NationMaster - Encyclopedia: West Coast Main Line

The West Coast Main Line (WCML) is one of the most important intercity railway lines in the United Kingdom, part of the British railway system. The line links London and Glasgow on a 401-mile route which runs via the West Midlands, the North West and southern Scotland. Download high resolution version (1000x557, 291 KB)A Virgin trains Pendolino running on the West Coast Main Line alongside the M1 motorway near Daventry in Northamptonshire, England. ... Download high resolution version (1000x557, 291 KB)A Virgin trains Pendolino running on the West Coast Main Line alongside the M1 motorway near Daventry in Northamptonshire, England. ... The M1 motorway heading south towards junction 37 at Barnsley. ... Watford Gap and the small village of Watford, is the traditional crossing point on the old east-west coaching route across England. ... Northamptonshire (abbreviated Northants or Nhants) is a landlocked county in central England with a population of 629,676 (2001 census). ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1100x622, 268 KB)A Virgin Trains Pendolino and an EWS freight train pass each other on the West Coast Main Line near Shilton in Warwickshire, England. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1100x622, 268 KB)A Virgin Trains Pendolino and an EWS freight train pass each other on the West Coast Main Line near Shilton in Warwickshire, England. ... Virgin Trains is a train operating company in the United Kingdom. ... Pendolino ( small pendulum in Italian) is a tilting train used in Italy, Portugal, Slovenia, Finland, the Czech Republic and the United Kingdom. ... Class 180 multiple unit of First Great Western at speed near Yate, Bristol. ... London (pronounced ) is the capital city of England and the United Kingdom. ... For other uses, see Glasgow (disambiguation). ... // The West Midlands is an area of central England. ... North West England is one of the nine regions of England. ... Motto: (Latin for No one provokes me with impunity)1 Anthem: Multiple unofficial anthems Capital Edinburgh Largest city Glasgow Official language(s) English, Gaelic, Scots2 Government Constitutional monarchy - Queen of the UK Queen Elizabeth II - Prime Minister of the UK Tony Blair MP - First Minister Jack McConnell MSP Unification - by...

The WCML also serves other important towns and cities including Milton Keynes, Northampton, Rugby, Nuneaton, Coventry, Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Stafford, Stoke-on-Trent, Macclesfield, Crewe, Warrington, Wigan, Stockport, Manchester, Liverpool, Bolton, Preston, Lancaster, Carlisle and Edinburgh. Milton Keynes is a large town (locally known as a city) in northern Buckinghamshire, in South East England, about 45 miles/75 km north-west of London, and roughly halfway between London and Birmingham. ... Northampton Guildhall, built 1861-4, E.W. Godwin, architect Northampton is a large market town and a local government district in central England on the River Nene, and the county town of Northamptonshire, in the English East Midlands region. ... Rugby is a market town in the county of Warwickshire in the West Midlands region of England on the River Avon. ... Nuneaton Town Centre. ... The Precinct in Coventry city centre. ... The city from above Centenary Square. ... Wolverhampton is a city and metropolitan borough in the English West Midlands, traditionally part of the county of Staffordshire. ... Stafford is the county town of Staffordshire in England. ... This page is about Stoke-on-Trent in England. ... Macclesfield is a market town in Cheshire, England with a population of around 50,688 (2001 census for Macclesfield urban sub-area). ... Map sources for Crewe at grid reference SJ705557 Crewe is a town in south Cheshire, in the north west of England. ... Warrington is the largest town and borough in the county of Cheshire, in the North-West of England. ... Wigan is a town in Greater Manchester, England, in the historic county of Lancashire. ... Stockport is a town in Greater Manchester in England, traditionally within the county of Cheshire. ... The City of Manchester is a major city and metropolitan borough in the North of England, historically notable for its central role in the Industrial Revolution. ... Liverpool waterfront by night, as seen from the Wirral. ... Statistics Population: 139,403 Ordnance Survey OS grid reference: SD715095 Administration Metropolitan borough: Bolton Metropolitan county: Greater Manchester Region: North West England Constituent country: England Sovereign state: United Kingdom Other Ceremonial county: Greater Manchester Historic county: Lancashire Services Police force: Greater Manchester Ambulance service: North West Post office and telephone... Preston is a city and local government district in North West England. ... A view of Lancaster showing the Lune, the Millennium Bridge and the Ashton Memorial Lancaster (2001 census population 45,952: source ONS) is a city in Lancashire, in the north-west of England, UK. It is a commercial, cultural and educational centre. ... This article is about the English city. ... Edinburgh (pronounced ; DÃ¹n Ãˆideann () in Scottish Gaelic) is the capital of Scotland and its second-largest city. ...

History

The line was built in stages between the 1830s and the 1870s, with the first stages being the Grand Junction Railway (Warrington - Birmingham) and the London and Birmingham Railway, both completed in the 1830s. These lines together with the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, the North Union Railway and the Manchester and Birmingham Railway amalgamated in 1846 to form the London and North Western Railway (LNWR). North of Carlisle, the Caledonian Railway remained independent and opened its mainline to Beattock in September 1847, to Edinburgh in February 1848 and to Glasgow in November 1849. One important section, the North Staffordshire Railway, which opened its line in 1848 from Macclesfield (connecting with the LNWR from Manchester) via Stoke-on-Trent to Norton Bridge and Colwich, also remained independent until the forced amalgamations of 1922. The Grand Junction Railway (GJR) was an early railway company in the United Kingdom which existed between 1833 and 1846. ... Warrington is the largest town and borough in the county of Cheshire, in the North-West of England. ... The London and Birmingham Railway (L&BR) was an early railway company in the United Kingdom, which existed between 1833 and 1846 when it becam a constituent part of the London and North Western Railway. ... The Liverpool and Manchester Railway (LMR) was the worlds first intercity passenger railway operated solely by steam locomotives. ... The North Union Railway was an early British railway company, formed in 1834 and whose line was fully opened in 1838, running from the Liverpool and Manchester Railway at Parkside, near Warrington, northwards to Preston, via Wigan. ... The Manchester and Birmingham Railway was built between Manchester and Crewe. ... The London and North Western Railway (LNWR) was formed in 1846 by the merger of three railway companies - the Grand Junction Railway, London and Birmingham and Manchester and Birmingham. ... The Caledonian Railway was a Scottish railway company which was grouped into the London Midland and Scottish Railway by the Railways Act 1921 in 1923. ... The village of Beattock is located in the southern lowlands of Scotland, and lies within the administrative area of Dumfries and Galloway. ... Edinburgh (pronounced ; DÃ¹n Ãˆideann () in Scottish Gaelic) is the capital of Scotland and its second-largest city. ... The North Staffordshire Railway was a British railway company which had its roots in an early scheme to build a small plateway from the base of the Cauldon canal up to Cauldon quarries. ... Norton Bridge is a village in Staffordshire, England, UK. It is served by Norton Bridge railway station. ... Colwich may refer to: Colwich, Kansas Colwich rail crash This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ...

