it was not originally conceived as a single trunk route, but was built as a patchwork of separate lines by different companies, mostly during the 1830s and 1840s, but some parts were opened as late as the 1880s. After the completion of the pioneering Liverpool and Manchester Railway 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 connecting the Liverpool and Manchester Railway to Birmingham, via Warrington,, and, opening in 1837. The following year the London and Birmingham Railway 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.[11] [12] These lines, together with the Trent Valley Railway (between Rugby and Stafford, avoiding Birmingham) and the Manchester and Birmingham Railway (Crewe–Manchester), amalgamated operations in 1846 to form the London and North Western Railway (LNWR). Three other companies, the North Union Railway (Parkside–Wigan–Preston), the Lancaster and Preston Junction Railway and the Lancaster and Carlisle Railway, completed a through route to by the end of 1846, these were later absorbed by the LNWR.[13]
North of Carlisle, the Caledonian Railway remained independent, and opened its main line from Carlisle to on 10 September 1847, connecting to Edinburgh in February 1848, and to Glasgow in November 1849.[14]
Another important section, the North Staffordshire Railway (NSR), which opened its route in 1848 from Macclesfield (connecting with the LNWR from Manchester) to Stafford and Colwich Junction via Stoke-on-Trent, also remained independent. The NSR provided a useful alternative route to Manchester, however poor relations between the LNWR and the NSR meant that through trains did not run until 1867.[15]
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.[16] The first direct London to Glasgow trains in the 1850s took 12.5hours to complete the 400miles journey.[17]
The final sections of what is now the WCML were put in place over the following decades. A direct branch to Liverpool, bypassing the earlier Liverpool and Manchester line, was opened in 1869, from Weaver Junction north of to Ditton Junction via the Runcorn Railway Bridge over the River Mersey.[18]
At the northern end, the Caledonian replaced its original terminus in Glasgow, with the much larger and better located in 1879.[14]
To expand capacity, the line between London and Rugby 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, occurred on the WCML during World War I, on 22 May 1915, between Glasgow Central and Carlisle, in which 227 were killed and 246 injured.
The entire route came under the control of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) on 1 January 1923 when the railway companies were grouped, under the Railways Act 1921.
The LMS competed fiercely with the rival LNER's East Coast Main Line 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 Princess Coronation Class locomotives, which made the journey in 6hours 30minutes,[19] 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 7hours 15minutes in the 1959–60 timetable by strictly limiting the number of coaches to eight and not stopping between London and Carlisle.[20])
In 1948, following nationalisation, the line came under the control of British Railways' London Midland and Scottish Regions, when the term "West Coast Main Line" came into use officially, although it had been used informally since at least 1912.[21]
As part of the 1955 modernisation plan, British Rail carried out a large programme of modernisation of the WCML in stages between 1959 and 1974; the modernisation involved upgrading the track and signaling to allow higher speeds, rebuilding a number of stations, and electrification of the route with overhead line equipment. The first stretch to be upgraded and electrified was Crewe 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 a full public service to Manchester and Liverpool launched on 18 April 1966. Electrification of both the Birmingham branch, and the routes to Manchester via was completed on 6 March 1967, allowing electric services to commence to those destinations. In March 1970 the government approved electrification of the northern half of the WCML, between Weaver Junction (where the branch to Liverpool diverges) and Glasgow, and this was completed on 6 May 1974.[22] [23] The announcement, after five years of uncertainty, was made 48hours before the writ was issued for a by-election in South Ayrshire.[24] The Observer 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's highly successful "Inter-City" brand[25] (the hyphen was later dropped) and offering journey times as London to Birmingham in 1 hour 35 minutes, and London to Manchester or Liverpool in 2hours 40minutes (and even 2hours 30minutes for the twice-daily Manchester Pullman).[26] This represented a big improvement on the 3hours 30minutes to Manchester and Liverpool of the fastest steam service. A new feature was that these fast trains were offered on a regular-interval service throughout the day: initially hourly to Birmingham, two-hourly to Manchester, and so on.[27] The service proved to be so popular that in 1972 these InterCity service frequencies were doubled to deal with increased demand.[28] With the completion of the northern electrification in 1974, London to Glasgow journey times were reduced from 6hours to 5.Along with electrification came modern coaches such as the Mark 2 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 service. Passenger traffic on the WCML doubled between 1962 and 1975.[29]
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, Manchester Piccadilly,, and London Euston. To enable the latter, the famous Doric Arch portal into the original Philip Hardwick-designed terminus was demolished in 1962 amid much public outcry.[30]
Electrification of the Edinburgh branch was carried out in the late 1980s as part of the East Coast Main Line electrification project in order to allow InterCity 225 sets to access Glasgow via Carstairs Junction.[31]
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; Barrow-in-Furness, Whitehaven and Workington; Huddersfield, Bradford Interchange, Leeds and Halifax (via Stockport); Blackpool South; Colne (via Stockport); Morecambe and Heysham; Southport (via); Blackburn and Stranraer Harbour. Notable also is the loss of through services between Liverpool and Scotland; however these were restored by TransPennine Express in 2019.[32]
British Rail introduced the Advanced Passenger Train APT project, which proved that London–Glasgow WCML journey times of less than 4hours were achievable and paved the way for the later tilting Virgin Pendolino trains.[33]
In the late 1980s, British Rail put forward a track realignment scheme to raise speeds on the WCML; a proposed project called InterCity 250, 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.
