113-619: The Brent Viaduct is a railway bridge carrying the West Coast Main Line over the valley of the River Brent just south of Stonebridge Park station in north-west London , England. Originally built in 1838 for the London and Birmingham Railway , it is now a Grade II listed building . The viaduct is one of the first major civil engineering works on the West Coast Main Line after leaving Euston station , its London terminus. The River Brent
226-418: A London–Glasgow time of 4 hours 8 minutes. 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 £250 million 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. Other projects such as
339-539: A change. Stanier introduced practices used at the Swindon Works that had been introduced by George Jackson Churchward , such as tapered boilers, long travel valves, and large bearings. His locomotives were not only more powerful, and economical, but they also ended the company's internal conflict. The war-damaged LMS was nationalised in 1948 by the Transport Act 1947 , becoming part of British Railways . It formed
452-465: A competitive choice for residents of Southend , who could take LNER services from Southend Victoria to London Liverpool Street or LMS services from Southend Central to Fenchurch Street. The LMS was formed from the following major companies: There were also some 24 subsidiary railways, leased or worked by the above companies, and a large number of joint railways, including the UK's largest Joint Railway,
565-672: A further 63 miles (101 km) of 3 ft ( 914 mm ) gauge line. The expansionist policies of many of the constituent companies which formed the LMS, particularly the Midland Railway and the London and North Western Railway , resulted in the LMS owning or operating a number of lines outside its core geographical area. For instance, in 1912, the Midland Railway had purchased the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway which operated between London Fenchurch Street and Shoeburyness , with
678-615: A half hours. Most other major cities on the network were linked by trains with names which would become famous in railway circles including the Thames-Clyde Express between London St Pancras and Glasgow St Enoch , The Palatine between London St Pancras and Manchester Central , The Irish Mail from London Euston to Holyhead and the Pines Express conveying portions from Liverpool and Manchester to Bournemouth . Goods accounted for around 60% of LMS revenue, and
791-414: A half million tons, could claim to indirectly employ a further 26,500 coal miners. For nearly ten years after its formation, the LMS had been run using a similar organisational structure to one of its constituents, the Midland Railway . In practice this meant that the commercial managers found themselves subservient to the needs of the operating departments. This changed in 1932 when a major restructuring
904-601: A loop serving Tilbury . These lines were automatically included in the LMS Group, along with the rest of the Midland Railway system, which meant that the LMS had a considerable presence in a part of the country (south Essex) which could be said to form part of the natural territory of the LNER. The process of Grouping under the Railways Act did not address geographical anomalies of this kind, although this particular arrangement did provide
1017-595: A much larger scale, with the Glasgow Empire Exhibition requiring 1,800 special trains, with a further 1,456 run in connection with the Blackpool Illuminations . The number of people moved was huge, with over 2.2 million holidaymakers arriving in Blackpool between the start of July and the end of September alone. Besides these mass-market events, the company also ran regular tourist excursions to
1130-527: A number of non-rolling stock items required for the everyday running of the railway. Two facilities were located in Derby, one known as Derby Loco and one as Carriage and Wagon . The former was opened in the 1840s by the North Midland , Midland Counties and Birmingham & Derby railway companies to meet their joint requirements for locomotive, carriage and wagon construction and maintenance. The latter site
1243-410: 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 125 mph (201 km/h) – equalling the speeds available on
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#17328836930441356-649: A route mileage of 700 miles (1,127 km). 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
1469-510: A significant source of revenue and the LMS became a specialist in the movement of large numbers of people, with locomotives and rolling stock often kept in operation just to service such seasonal traffic. In one year, the LMS ran 43 special trains to take spectators to the Grand National at Aintree , and a further 55 for the Cup Final at Wembley . Longer running events demanded operations on
1582-465: 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
1695-520: A useful alternative route to Manchester, however poor relations between the LNWR and the NSR meant that through trains did not run until 1867. 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. The first direct London to Glasgow trains in
1808-785: A variety of destinations, such as Oban in the Scottish highlands, Keswick in the English Lake District , and even the First World War battlefields in Belgium , by way of the Tilbury to Dunkerque ferry service and the Belgian railways . Such was the importance of such excursion traffic that a special department was established in 1929 and oversaw the expansion from 7,500 special trains in that year to nearly 22,000 in 1938. However important
1921-603: A veteran officer of the LNWR , while commercial activities were headed by Ashton Davies, formerly of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway . Davies created a commercial research section, increased the sales force and provided them with specialist training. The emphasis of the organisation switched from operators dictating what was reasonable to the commercial managers asking what was possible to maximise sales opportunities. Thirty five district managers were appointed to oversee sales through
2034-499: Is 399 miles (642 km) long, with principal InterCity stations at Watford Junction , Milton Keynes Central , Rugby , Stafford , Crewe , Warrington Bank Quay , Wigan North Western , Preston , Lancaster , Oxenholme Lake District , Penrith and Carlisle . The spine 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
2147-442: Is a short double track stretch through the 777-yard (710 m) 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
