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Midland Main Line upgrade

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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[1] but the 2012 proposal and announcement by the UK government was that it would include electrification of the railway line between Bedford, Wellingborough, Corby, Leicester, Derby, Nottingham and Sheffield. The routes between Nottingham and Sheffield and the Erewash Valley line were not included at this time only the line between Derby and Sheffield. It was part of the HLOS High Level Output Specification for Control Period 5 published by the UK Government in 2012.[2] This was also part of a rolling programme of railway electrification projects.

2012 Department for Transport plans for UK rail electrification by 2019 including Northern Hub (red), Electric Spine (yellow/green), Great Western Main Line and South Wales Main Line (red) and Valleys & Cardiff Local Routes (blue). For 'HLOS', see Network Rail > Control periods.

Background

The section of the line at the southern end between London St Pancras and Bedford was electrified with overhead line in the early 1980s and finished 1983.[3] This section is mainly a commuter route and often called the Bedpan line, and was subject to industrial dispute when one man electric trains were introduced.[4] As it is a key strategic artery and a radial main line originating in London there have been many calls for it to be electrified especially now the Great Western Main Line and East Coast Main Line are now electrified along with the West Coast Main Line which was electrified in the 1960s and 1970s. The desire to achieve net zero carbon in transport has increased calls for the line to be electrified/decarbonised.

History and earlier proposals

In the 1970s large scale electrification was proposed on the back of the West Coast Main Line electrification and partially in response to the oil crisis of that decade.[5] In 1981 the British Railways Board published a final document on railway electrification that included the Midland Main Line as high priority.[6] In the intervening years priority was put on other projects such as schemes in Anglia and the East Coast Main Line. Then privatisation and a change in government intervened. In July 2009 the Labour government published a document and said it was looking at electrification of the Midland Main Line but no funds had been committed.[7] When originally planned and announced in the 21st Century, the line upgrade was costed at 1.6 billion pounds and it was expected that the line would be electrified as far as Kettering and Corby by the end of 2017. It was then expected that the electrification of the line would continue from Kettering to Leicester, Derby and Nottingham and would occur at the end of 2019 and then the Sheffield section by December 2020. Again only the Derby to Sheffield section of the line was planned for electrification and not the Nottingham to Sheffield route, or the through route bypassing both Derby and Nottingham. In addition an extra track was to be installed between Kettering and Corby to enhance capacity.[8] It appeared in the autumn statement of 2011.[9]

An article in the August 6th 2014 issue of RAIL Magazine gave a detailed account on what work lay ahead. Rebuilding of bridges on the section of line between Bedford and Leicester had already been in progress for a while. Equipment for placing the various electrification tasks such as bases and overhead line equipment was scheduled to start April 2015. The completion date for electric trains arriving at Sheffield Midland station was cited as December 2020 - the cost given as 1.3 billion pounds and also included three station modifications at Leicester, Derby and Sheffield. 422 single track miles of wiring was supposed to occur and a total of 120 bridges modified. Bradway tunnel had already had some heavy maintenance.[10] It was further pointed out that ECAM had been used (as in the project had been through this procedure)- a term the treasury used meaning Enhancements Cost Adjustment Mechanism. Pre- ECAM the cost had been quoted at 900 million pounds. Ryan Scott the Network Rail Programme Engineering Manger was quoted as saying that the minimum number of platforms at Sheffield station - (Sheffield Midland) would be wired to avoid having unnecessary cost added when the station was later remodeled. The whole MML scheme also overlapped with the Electric Spine project.[11]

In June 2015 the then Secretary of State for Transport Patrick McLoughlin informed Parliament the electrification project was being paused. Needless to say this resulted in criticism from MPs in the area. Mcloughlin said better services could be delivered on Midland Mainline before electrification was completed. He blamed Network Rail for rising costs and missed targets. Lilian Greenwood who at the time was Shadow Transport Secretary, and also a MP for Nottingham South, accused the government of being cynical and that they had delayed this announcement until after the 2015 United Kingdom general election which took place the previous month.[12]

On September 30 2015 Patrick McLoughlin unpaused the scheme.[13] The new expected completion dates were now three years later than originally planned, with electrification to Kettering and Corby now targeted for completion in 2019 and then to Leicester, Derby, Nottingham and Sheffield by 2023.[14] The line from Kettering to Corby was to be doubled and indeed Network Rail announced on June 15 2015 that this was commencing on June 22 2015.[15] The Enhancements plan update of January 2016 showed the project on target.[16] On July 27 2017 a further briefing paper was issued and the Midland Main Line had a section on its own.[17] This document, and the subsequent announcement by the new Secretary of State for Transport Chris Grayling said the electrification scheme north of Kettering to Derby, Nottingham and Sheffield had been cancelled and that bi-mode trains would be used.[18]

2021 and onwards timeframe

Local news outlets were reporting in December 2020 that electrification to Market Harborough was moving closer.[19] On February 22 2021 Network Rail put out a document confirming this saying that devegetation, ecological and biodiversity work was starting on the section between Kettering and north to Market Harborough and that it was a prelude to electrification. They further stated that detailed assessment had already taken place and that this immediate ground clearance would end April 16 2021.[20] Local news outlets reported this work earlier but they further confirmed it.[21] There will be overlap with some Sub-national transport body such as East Midlands Connect. On March 23 2021, the Transport Select Committee published its sixth report in the Trains fit for the Future ongoing enquiry. As well as calling for a rolling programme of electrification which was also reported in the national press and other places[22][23], it specifically reported that the Midland Main Line was actively being looked at and that the project plans would be broken up into eight route sections.[24] It was reported and confirmed in Modern Railways that the contractor SPL Powerlines was working in conjunction with Network Rail to progress the project north of Market Harborough all the way to Sheffield and Nottingham and that current plans were the route would be divided into eight discrete sections.[25] It was announced that due consideration was being given to environmental protection during the upgrade with Great crested newts being given special mention.[26]