As part of the privatisation of British Rail in the 1990s, the infrastructure was taken over in 1994 by the private company Railtrack, which later collapsed in 2002, and was replaced by the not-for-profit company Network Rail. WCML's InterCity services became part of the InterCity West Coast franchise, which was won by Virgin Trains who took over in 1997.[34] In 2019, Avanti West Coast won the new West Coast Partnership franchise, taking over from Virgin Trains.
See main article: West Coast Main Line route modernisation.
By the dawn of the 1990s, it was clear that further modernisation was required. Initially this took the form of the InterCity 250 project.
The modernisation plan unveiled by Virgin and the new infrastructure owner Railtrack involved the upgrade and renewal of the line to allow the use of tilting Pendolino trains with a maximum line speed of 1400NaN0, in place of the previous maximum of 1100NaN0. 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 scaled back. The upgrade was described as "a classic example of disastrous project management".[35] Central to the implementation of the plan was the adoption of moving block signalling, 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.[36] 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 1250NaN0 – 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 155-1NaN-1 speeds planned and achieved with the APT.[37]
The first phase of the upgrade, south of Manchester, opened on 27 September 2004 with journey times of 1hour 21minutes for London to Birmingham and 2hours 6minutes for London to Manchester. The final phase, introducing 1250NaN0 running along most of the line, was announced as opening on 12 December 2005, bringing the fastest journey between London and Glasgow to 4hours 25mins (down from 5hours 10minutes).[38] 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 4010NaN0 Glasgow Central – London Euston run in a record 3hours 55minutes, beating the APT's record of 4hours 15minutes, although the APT still holds the overall record on the northbound run.The decade-long modernisation project was finally completed in December 2008.[39] 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 4hours 30minutes barrier – with one service (calling only at Preston) achieving a London–Glasgow time of 4hours 8minutes.
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 £250million 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.[40] Other projects such as the replacement of a weak bridge in Watford allowed line-speeds to be increased from 900NaN0 to 1250NaN0, decreasing journey times.[41]
The main spine of the WCML is quadruple track almost all of the route from London to south of Winsford. At Hanslope Junction (near Milton Keynes), 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 777yd 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 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 and North Wales, Greater Manchester, and Liverpool. These are detailed in the route diagram.
The complete route has been cleared for W10 loading gauge freight traffic, allowing use of higher 9feet hi-cube shipping containers.[42] [43] The route passes through Nuneaton and the Midlands and this area has been called the "Golden Triangle of Logistics".[44]
Nearly all of the WCML is electrified with overhead line equipment at .[45] Several of the formerly unelectrified branches of the WCML in the North West 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.[46] 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.[47]
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. 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,[48] and any effect of this on the timetable for introducing the new coaches remains unclear.
Previous franchisees Central Trains and Silverlink (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's successful bid for the West Midlands franchise in 2007, another 37 Class 350 units 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 services between London Euston and Scotland using Mark 3 and Mark 2 coaches until their replacement with Mark 5 stock in October 2019.[49] Virgin also retained and refurbished one of the original Mark 3 rakes with a Driving Van Trailer 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 having come to the end of its agreed lease to Virgin Trains.
In September 2022, following the death of Queen Elizabeth II, 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 as many other types use small sections of the WCML as part of other routes.
| Family | Class | Image | Type | Top speed | Operator | Routes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| mph | km/h | ||||||
| BR Sprinter | Class 153 | DMU | 75 | 120 | Transport for Wales Rail | Chester to Crewe | |
| ScotRail | Glasgow South Western Line | ||||||
| 90 | 145 | ||||||
| Bombardier Turbostar | Class 170 | 100 | 161 | ||||
| Siemens Desiro | Class 185 | TransPennine Express | TransPennine North West | ||||
| BR Second Generation | Class 318 | EMU | 90 | 145 | ScotRail | to Lanark and Carstairs | |
| Class 320/3 | |||||||
| Class 320/4 | 100 | 161 | |||||
| Class 323 | 90 | 145 | |||||
| CAF Civity | Class 331 | 100 | 161 | Crewe to Manchester Piccadilly and Stoke-on-Trent to Manchester Piccadilly | |||
| Siemens Desiro | Class 350 | 110 | 180 | London Northwestern Railway | |||