Partly to appease the concerns and anger of landowners along the route, in places the line was built so that it avoided large estates and rural towns, but also to reduce construction costs the line in places followed natural contours, resulting in many curves and bends. The WCML also passes through some of the more hilly areas of the British mainland, 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 the Beattock summit in the Leadhills area of southern Lanarkshire. This has left a legacy of lower maximum speeds on the line compared to the East Coast Main Line route, and the principal solution to the problem has been the adoption of tilting trains, formerly British Rail's ill-fated APT, and latterly the Class 390 Pendolino trains introduced by Virgin in 2003. Map sources for Tring at grid reference SP924117 Tring is a small market town in the Chiltern Hills in Hertfordshire, England with a population of 13,000. ... Watford Gap and the small village of Watford, is the traditional crossing point on the old east-west coaching route across England. ... Cumbria is a county in the North West region of England. ... Shap is a linear village located amongst fells and isolated dales in Eden district, Cumbria UK. The village lies along the A6 road and is near to the M6 motorway. ... The East Coast Main Line viaduct at Durham. ... A tilting train is a train with a tilting mechanism that enables increased speed on regular railroad tracks. ... Logo of British Rail British Railways (BR), later rebranded as British Rail, ran the British railway system from the nationalisation of the Big Four British railway companies in 1948 until its privatisation in stages between 1994 and 1997. ... The Advanced Passenger Train (APT) was an unsuccesful prototype tilting train developed by British Rail during the 1970s and early 1980s. ... Class 390 no. ... Pendolino ( small pendulum in Italian) is a tilting train used in Italy, Portugal, Slovenia, Finland, the Czech Republic and the United Kingdom. ...

The route to Scotland was marketed by the LNWR as 'The Premier Line' but operations were complicated by incompatible braking systems since the LNWR used the vacuum brake and the Caledonian used the Westinghouse air brake. Through trains were therefore of necessity composed of dual braked and jointly owned "West Coast Joint Stock" (so named). Following amalgamation, in 1922, it became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) and the vacuum brake quickly became standard. In 1947, following nationalisation, it came under control of British Railways London Midland and Scottish Regions, when the term "West Coast Main Line" officially came into use, although the term is something of a misnomer given that the line only runs along the coast on a brief section overlooking Morecambe Bay just north of Lancaster. The vacuum brake is a braking system used on trains. ... On railways an air brake is a brake operated by compressed air. ... 1922 (MCMXXII) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS1) was a British railway company. ... 1947 (MCMXLVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1947 calendar). ... ex-LMS Jubilee Class 45641 Sandwich at Chinley in 1954 The London Midland Region (LMR) was one of the six regions created on British Railways (BR) and consisted of ex-London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) lines in England and Wales. ... // History. ... Morecambe Bay at low tide from Hest Bank, looking towards Grange-over-Sands. ...

The WCML is not a single railway; rather it can be thought of as a network of routes which diverge and rejoin the central core which runs between London Euston and Glasgow Central. The route from Rugby to Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Stafford was the original main line until the shorter line was built via the Trent Valley. There is a loop that serves Northampton and a branch north of Crewe to Liverpool. The WCML includes loops that branch off to serve Manchester, one from 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. The Windsor Link north-south junction line in Manchester constructed by British Rail in 1988 has made possible a through service via Bolton back to the main line at Preston. A further branch at Carstairs links Edinburgh to the WCML, giving it a direct connection to the East Coast route. Wilmslow is a town in Cheshire, England, situated to the south of Manchester between Alderley Edge and Handforth. ... Statistics Population: 139,403 Ordnance Survey OS grid reference: SD715095 Administration Metropolitan borough: Bolton Metropolitan county: Greater Manchester Region: North West England Constituent country: England Sovereign state: United Kingdom Other Ceremonial county: Greater Manchester Historic county: Lancashire Services Police force: Greater Manchester Ambulance service: North West Post office and telephone...

Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1000x619, 319 KB)An old style Class 87 Virgin express train on the West Coast Main Line near Ansty in Warwickshire, England. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1000x619, 319 KB)An old style Class 87 Virgin express train on the West Coast Main Line near Ansty in Warwickshire, England. ... Class 87, no. ... Mark 3 DVT at Norwich station British Rails third design of carriages was designated Mark 3. ... A detailed map Stratford-upon-Avon Kenilworth Castle Warwickshire (pronounced /ËˆwÉ’É¹ÉªkËŒÊƒÉ™/, /ËˆwÉ”ËÉ¹ÉªkËŒÊƒÉ™/, or /ËˆwÉ”ËÉ¹ÉªkËŒÊƒÉªÉ™/) is a landlocked non-metropolitan county in central England. ...

Modernisation by British Rail

The line was modernised and electrified in stages between 1959 and 1974 - initial electrification was in 1959 between Crewe and Manchester and Liverpool, with the rest of the southern section of the line following in stages to 1967; the line from Weaver Junction (where the route to Liverpool diverges) to Glasgow was electrified in 1974. This era was notable for time consuming and congestion causing routine changes from at first steam and later diesel to electric traction at busy change-over stations like Birmingham New Street, Crewe and Preston. Electrification did not arrive on the short Carstairs Junction - Edinburgh Waverley branch until 1989, since this was at the time considered part of the ECML. Only the Preston - Manchester via Bolton, and Chester - Holyhead branches remain unelectified. 40% (3,062 miles / 4,928 km) of the British rail network is electrified and 60% of all rail journeys are by electric traction (both by locomotives and Multiple Units). ... Carstairs railway station Serves the town of Carstairs in South Lanarkshire. ... Waverley Station, from the Scott Monument. ... 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Modernisation culminated in the adoption of air brakes for locomotive hauled express trains. Also under British Rail, freight train operations and practices changed drastically resulting in the virtual elimination of the traditional slow moving and generally unbraked pick-up goods train and the introduction of faster moving point to point train load operations using air braked vehicles. Piping diagram from 1920 of a Westinghouse E-T Air Brake system. ...