2260-534: Is also a branch to Edinburgh , at Carstairs in Scotland which is not the most direct route between London and Edinburgh. 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
2373-552: 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
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#17328836930442486-415: Is in a wide, shallow valley though has since been culverted . The viaduct is entirely in brick. It has one main, semi-elliptical arch in the centre, supported by decorated buttresses. This arch crosses the road and is flanked by three narrower supporting arches on each side which span footpaths. The viaduct was built by Robert Stephenson , who was chief engineer of the London and Birmingham Railway (LBR),
2599-700: 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. 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". The WCML
2712-529: Is the loss of through services between Liverpool and Scotland; however these were restored by TransPennine Express in 2019. British Rail introduced the Advanced Passenger Train APT project, which proved that London–Glasgow WCML journey times of less than 4 hours were achievable and paved the way for the later tilting Virgin Pendolino trains. In the late 1980s, British Rail put forward
2825-481: The Birmingham branch , and the routes to Manchester via Stoke-on-Trent 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. The announcement, after five years of uncertainty,
2938-666: The Caledonian Railway , while Stoke works in Staffordshire were established in 1864 by the North Staffordshire Railway . Both were absorbed into the LMS with their parent companies, and while the former became the main workshops for the Northern Division of the LMS, the latter works were wound down, closing in 1930, all work being transferred to nearby Crewe. Smaller workshop facilities were also transferred to
3051-756: The Grand Junction Railway and by the time of grouping was the locomotive works for the LNWR. Wolverton works in Buckinghamshire had been established by the London and Birmingham Railway in the 1830s, and since 1862 (when all locomotive works had transferred to Crewe) had been the LNWR's carriage works. In 1922, one year prior to the formation of the LMS, the LNWR had absorbed the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway , including their works at Horwich in Lancashire, which had opened in 1886. St. Rollox railway works , north east of Glasgow, had been built in 1856 by
3164-608: The Great Northern Railway (Ireland) , jointly owned the County Donegal Railways Joint Committee lines. Being geographically the largest, and the most central of the four main post-grouping railway companies, the LMS shared numerous boundaries with both the LNER and GWR, although its overlap with the Southern Railway was limited due to the general lack of direct routes through London. The SR and
3277-711: The London Midland Region and part of the Scottish Region . British Railways transferred the lines in Northern Ireland to the Ulster Transport Authority in 1949. The London Midland & Scottish Railway Company continued to exist as a legal entity for nearly two years after Nationalisation, being formally wound up on 23 December 1949. The lines in Great Britain were rationalised through closure in
3390-562: The London and Birmingham Railway was completed, connecting to the capital via Coventry , Rugby 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. These lines, together with the Trent Valley Railway (between Rugby and Stafford, avoiding Birmingham) and
3503-564: 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 Carlisle by the end of 1846, these were later absorbed by
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3616-484: 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 110 mph (180 km/h), and these trains, hauled by Class 86 and Class 87 electric locomotives, came to be seen as BR's flagship passenger service. Passenger traffic on the WCML doubled between 1962 and 1975. The modernisation also saw
3729-825: The Midland & Great Northern , and one of the most famous, the Somerset & Dorset . The LMS was the minority partner (with the LNER) in the Cheshire Lines Committee . In Ireland there were three railways: All of the above operated, at least partially, in Northern Ireland The total route mileage of the LMS in 1923 was 7,790 miles (12,537 km). The early history of the LMS was dominated by infighting between parties representing its constituent parts, many of whom had previously been commercial and territorial rivals. This
3842-633: 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
3955-450: 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
4068-491: 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 , Crewe , Stafford and Wolverhampton , opening in 1837. The following year
4181-585: 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. In 2019, Avanti West Coast won the new West Coast Partnership franchise, taking over from Virgin Trains. By
4294-746: The " Big Four " British railway companies ( Great Western Railway , London and North Eastern Railway and Southern Railway ), the LMS was nationalised on 1 January 1948, becoming part of the state-owned British Railways . The LMS was the largest of the Big Four railway companies serving routes in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. The Railways Act 1921 created four large railway companies which were in effect geographical monopolies, albeit with competition at their boundaries, and with some lines either reaching into competitor territory, or being jointly operated. The LMS operated services in and around London,
4407-569: The "flow-line" principle, similar to a modern assembly line , and the unit assemblies were taken to workstations, where the precision machining of the mass-produced parts ensured they all fitted accurately into position, building into a complete carriage as the unit moved along the flow line. The technique was already in use in Derby prior to grouping, and was adopted in Wolverton during 1925, with Newton Heath following two years later. By using this method,
4520-520: The 1850s took 12.5 hours to complete the 400-mile (640 km) journey. 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 Crewe to Ditton Junction via the Runcorn Railway Bridge over the River Mersey . At