On July 6 2021 it was announced that a Microsoft Teams meeting would be taking place on July 12 2021 to discuss bidding for extension of the upgrade and electrification of the line from Market Harborough to Sheffield a key stage in the project going ahead. The work would go out to tender in September 2022.[27]

Power supply

The electrified line will be fed via the autotransformer system. To cope with the higher electricity usage south of Bedford into St Pancras the upgrade would involve boosting the existing power supplies. This contract has been awarded to SPL Powerlines.[28] In addition, new grid feeders will be needed at Braybrooke just south of Market Harborough.[29] At the north end of the scheme it was proposed that a grid feeder would be located in the Chesterfield area. The middle section of the upgrade scheme would have the grid feeder located in the Kegworth area. Work was announced as starting on the grid feeder in the Market Harborough area on April 8 2021.[30]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Review of Mainline Electrification" (PDF). Railway Archives. 1981.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  2. ^ "HLOS CP5" (PDF).{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  3. ^ Keenor, Garry C.Eng MIET (2018). Overhead Line Electrification for Railways 5th Edition. pp. Appendix A.
  4. ^ "One-man trains introduced on Bedpan line · British Universities Film & Video Council". bufvc.ac.uk. Retrieved 2021-02-19.
  5. ^ "British Rail: the timescale for a strategic electrification programme". Modern Railways. November 1974. November 1974 – via Ian Allan publishing.
  6. ^ "British Railways Board Rail Electrification" (PDF). Railway archive. July 1981.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  7. ^ "Rail Electrification" (PDF). July 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  8. ^ "Work to upgrade railway between Corby and Kettering enters next phase". Network Rail Media Centre. Retrieved 2021-02-28.
  9. ^ "Autumn Statement 2011" (PDF). UK Government. 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  10. ^ "TRAINS RUNNING THROUGH BRADWAY TUNNEL". Network Rail Media Centre. Retrieved 2021-05-17.
  11. ^ Broadbent, Steve (August 6, 2014). "The countdown begins to MML wiring". RAIL Magazine. 765: 54–59 – via Bauer Media.
  12. ^ "All bets off for £38bn rail plan". BBC News. 2015-06-25. Retrieved 2021-02-28.
  13. ^ "Network Rail to restart electrification of train lines". BBC News. 2015-09-30. Retrieved 2021-02-28.
  14. ^ "Midland Main Line electrification unpaused – but delayed by years". www.railtechnologymagazine.com. Retrieved 2021-02-20.
  15. ^ "Work to upgrade railway between Corby and Kettering enters next phase". Network Rail Media Centre. Retrieved 2021-02-22.
  16. ^ "Wayback Machine Enhancements Delvery Update Plan Sir Peter Hendy" (PDF). 2016-02-04. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-02-04. Retrieved 2021-02-24.
  17. ^ Butcher, Louise (2021-02-22). "Rail electrification". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  18. ^ "Rail electrification plans scrapped by government". BBC News. 2017-07-20. Retrieved 2021-02-24.
  19. ^ "Rail Electrification to Market Harborough moves closer". Harborough FM. 8 December 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  20. ^ "Network Rail begins vital work at Market Harborough in step towards electrification". Network Rail Media Centre. Retrieved 2021-02-22.
  21. ^ "Vital electrification works to take place near Kettering's rail line". The Daily Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2021-02-22.
  22. ^ Lancefield, Neil (2021-03-23). "MPs call for rolling programme of rail electrification projects to cut carbon". www.standard.co.uk. Retrieved 2021-03-25.
  23. ^ "MP's call for immediate start of 30-year rail electrification plan". Rail Technology Magazine. Retrieved 2021-03-25.
  24. ^ "Trains fit for the future? Sixth report of session 2019-2021". UK Government. 2021-03-23.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  25. ^ "MML Wires towards Market Harborough". Modern Railways. April 2021: 23. March 2021.
  26. ^ "New Protection For Great Crested Newts During Railway Upgrade". HFM. 2021-03-25. Retrieved 2021-03-25.
  27. ^ "Bidders day for £500m Midland Mainline electrification". Construction Enquirer News. Retrieved 2021-07-06.
  28. ^ "Project Win – Midland Mainline – Key Output 1A Civils Design | Whitfield Construction Services". 2 March 2021. Retrieved 2021-03-02.
  29. ^ "Google Maps". Google Maps. Retrieved 2021-03-01.
  30. ^ "Work Starts On Rail Electricity Substation Project". HFM. 2021-04-08. Retrieved 2021-04-08.

Further reading

  • Wolmar, Christian (2005). On the Wrong Line: How Ideology and Incompetence Wrecked Britain's Railways (rev. ed.). London: Aurum Press. ISBN 1-85410-998-7.
  • Nock, O.S. (1974). Electric Euston to Glasgow. Ian Allen. ISBN 978-0711005303.
  • Keenor, Garry. Overhead Line Electrification for Railways.
  • Boocock, Colin (1991). East Coast Electrification. Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-1979-7.
  • Nock, O.S. (1965). Britain's new railway: Electrification of the London-Midland main lines from Euston to Birmingham, Stoke-on-Trent, Crewe, Liverpool and Manchester. London: Ian Allan. OCLC 59003738.


Category:Trains

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