The running of express passenger services on the WCML came under the InterCity brand in the late 1970s, which prior to privatisation in 1996 was known as "InterCity West Coast". "InterCity CrossCountry" with its hub at Birmingham was also greatly developed with the introduction of transferred HST units following the electrification of the East Coast Main Line. Following privatisation, the principal operator on the line has been Virgin Trains who operate all long-distance express services, but many regional operators along the route also run local commuter sevices. A Romanian InterCity train, run by Romanian Railways, at Arad station in May 2003 InterCity is a name for the inter-city rail services in Europe. ... The East Coast Main Line viaduct at Durham. ... Virgin Trains is a train operating company in the United Kingdom. ...

Modernisation brought great improvements, not least in speed and frequency, to many West Coast Main Line services but there have been some losses over the years. Locations and lines served by through trains or through coaches from London in 1947 but no longer so served include: Windermere; Barrow-in-Furness, Whitehaven and Workington; Huddersfield and Halifax (via Stockport); Blackpool; Colne (via Stockport); Morecambe and Heysham; Southport (via Edge Hill); and Stranraer Harbour. Notable also is the loss of the through service from Liverpool to Scotland. Location within the British Isles. ... Barrow-in-Furness is a town in Cumbria, England. ... Statistics Population: 25,500 Ordnance Survey OS grid reference: NX974181 Administration District: Copeland Shire county: Cumbria Region: North West England Constituent country: England Sovereign state: United Kingdom Other Ceremonial county: Cumbria Historic county: Cumberland Services Police force: Cumbria Constabulary Ambulance service: North West Post office and telephone Post town: WHITEHAVEN... Workington is a town on the west coast of Cumbria, England at the mouth of the River Derwent. ... Huddersfield is a large town near the confluence of the River Colne and the River Holme. ... This article is about the English town - see Halifax Regional Municipality, Nova Scotia for the city in Canada, and Halifax for everywhere else Halifax is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale in West Yorkshire, northern England, with a population of about 90,000. ... Blackpool is a seaside town in north-western England. ... Colne is a town (population approx 20,000), in the Pendle district of Lancashire, England, close to the Yorkshire border. ... Morecambe is a resort town in the Lancaster district of Lancashire, England. ... Stone graves overlooking Morecambe Bay, with the mountains of the Lake District in the distance Heysham (pronounced hee-sham) is a small, coastal village near Lancaster in the county of Lancashire in England. ... For other uses, see Southport (disambiguation). ... Edge Hill railway station is a railway station in Edge Hill, a suburb of Liverpool, England. ... Stranraer (An t-SrÃ²n Reamhar in Gaelic) is a town in the south of Scotland in the west of the region of Dumfries and Galloway and was formerly in the county of Wigtownshire. ...

Modernisation by Network Rail

The WCML is currently nearing completion of a major upgrade along almost its entire length. The original plans drawn up by Railtrack estimated that this upgrade would cost £2bn, be ready by 2005, and cut journey times London to Birmingham to 1hr (currently 1hr 40mins) and 1hr 45mins London to Manchester. This would be achieved through increasing the line speed to 225 km/h (140 mph), in place of the previous maximum of 175 km/h (110 mph). Railtrack was a group of companies which owned the tracks, signals, tunnels, bridges, level crossings and some stations of the British railway system from its formation in April 1994 until 2002. ...

However the plan was doomed from the beginning, since Railtrack had not assessed the technical viability of "moving block signalling" (see the Railway Signalling page for more details) prior to promising the speed increase to Virgin and the Government. No-one had attempted to implement moving block on a line as complex as the WCML anywhere in the world, and it soon became apparent to engineers that the technology was not mature enough to be used on the line. The bankruptcy of Railtrack in 2001 following the Hatfield crash brought a reappraisal of the plans whilst the original cost of the upgrade soared. The revised estimates indicate that the total line upgrade costs will total £13bn, be ready by 2008 with a maximum speed for tilting trains of a more modest 200 km/h (125 mph). Services from Liverpool to the South West and the South Coast were withdrawn by Virgin in September 2003. It has been suggested that safeworking be merged into this article or section. ... The Hatfield rail crash was a railway accident that occurred on 17 October 2000, at Hatfield, Hertfordshire, UK. A Great North Eastern Railway Intercity train bound for Leeds had left London Kings Cross at 1210 local time. ... Kilometre per hour (American spelling: kilometer per hour) is a unit of both speed (scalar) and velocity (vector). ... Miles per hour is a unit of speed, expressing the number of international miles covered per hour. ...

The first phase of the upgrade, south of Manchester, opened on 27 September 2004 with London to Birmingham journey times of 1hr 21mins and London to Manchester 2 hours 6 minutes. The final phase was announced as opening on December 12, 2005, bringing the journey from London to Glasgow to about 4½ hours, [1] although considerable work such as the quadrupling of the track in the Trent Valley (in progress and moving towards completion under budget), upgrading the slow lines, the second phase of remodelling Nuneaton, and the remodelling of Stafford, Rugby, Milton Keynes and Coventry stations are mostly now progressing. The upgrading of the Crewe to Manchester line via Wilmslow is nearing completion in Summer 2006.

Engineering work began again in late 2005 between Preston and Carlisle. This affected a number of stations; Lancaster, Oxenholme Lake District, and Penrith. Train services run as normal from Monday to Friday, with a replacement bus service at the weekend between Preston to Carlisle, calling at all the affected stations. From April 2006, train services at the weekend were no longer terminated at Preston, and continued to Oxenholme Lake District where Virgin Trains terminated and this became the starting point for southbound services. The Oxenholme to Carlisle section of line is due to reopen at weekends during the summer of 2006.

