West Coast

Network Rail is investing £8 billion to improve the West Coast Main Line – the key route linking London with cities like Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Glasgow. This major engineering work will bring massive benefits to passengers, with more trains and faster trains running in the New Year.

In May The Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) acknowledged that Network Rail’s plan to finish the work is robust. Our plans require additional closures of the railway during the remainder of 2008. This is so our engineers can get onto the railway and complete major construction whilst it is safe to do so. To find out more information about how your journey might be affected please visit the links on the right of this page.

A key part of delivering such a massive improvement is working hard with industry partners such as Virgin trains, London Midland and EWS. We all know that there’s no good time to close the railway and we do everything possible to keep freight and passenger trains running. When we have to work, Network Rail tries to do so during quieter weekends and holiday periods.

During a closure of the West Coast Main Line over the August bank holiday, extensive engineering work was successfully carried out in areas including Rugby, Stoke, Rugeley Trent Valley, Tamworth and Nuneaton. For more information about this work and the work carried out this year during closures of the railway click here.

We will continue to do our best to keep all informed about our work. Watch this space!

Key facts More than 2,000 trains per day use the West Coast Main Line Journey times already reduced by 25 minutes between London and Manchester and to be reduced by a further 15 minutes Air travel already reduced by 40% Train services to increase by 30% Freight traffic to grow by up to 70% Increased reliability

What improvements are we delivering?

Trent Valley Four Tracking Project (TV4)
As well as increasing the total number of trains that can use the route, passenger services will be improved by separating long distance, fast trains from local services and freight trains through Staffordshire. Click here to find out more.

Nuneaton
Passengers will benefit from faster and more frequent trains stopping at key destinations on the West Coast Main Line as a result of work to improve the signalling and the junction through this station. Click here to find out more.

Rugby
Faster and more frequent trains will operate here for passengers as a result of simplifying the tracks and modernising the signalling system. Passengers will also benefit from improvements to the station. Click here to find out more.

Milton Keynes
More passengers will be able to use services here in the future as a result of work to improve the tracks and signalling system. Our work here will also bring big regeneration benefits, helping the local economy to grow. Click here to find out more.

Stoke
Work at Stoke will mean that more passengers will benefit from more trains and more reliable services as well as higher speed services. Click here to find out more information.

Other works
Click here to find out more about work we are carrying out to increase the speed of trains on the West Coast Main Line.

A before and after comparison of the works carried out at Lichfield Road bridge

Delivering the West Coast Upgrade 

On 28 February 2008, the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) issued Network Rail with a ‘Provisional Order’. This Provisional Order required Network Rail to produce and deliver to ORR a Plan demonstrating how we would provide the infrastructure capability required to deliver significant timetable improvements on the West Coast Main Line currently scheduled for December 2008.

The final Plan was delivered to ORR, following consultation, on 31 March 2008 in accordance with the timescales as set out in ORR’s Provisional Order. On 2 May 2008 ORR announced that Network Rail had satisfied the requirements of ORR’s provisional order and subject to securing the necessary possession access, Network Rail is now planning to complete the substantial delivery of the West Coast Route Modernisation Programme by December 2008.

Network Rail recognises that the completion of these remaining works will inevitably cause disruption to services on the West Coast Main Line until the end of the year. Whilst this is clearly regrettable, Network Rail is working closely with passenger and freight operating companies to minimise the impact of these works on train services.

Benefits

Delivered benefits

Network Rail has already delivered significant benefits for passengers on the West Coast Main Line. These include:

• The first 125mph Pendolino train in September 2004, reducing journey times between London and Manchester by 25 minutes. 
• Line speed improvements north of Crewe by December 2005, reducing journey times for passengers travelling between London and Glasgow by a further 15 minutes.

Following the delivery of the December 2005 timetable there has been a 40% reduction in air travel between London and Manchester.

Future Benefits

Passengers are set to see even more benefits from future investment work. These include:

• Reduced journey times. For example passengers will be able to travel between London and Manchester in less than 2 hours for the first time.
• 30% more train services on the route.  
• Increased numbers of train services at peak hours (from 9 to 13) and off-peak hours (from 6 to 11). This includes 50% more trains per hour to Birmingham and Manchester from London.
• Hourly services to Liverpool, Chester and Preston. 
• A 60-70% growth in freight traffic.