The Midland Main Line upgrade is an ongoing upgrade to the Midland Main Line (MML), a major railway line in the United Kingdom.[1] There were a number of proposals to electrify the line over many years[2] 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. The upgrade was part of the HLOS (High Level Output Specification) for Control Period 5 published by the UK Government in 2012.[3] This was also part of a rolling programme of railway electrification projects. To enable all the benefits of using electric traction, the line south of Bedford into London St Pancras is also being progressively upgraded including boosting the power supply.[4][5] Parts of the line have been classed as congested infrastructure hence another reason for the upgrade.[6]
The sections currently underway as of June 2024 are the electrification from Kettering to South Wigston as well as the upgrading of the overhead line equipment (OLE) south of Bedford to allow 125 mph (200 km/h) running.[5] These two sections are due to finish construction in summer 2024 and late 2025 respectively.
2012 Department for Transport plans for UK rail electrification by 2019 including MML electrification and Electric Spine (yellow/green).
^"Midland Main Line Upgrade". Network Rail. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
^"Review of Mainline Electrification" (PDF). Railway Archives. 1981. Archived (PDF) from the original on 30 August 2021. Retrieved 22 February 2021.
^"HLOS CP5" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 24 December 2021. Retrieved 19 February 2021.
^Sherratt, ed. (June 2023). "125mph upgrade for MML OLE south of Bedford". Modern Railways. Vol. 80, no. 897. Key Publishing. pp. 22–23. ISSN 0026-8356.
^ ab"South of Bedford Upgrade". Network Rail. Retrieved 17 April 2024.
^"Midland Main Line Congested Infrastructure Capacity Enhancements plan" (PDF). Network Rail. 11 September 2015.
and 23 Related for: Midland Main Line upgrade information
services using parts of the line. The MidlandMainLine is undergoing a major upgrade of new digital signalling and full line electrification from London...
linking Corby with St Pancras. Since May 2021, as part of the MidlandMainLineupgrade, it has been operating the Class 360s since the electrification...
Transpennine Route Upgrade, which itself is part of the Integrated Rail Plan for the North and Midlands. This plan also includes full MidlandMainLine electrification...
the Great Western MainLine and the MidlandMainLine were the last of the major mainline routes in the UK using diesel as the main source of locomotive...
From Sheffield, the line follows the MidlandMainLine through the south-west of the city to Dore & Totley, where the Hope Valley line branches off to run...
linking Corby with St Pancras. Since May 2021, as part of the MidlandMainLineupgrade, it has been operating the Class 360s since the electrification...
The Huddersfield line is the main railway line between the English cities of Leeds and Manchester, via Huddersfield. It is one of the busiest MetroTrain...
in Great Britain 1995 to date MidlandMainLine railway upgrade North West England electrification schemes Overhead line Railway electrification in Scotland...
through the 1950s in competition with the London Midland Region's (LMR) from Euston via the West Coast MainLine (WCML). The Paddington – Birmingham – Wolverhampton...
21 km) away from the larger St Albans City station on the MidlandMainLine. It is a semi-rural line and, due to its single-track operation, service frequencies...
part. The line links the Port of Felixstowe in Felixstowe, Suffolk, with the Midlands and crosses the East Coast MainLine, the MidlandMainLine and the...
MidlandMainLine railway upgrade North West England electrification schemes Overhead line Railway electrification in Scotland West Coast MainLine route...
programme, Network Rail's MidlandMainLineupgrade, and local housing developments, the station platforms have been upgraded, with improved accessibility...
Coast MainLineMidlandMainLine Highland MainLine Great Western MainLine with plans to increase to 140 mph (225 km/h). "East Coast MainLine Rail Route...
Nickey line to the LNWR mainline. Instead, the southern terminus for the Hemel line was originally Hemel Hempsted (known locally as the Midland Station)...
to the West Coast MainLine and the MidlandMainLine. It will use the Oxford–Bicester line, a renovated section of the Varsity Line from Bicester to Bletchley...
station was opened in 1840 by the Midland Counties Railway, and rebuilt in 1894 and 1978. It is on the MidlandMainLine, which runs from London St Pancras...
now-abandoned Great Central MainLine route through the town. Between 1950 and 1970, the station was known as Rugby Midland before reverting to its original...