New trains for the route include 53 nine-car Pendolino trains and initially 30 four-car Desiro electric trains for Silverlink/Central Trains (with more anticipated) as well as Virgin Voyager and Super-Voyager trains for the cross-country services. Pendolino 2005 off-peak frequency of six trains per hour (rising to ten in the morning peak) is planned to increase to nine off-peak by 2009 including three per hour to both Birmingham and Manchester plus an hourly tilting Voyager service to Chester as well as improved services to Liverpool, Preston and Scotland. There will also be an hourly Desiro operation from London to Crewe serving Watford, Milton Keynes, Northampton, Rugby, Nuneaton, Atherstone, Tamworth, Lichfield, Rugeley, Stafford and Crewe. Pendolino ( small pendulum in Italian) is a tilting train used in Italy, Portugal, Slovenia, Finland, the Czech Republic and the United Kingdom. ... Desiro DMU, as part of an InterCity SÄƒgeata AlbastrÄƒ (Blue Arrow) train in Romania, run by CÄƒile Ferate RomÃ¢ne A Bulgarian State Railways-operated Desiro train at the Central Railway Station in Sofia Desiro is a brand name of modular trains manufactured by Siemens of Germany. ... Chester is the county town of Cheshire in North West England. ... Map sources for Atherstone at grid reference SP3197 Atherstone is a town in Warwickshire, England. ... Tamworth town centre Tamworth is a historic town and local government district in Staffordshire, UK, located 27 km (17 miles) northeast of Birmingham and 198 km (123 miles) northwest of London. ... Statistics Population: 27,900 Ordnance Survey OS grid reference: SK115097 Administration District: Lichfield Shire county: Staffordshire Region: West Midlands Constituent country: England Sovereign state: United Kingdom Other Ceremonial county: Staffordshire Historic county: Staffordshire Services Police force: Staffordshire Police Ambulance service: Staffordshire Post office and telephone Post town: LICHFIELD Postal district... Rugeley, historically known as Rudgeley, is a market town in the county of Staffordshire, England. ...

Virgin Trains recently put forward plans to increase the line speed in places on the WCML and particularly on sections of the Trent Valley Line between Stafford and Rugby from 125 mph to 135 mph after the quadrupling of track had been completed. This would permit faster services and possibly allow additional train paths. 135 mph is claimed to be achievable by Pendolino trains while using existing signalling systems without the need for a cab signalling system. Network Rail are studying this proposal. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Pendolino ( small pendulum in Italian) is a tilting train used in Italy, Portugal, Slovenia, Finland, the Czech Republic and the United Kingdom. ... Cab signalling refers to communication systems used by modern trains to send track status information to the train cab. ...

In promoting the above proposal Virgin Trains report that passenger numbers on Virgin West Coast have increased from 13.6 million in 1997/98 to 18.7 million in 2005/6, while numbers on Virgin CrossCountry have grown from 12.6 million to 20.4 million over the same period.

In September 2006, a new speed record was set on the WCML - a Pendolino train completed the 401-mile Glasgow Central - London Euston run in a record 3 hours 55 minues, beating the APT's record of 4 hours 15 minutes.

The route in detail

Network Rail, successor from 2001 to Railtrack plc, in its latest business plan published in April 2006, see [[2]], has divided its National network into 26 'Routes' for planning, maintenance and operational purposes. Although Route 18 is named 'West Coast Main Line' it includes several branch lines that had not previously been considered part of the WCML. Likewise several lines that have traditionally been seen as parts of the WCML, including all the northern terminal sections of the WCML, are incorporated in other 'Routes'. Network Rails logo Network Rail is a British not for dividend company limited by guarantee that owns the fixed assets of that part of the British railway system that formerly belonged to British Rail, the now-defunct UK state-owned railway operator. ...

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 main-line services run by Virgin Trains but only by local trains. Between Euston and Watford Junction the WCML is largely but not exactly parallelled by the operationally independent Watford DC Line with 17 intermediate stations, including three with additional platforms on the WCML. The Watford DC Line is a railway line which runs from London Euston to Watford Junction. ...

The final table retraces the route specifically to indicate the many loops, branches, junctions and interchange stations on Route 18, which is the core of the WCML, with the new 'Route' names for connecting lines.

The North Wales Coast Line from Crewe to Holyhead and the line from Manchester to Preston are not electrified. Services from London to Holyhead and from Manchester to Scotland are mostly operated either by Virgin Super Voyager tilting diesel trains or, in the case of one of the Holyhead services, by a Pendolino set hauled from Crewe by a diesel locomotive.

London to Glasgow and Edinburgh (Network Rail Route 18)

Main street in Bastrop, Texas, a small town A town is a residential community of people ranging from a few hundred to several thousands, although it may be applied loosely even to huge metropolitan areas. ... Chicago from the air. ... Image produced from the Ordnance Survey Get-a-map service. ... The British national grid reference system is a system of geographic grid references commonly used in Great Britain, different from using latitude or longitude. ... London (pronounced ) is the capital city of England and the United Kingdom. ... Facade of Euston Station, London Euston Arch: the original Euston Station, as enlarged, ca 1851 Euston station concourse Euston station (also known as London Euston), is a large railway station in Central London. ... Wembley is a place in the London Borough of Brent. ... Wembley Central station is both a London Underground station and a railway station. ... Alternative meanings: Harrow, London, a place in the London Borough of Harrow; Harrow School, a famous public school in the United Kingdom; The Harrow, a fantasy and horror magazine. ... Harrow & Wealdstone station is both a London Underground (zone 5) station and a national railway station. ... Map sources for Bushey at grid reference TQ132952 Bushey (population 24,000) is a town in the Hertsmere borough of Hertfordshire in the East of England. ... Services External links Train times for Bushey railway station from National Rail Street map and aerial photo of Bushey railway station from Multimap. ... Watford is a town and district in Hertfordshire, England and is situated 27 km (17 miles) northwest of central London and within the bounds of the M25 motorway. ... Watford Junction station is a train station in Watford, United Kingdom. ... Apsley is a town in the county of Hertfordshire, England. ... Apsley railway station is in Apsley, on the southern outskirts of Hemel Hempstead. ... Kings Langley is a village in the borough of Dacorum in the county of Hertfordshire, England on the southern edge of the Chiltern Hills. ... Kings Langley railway station is just under the M25 motorway at Junction 20. ... Hemel Hempstead is a town in Hertfordshire, England with a population of 81,143 at the 2001 Census. ... Hemel Hempstead railway station is on the West Coast main line, on the western edge of Hemel Hempstead, in an area called Boxmoor. ... Location within the British Isles Arms of Berkhamsted Town Council The walls of Berkhamsted castle Berkhamsted (since 1937, former spellings include Berkhampstead, or Berkhamstead, and also known colloquially as Berko) is a historic town of some 19,000 people, situated in the west of Hertfordshire, to the north-west of... Berkhamsted railway station is in the town of Berkhamsted, just beside Berkhamsted Castle. ... Map sources for Tring at grid reference SP924117 Tring is a small market town in the Chiltern Hills in Hertfordshire, England with a population of 13,000. ... Tring railway station is 1. ... Cheddington is a village comprising 1,429 acres (5. ... Cheddington railway station is a little way outside the village of Cheddington, near Mentmore. ... Location within the British Isles Leighton Buzzard is a town near the Chiltern Hills in Bedfordshire, and is between Luton and Milton Keynes. ... Leighton Buzzard railway station (actually in Linslade) is a railway station that serves the Leighton Buzzard and Linslade area of Bedfordshire and adjacent parts of Buckinghamshire The station is served by Silverlink County local services from Northampton to London on the West Coast Main Line. ... Bletchley is a town in what is now Milton Keynes new city. ... Bletchley railway station is a railway station that serves the Bletchley area of southern Milton Keynes. ... Statistics Population: 82,488 Ordnance Survey OS grid reference: TL055495 Administration District: Bedford Shire county: Bedfordshire Region: East of England Constituent country: England Sovereign state: United Kingdom Other Ceremonial county: Bedfordshire Historic county: Bedfordshire Services Police force: Bedfordshire Police Ambulance service: East of England Post office and telephone Post town... Bedford railway station is the main railway station in the town of Bedford in Bedfordshire. ... The Marston Vale Line is the railway line from Bletchley to Bedford. ... Milton Keynes is a large town (locally known as a city) in northern Buckinghamshire, in South East England, about 45 miles/75 km north-west of London, and roughly halfway between London and Birmingham. ... Central Milton Keynes is the central area of Milton Keynes in Buckinghamshire, England. ... Milton Keynes Central is a railway station that serves the central area of Milton Keynes. ... Wolverton is a town now part of Milton Keynes, England. ... Wolverton railway station is a railway station that serves the Wolverton area of northern Milton Keynes. ... Northampton Guildhall, built 1861-4, E.W. Godwin, architect Northampton is a large market town and a local government district in central England on the River Nene, and the county town of Northamptonshire, in the English East Midlands region. ... Northampton railway station is the railway station that serves the Northampton and south Northamptonshire. ... Long Buckby is a village and civil parish in Northamptonshire England. ... Long Buckby railway station is a small railway station that serves the Daventry area of north-west Northamptonshire. ... Rugby is a market town in the county of Warwickshire in the West Midlands region of England on the River Avon. ... A local train from Birmingham to Northampton at Rugby railway station. ... Nuneaton Town Centre. ... Nuneaton railway station The Birmingham - Leicester route is part of a cross country route from Hereford to Cambridge. ... Map sources for Atherstone at grid reference SP3197 Atherstone is a town in Warwickshire, England. ... Atherstone railway station Serves the town of Atherstone in Warwickshire External Links Train times and station information for Atherstone railway station from National Rail Street map and aerial photo of Atherstone railway station from Multimap. ... Location within the British Isles Polesworth is a large village and civil parish in the North Warwickshire district of Warwickshire, England. ... Polesworth railway station Serves the town of Polesworth in Warwickshire Polesworth Station History Polesworth station was opened with the line in 1847 by the London and North Western Railway. ... Tamworth town centre Tamworth is a historic town and local government district in Staffordshire, UK, located 27 km (17 miles) northeast of Birmingham and 198 km (123 miles) northwest of London. ... Tamworth railway station serves the Staffordshire town of Tamworth. ... Statistics Population: 27,900 Ordnance Survey OS grid reference: SK115097 Administration District: Lichfield Shire county: Staffordshire Region: West Midlands Constituent country: England Sovereign state: United Kingdom Other Ceremonial county: Staffordshire Historic county: Staffordshire Services Police force: Staffordshire Police Ambulance service: Staffordshire Post office and telephone Post town: LICHFIELD Postal district... Lichfield Trent Valley is the name of a train station on the outskirts of the city of Lichfield in Staffordshire, UK. It is one of two stations in Lichfield, the other being Lichfield City. ... Rugeley, historically known as Rudgeley, is a market town in the county of Staffordshire, England. ... Rugeley Trent Valley is a railway station on the outskirts of Rugeley in Staffordshire, England. ... Stafford is the county town of Staffordshire in England. ... Stafford railway station is an important main line interchange station in the United Kingdom. ... This page is about Stoke-on-Trent in England. ... Stoke-on-Trent railway station is a main-line train station in the United Kingdom. ... Congleton Town Hall Congleton is a town in the county of Cheshire in the north west of England, on the banks of the River Dane, and to the west of the Macclesfield Canal. ... Congleton railway station is a main line station serving the Cheshire town of Congleton. ... Macclesfield is a market town in Cheshire, England with a population of around 50,688 (2001 census for Macclesfield urban sub-area). ... Macclesfield railway station is a main line station serving the Cheshire town of Macclesfield. ... Stockport is a town in Greater Manchester in England, traditionally within the county of Cheshire. ... Stockport railway station is the main train station serving the town of Stockport in Greater Manchester. ... The City of Manchester is a major city and metropolitan borough in the North of England, historically notable for its central role in the Industrial Revolution. ... The very modern approach to Manchester Piccadilly station The station concourse; platforms at this terminus station are behind a glass screen A Virgin Trains Pendolino awaiting departure to London The station side-wall showing the elevation of the platforms, which are on a level with the brown brickwork Manchester Piccadilly... Map sources for Crewe at grid reference SJ705557 Crewe is a town in south Cheshire, in the north west of England. ... Crewe station is one of the most historic railway stations in the world. ... Location within the British Isles Winsford is a town in Cheshire, England with a population of around 30,000 people. ... Winsford railway station serves the town of Winsford in Cheshire External links Train times and station information for Winsford railway station from National Rail Street map and aerial photo of Winsford railway station from Multimap. ... Map sources for Northwich at grid reference SJ651733 Arms of Northwich Town Council Northwich is a town in Cheshire, England with a population of around 50,000. ... Hartford railway station is near Northwich in Cheshire However Greenbank railway station is nereby on the Mid-Cheshire Line from Chester to Manchester. ... Acton Bridge (formerly Acton-in-Delamere) is a village in the English county of Cheshire. ... Acton Bridge railway station is near the village of Acton Bridge, in the borough of Vale Royal, Cheshire in the north west of England. ... Runcorn is an industrial town in the unitary authority of Halton, Cheshire, England on the southern banks of the River Mersey at the site of the rivers first bridge crossing. ... Runcorn railway station is in the unitary authority of Halton in the north west of England. ... Liverpool waterfront by night, as seen from the Wirral. ... Lime Street Station (officially referred to as Liverpool Lime Street) is the mainline railway station serving Liverpool, England. ... Warrington is the largest town and borough in the county of Cheshire, in the North-West of England. ... Warrington Bank Quay is a mainline train station serving the U.K. town of Warrington. ... Wigan is a town in Greater Manchester, England, in the historic county of Lancashire. ... On the former site of Wigan Central, Wigan North Western is a moderately sized station on the West Coast Main Line. ... Preston is a city and local government district in North West England. ... Preston railway station in Preston, Lancashire is on the West Coast Main Line. ... A view of Lancaster showing the Lune, the Millennium Bridge and the Ashton Memorial Lancaster (2001 census population 45,952: source ONS) is a city in Lancashire, in the north-west of England, UK. It is a commercial, cultural and educational centre. ... Lancaster railway station is a railway station that serves the town of Lancaster in Lancashire. ... Oxenholme is a small village in Cumbria a few miles south of Kendal. ... Kendal is a small town in Cumbria, England. ... Oxenholme Lake District railway station. ... Penrith is a market town in the county of Cumbria (historically Cumberland), England. ... Penrith railway station is located on the West Coast Main Line in the United Kingdom. ... Carlisle is a city in the extreme northwest of England, some 16 km from the border with Scotland. ... Carlisles Citadel railway station Carlisle railway station, also known as the Citadel station, serves the Cumbrian town of Carlisle. ... Lockerbie (Gd: Logarbaidh) is a town located in the Dumfries and Galloway region of south-western Scotland. ... Lockerbie railway station lies on the West Coast Main Line between Carlisle and Carstairs in the town of Lockerbie. ... The term Carstairs collectively describes two villages located in the adminstrative region of South Lanarkshire in southern Scotland. ... Carstairs railway station Serves the town of Carstars in South Lanarkshire Categories: | ... Brandon Parade, the main shopping street in Motherwell, on a typical Saturday Motherwell (Tobar na MÃ thar in Gaelic) is a large burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, between Glasgow and Edinburgh. ... Motherwell railway station serves Motherwell in Scotland. ... For other uses, see Glasgow (disambiguation). ... The Heilanmans Umbrella Inside Glasgow Central, looking south east across the main concourse Inside Glasgow Central, looking north east across the main concourse Glasgow Central Station is the larger of the two main-line railway stations in Glasgow, Scotland. ... Haymarket is an area of Edinburgh, Scotland. ... The station forecourt in the morning rush hour The platforms at Haymarket, showing the tunnels leading to Waverley Station to the east Haymarket railway station is in Haymarket, Edinburgh, Scotland. ... Edinburgh (pronounced ; DÃ¹n Ãˆideann () in Scottish Gaelic) is the capital of Scotland and its second-largest city. ... Waverley Station is the main railway station in the Scottish capital Edinburgh. ...

Branches and loops

The WCML is remarkable for the diversity of branches served from the London to Edinburgh and Glasgow Main Line. The following map 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. 1830's versus 1840's):

In the following tables, related to the WCML branches, only the Intercity stations are recorded: Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1061x1599, 84 KB) Diagrammatic map of the Rugby-Birmingham-Stafford Line, Trent Valley Line and Coventry to Nuneaton Line; image created using Microstation and exported as png file. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1061x1599, 84 KB) Diagrammatic map of the Rugby-Birmingham-Stafford Line, Trent Valley Line and Coventry to Nuneaton Line; image created using Microstation and exported as png file. ...

Rugby-Birmingham-Wolverhampton-Stafford (Rugby-Birmingham-Stafford Line) (Network Rail Route 17)

The Rugby-Birmingham-Stafford Line is a loop off the West Coast Main Line (WCML) between Rugby and Stafford via the West Midlands cities of Coventry, Birmingham and Wolverhampton. ... Main street in Bastrop, Texas, a small town A town is a residential community of people ranging from a few hundred to several thousands, although it may be applied loosely even to huge metropolitan areas. ... Chicago from the air. ... Image produced from the Ordnance Survey Get-a-map service. ... The British national grid reference system is a system of geographic grid references commonly used in Great Britain, different from using latitude or longitude. ... Rugby is a market town in the county of Warwickshire in the West Midlands region of England on the River Avon. ... The Precinct in Coventry city centre. ... There are two cities named Birmingham with international airports: See either Birmingham International Airport (UK) Birmingham International Airport (US) This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... The city from above Centenary Square. ... Sandwell is a metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. ... Map sources for Dudley at grid reference SO9390 Dudley is a town in the West Midlands, England. ... Wolverhampton is a city and metropolitan borough in the English West Midlands, traditionally part of the county of Staffordshire. ... Stafford is the county town of Staffordshire in England. ... A local train from Birmingham to Northampton at Rugby railway station. ... Coventry railway station, just outside the centre of the city of Coventry, is an important junction of south-east / north-west lines with the north-south route. ... Birmingham International railway station is located in the borough of Solihull, just east of the city of Birmingham in England. ... The tracks approaching the station Birmingham New Street is a major railway station located in the centre of the city of Birmingham, England. ... Sandwell and Dudley is a railway station on the West Coast Main Line, situated between Oldbury and West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. ... Wolverhampton railway station in Wolverhampton, West Midlands is on the West Coast Main Line. ... Stafford railway station is an important main line interchange station in the United Kingdom. ...

Crewe-Holyhead (North Wales Coast Line) (Network Rail Route 22)

The North Wales Coast Line is the railway line from Crewe to Holyhead. ... Main street in Bastrop, Texas, a small town A town is a residential community of people ranging from a few hundred to several thousands, although it may be applied loosely even to huge metropolitan areas. ... Chicago from the air. ... Image produced from the Ordnance Survey Get-a-map service. ... The British national grid reference system is a system of geographic grid references commonly used in Great Britain, different from using latitude or longitude. ... Map sources for Crewe at grid reference SJ705557 Crewe is a town in south Cheshire, in the north west of England. ... Chester is the county town of Cheshire in North West England. ... Pebble beach made up of flint nodules eroded out of the nearby chalk cliffs, Cape Arkona, Rügen Flint (or flintstone) is a hard, sedimentary cryptocrystalline silica rock with a glassy appearance. ... Prestatyn is a seaside resort in the administrative county of Denbighshire, traditional county of Flintshire, North Wales, lying on the north coast. ... Rhyl (Welsh: Y Rhyl) is a seaside town located on the Irish Sea, in the administrative county of Denbighshire and the traditional county of Flintshire, North Wales, United Kingdom, at the mouth of the River Clwyd (Welsh: Yr Afon Clwyd). ... Colwyn Bay at sunset Colwyn Bay (Welsh: Bae Colwyn) is a town and seaside resort on the coast of the Irish Sea in North Wales. ... Llandudno Junction (Welsh: Cyffordd Llandudno) is a small town in the county borough of Conwy. ... Llandudno South Parade (on the north shore) viewed from the Great Orme, with the twin mounds of Deganwy Castle in the distance Llandudno Bay and the Little Orme viewed from the Great Orme Llandudno Pier viewed from the Happy Valley gardens A sunny corner in the Happy Valley gardens Llandudno... Bangor, in north Wales, is one of the smallest cities in the United Kingdom. ... Holyhead (Welsh: Caergybi, the fort of St. ... WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: 53. ... The Pride of Rotterdam, One of the P&O Ferriess Flagships operating the Hull-Rotterdam Route A ferry is a boat or a ship carrying passengers, and sometimes their vehicles, on scheduled services. ... Crewe station is one of the most historic railway stations in the world. ... Chester railway station is a railway station in the city of Chester, England. ... Flint railway station serves the town of Flint in Flintshire, North Wales. ... Prestatyn railway station serves the town of Prestatyn in North Wales. ... Rhyl railway station is on the Crewe to Holyhead North Wales Coast Line and serves the major holiday resort of Rhyl. ... Colwyn Bay railway station is on the Crewe to Holyhead North Wales Coast Line. ... Llandudno Junction railway station showing the main eastbound (left) and westbound (right) lines Llandudno Junction railway station (Welsh: Cyffordd Llandudno) is on the Crewe to Holyhead North Wales Coast Line. ... Llandudno railway station serves the town of Llandudno and is the terminus of a branch line from Llandudno Junction on the Crewe to Holyhead North Wales Coast Line. ... Bangor Station looking north, viewed from Bangor Mountain Bangor railway station in Bangor, Gwynedd is the last mainland station on the London Euston to Holyhead North Wales Coast line. ... Holyhead railway station serves the town of Holyhead (Welsh name: Caergybi) on Holy Island, Anglesey. ...

Crewe-Manchester-Preston (Network Rail Route 20)

Network Rail Route 18 (WCML) - Branches and Junctions

The Watford DC Line is a railway line which runs from London Euston to Watford Junction. ... The North London Line is a railway line through northern London. ... There are two National Rail and one London Underground stations within a short walk of each other called West Hampstead, located on West End Lane, West Hampstead in the London Borough of Camden. ... The West London Line is a short overground railway linking Clapham Junction in the south to Willesden Junction in the north. ... Clapham Junction is a railway station located in Battersea in the London Borough of Wandsworth. ... Richmond station is a station in Richmond upon Thames, in South West London England, and is a south-western terminus of London Undergrounds District Line, and the western terminus of the North London Line (now run by Silverlink and called the Silverlink Metro). ... Willesden Junction station is both a London Underground station and a railway station. ... The North London Line is a railway line through northern London. ... The Watford DC Line is a railway line which runs from London Euston to Watford Junction. ... Watford Junction station is a train station in Watford, United Kingdom. ... The St Albans Abbey Branch Line is a railway line from Watford Junction to St Albans Abbey railway station. ... St Albans Abbey railway station is situated about 1 km south of St Albans town centre. ... Bletchley railway station is a railway station that serves the Bletchley area of southern Milton Keynes. ... The Marston Vale Line is the railway line from Bletchley to Bedford. ... Bedford railway station is the main railway station in the town of Bedford in Bedfordshire. ... Bletchley railway station is a railway station that serves the Bletchley area of southern Milton Keynes. ... Newton Longville is a village in Buckinghamshire, England. ... Varsity Line (or Oxford and Cambridge Line) is an informal name for the railway service which formerly linked the university cities of Oxford and Cambridge, operated by the London and North Western Railway and then British Railways. ... Oxford is a city and local government district in Oxfordshire, England, with a population of 134,248 (2001 census). ... The Northampton loop is a loop railway line serving Northampton. ... Wolverton railway station is a railway station that serves the Wolverton area of northern Milton Keynes. ... A local train from Birmingham to Northampton at Rugby railway station. ... The Rugby-Birmingham-Stafford Line is a loop off the West Coast Main Line (WCML) between Rugby and Stafford via the West Midlands cities of Coventry, Birmingham and Wolverhampton. ... Nuneaton railway station The Birmingham - Leicester route is part of a cross country route from Hereford to Cambridge. ... The Birmingham to Peterborough Line is an important railway line in the United Kingdom, linking the Midlands to East Anglia. ... The Coventry to Nuneaton Line is a short branch line linking Coventry and Nuneaton in the West Midlands of England. ... The Birmingham to Peterborough Line is an important railway line in the United Kingdom, linking the Midlands to East Anglia. ... Tamworth railway station serves the Staffordshire town of Tamworth. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Lichfield Trent Valley is the name of a train station on the outskirts of the city of Lichfield in Staffordshire, UK. It is one of two stations in Lichfield, the other being Lichfield City. ... The Cross-City Line is a suburban railway line in the West Midlands region of England. ... Rugeley Trent Valley is a railway station on the outskirts of Rugeley in Staffordshire, England. ... Map of the Chase Line. ... Stafford railway station is an important main line interchange station in the United Kingdom. ... Norton Bridge railway station Serves the town of Norton Bridge in Staffordshire. ... Stoke-on-Trent railway station is a main-line train station in the United Kingdom. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Cheadle Hulme railway station is on the West Coast Main Line, which serving the town of Cheadle Hulme in the county of Cheshire in England. ... The very modern approach to Manchester Piccadilly station The station concourse; platforms at this terminus station are behind a glass screen A Virgin Trains Pendolino awaiting departure to London The station side-wall showing the elevation of the platforms, which are on a level with the brown brickwork Manchester Piccadilly... Crewe station is one of the most historic railway stations in the world. ... The Welsh Marches Line is the railway line from Newport to Crewe via Abergavenny, Hereford, Craven Arms, Shrewsbury and Whitchurch. ... Chester railway station is a railway station in the city of Chester, England. ... The North Wales Coast Line is the railway line from Crewe to Holyhead. ... Wilmslow railway station is a main line train station serving the south Manchester suburb of Wlimslow, in the county of Cheshire. ... Manchesters International Airport has a station built into its terminal buildings, and is currently a 2-platform hub with transport connections to the local bus network. ... Runcorn railway station is in the unitary authority of Halton in the north west of England. ... Liverpool South Parkway station is a railway station in Garston, Liverpool, England. ... Lime Street Station (officially referred to as Liverpool Lime Street) is the mainline railway station serving Liverpool, England. ... Warrington Bank Quay is a mainline train station serving the U.K. town of Warrington. ... Llandudno railway station serves the town of Llandudno and is the terminus of a branch line from Llandudno Junction on the Crewe to Holyhead North Wales Coast Line. ... Earlestown station buildings viewed from platform 1 Earlestown station ticket office Earlestown railway station is a railway station at Earlestown near Newton-le-Willows in Merseyside, England. ... On the former site of Wigan Central, Wigan North Western is a moderately sized station on the West Coast Main Line. ... The Liverpool to Wigan Line is a railway line in the north-west of England, between Liverpool Lime Street and Wigan North Western. ... The Manchester to Preston Line runs from the city of Manchester to Preston, Lancashire. ... The Ormskirk Branch Line is a railway line running from Preston in Lancashire, England, to Ormskirk, on the Lancashire border with Knowsley. ... The East Lancashire Line runs between Preston and Colne, through Blackburn, Accrington and Burnley (Central and Barracks). ... The Caldervale Line is the name given to rail services in the West Yorkshire Metro area of northern England. ... Preston railway station in Preston, Lancashire is on the West Coast Main Line. ... Blackpool North railway station is the terminus of the Blackpool branch line from Preston. ... Morecambe railway station is a railway station that serves the town of Morecambe in Lancashire. ... The Furness Line runs from Barrow_in_Furness to Ulverston and Grange_over_Sands, connecting with the West Coast Main Line at Carnforth. ... Barrow-in-Furness railway station is a railway station that serves the town of Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria. ... The Airedale Line is the name given to one of the rail services in the West Yorkshire Metro area of northern England. ... Leeds City station is the mainline railway station serving the city of Leeds in West Yorkshire, England. ... Oxenholme Lake District railway station. ... Windermere railway station is the railway station that serves Windermere in Cumbria. ... Penrith railway station is located on the West Coast Main Line in the United Kingdom. ... Carlisles Citadel railway station Carlisle railway station, also known as the Citadel station, serves the Cumbrian town of Carlisle. ... The Settleâ€“Carlisle Railway (S&C) is a 72 mile (115 km) long main railway line in northern England. ... Northern approach. ... The Cumbrian Coast Line runs from Carlisle to Barrow_in_Furness via Workington and Whitehaven. ... The Glasgow South Western Line is a mainline railway in Scotland that runs from Glasgow to Kilmarnock, and then either Carlisle via Dumfries, or Stranraer via Ayr, with a branch to East Kilbride History The line was built by the Glasgow, Dumfries and Carlisle Railway and The Glasgow, Paisley, Kilmarnock... Waverley Station is the main railway station in the Scottish capital Edinburgh. ... The Heilanmans Umbrella Inside Glasgow Central, looking south east across the main concourse Inside Glasgow Central, looking north east across the main concourse Glasgow Central Station is the larger of the two main-line railway stations in Glasgow, Scotland. ...

Contents

History

Modernisation by British Rail

Modernisation by Network Rail

The route in detail

London to Glasgow and Edinburgh (Network Rail Route 18)

Branches and loops

Rugby-Birmingham-Wolverhampton-Stafford (Rugby-Birmingham-Stafford Line) (Network Rail Route 17)

Crewe-Holyhead (North Wales Coast Line) (Network Rail Route 22)

Crewe-Manchester-Preston (Network Rail Route 20)

Network Rail Route 18 (WCML) - Branches and Junctions

See also

External links

Contents

History GA_googleFillSlot("encyclopedia_square");

Modernisation by British Rail

Modernisation by Network Rail

The route in detail

London to Glasgow and Edinburgh (Network Rail Route 18)

Branches and loops

Rugby-Birmingham-Wolverhampton-Stafford (Rugby-Birmingham-Stafford Line) (Network Rail Route 17)

Crewe-Holyhead (North Wales Coast Line) (Network Rail Route 22)

Crewe-Manchester-Preston (Network Rail Route 20)

Network Rail Route 18 (WCML) - Branches and Junctions

See also

External links

History