4633-736: The 1950s to 70s but the main routes survive and some have been developed for 125 mph inter-city services. Despite having widespread interests in a number of commercial areas, the LMS was first and foremost a railway organisation. It operated in all four constituent countries of the United Kingdom, and in England its operations penetrated 32 of the 40 counties . The company operated around 7,000 route miles of railway line, servicing 2,944 goods depots and 2,588 passenger stations, using 291,490 freight vehicles, 20,276 passenger vehicles and 9,914 locomotives. The company directly employed 263,000 staff, and through its annual coal consumption of over six and
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4746-445: 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 125 mph (201 km/h) and the introduction of tilting Class 390 Pendolino trains. As much of
4859-589: The 2010-2017 timeframe. The Wigan North Western to Lostock Parkway branch is also in the process of being electrified. 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
4972-630: The Big Four companies to operate rail services in Northern Ireland , serving most major settlements in the region. On 1 July 1903, the Midland Railway took over the Belfast and Northern Counties Railway and operated it under the name of Midland Railway (Northern Counties Committee). On grouping, the network became part of the LMS, again operating under the name of the Northern Counties Committee , and consisted of 201 miles (323 km) of 5 ft 3 in ( 1,600 mm ) gauge track with
5085-607: 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 401-mile (645 km) Glasgow Central – London Euston run in a record 3 hours 55 minutes, beating the APT's record of 4 hours 15 minutes, although the APT still holds the overall record on the northbound run. The decade-long modernisation project
5198-488: The East Coast route, but some way short of the original target, and even further behind BR's original vision of 155 mph (250 km/h) speeds planned and achieved with the APT. The first phase of the upgrade, south of Manchester, opened on 27 September 2004 with journey times of 1 hour 21 minutes for London to Birmingham and 2 hours 6 minutes for London to Manchester. The final phase, introducing 125 mph (201 km/h) running along most of
5311-444: The LMS by other constituent companies, including at Barrow-in-Furness ( Furness Railway ), Bow ( North London Railway ), Kilmarnock ( Glasgow and South Western Railway ) and Inverness ( Highland Railway ). The table below shows all major works taken over by the LMS upon formation. The LMS inherited a wide variety of passenger rolling stock from its constituent companies, and appointed Robert Whyte Reid, an ex-Midland Railway man, as
5424-407: The LMS had inherited from the 35 merged companies, a system of 7,000 route miles and 19,000 track miles; accounting for 38.4% of the total mileage of the 'big four' grouped railways. It was the owner of 9,319 locomotives, 19,000 passenger-carrying vehicles, and 286,000 wagons. It operated more than 10,600 passenger trains and 15,000 goods trains a day, with a total staff of 231,000. In addition to this,
5537-401: The LMS included the London and North Western Railway , the Midland Railway , the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (which had previously merged with the London and North Western Railway on 1 January 1922), several Scottish railway companies (including the Caledonian Railway ), and numerous other, smaller ventures. Besides being the world's largest transport organisation, the company was also
5650-423: The LMS owned 543 miles of canal, 8,950 horses, 17,000 carts, 2,000 motor vehicles, 64 steamboats and 27 docks, and was the owner of 28 hotels. The LMS operated a number of lines jointly with the other main railway companies, a situation which arose when the former joint owners of a route were placed into different post-grouping companies. Most of these were situated at or near the boundaries between two or more of
5763-539: The LMS were mainly overlapping on the West London Line . Competition with the LNER was mainly in terms of the premium London to Scotland traffic, with the rival LMS (West Coast) and LNER (East Coast) routes competing to provide ever better standards of passenger comfort and faster journey times. The LNER also competed with the LMS for traffic between London, the East Midlands , South Yorkshire and Manchester , with
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#17328836930445876-600: The LNWR. North of Carlisle, the Caledonian Railway remained independent, and opened its main line from Carlisle to Beattock on 10 September 1847, connecting to Edinburgh in February 1848, and to Glasgow in November 1849. 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
5989-780: The Midlands and this area has been called the " Golden Triangle of Logistics ". Nearly all of the WCML is electrified with overhead line equipment at 25 kV AC . Several of the formerly unelectrified branches of the WCML in the North West have recently been electrified such as the Preston to Blackpool North Line on which electric service commenced in May 2018 along with the Preston – Manchester Piccadilly line which saw electric service commence in February 2019. Wigan to Liverpool via St Helens Shaw Street and St Helens Junction were also electrified in
6102-413: The Midlands, the North West of England, Mid/North Wales and Scotland. The company also operated a separate network of lines in Northern Ireland. The principal routes were the West Coast Main Line and the Midland Main Line , which had been the main routes of the two largest constituent companies, the London and North Western Railway and the Midland Railway respectively. AT the time of its creation,
6215-410: 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 6 hours 30 minutes, making it competitive with
6328-403: 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 110 mph (177 km/h). Further abortive modernisation schemes were proposed, including the introduction of the Advanced Passenger Train (APT) in
6441-586: 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 Class 321s . 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. Virgin also retained and refurbished one of
6554-486: 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
6667-439: The appointment of Sir Henry Fowler as Chief Mechanical Engineer, was the continuation of the Midland Railway's small-engine policy (see Locomotives of the Midland Railway ). The LMS also implemented a novel management structure, breaking with British railway tradition, and mirroring a contemporary management practice more common in the United States, appointing a President and Vice-Presidents. On 4 January 1926, Josiah Stamp
6780-473: The availability of locomotives and rolling stock , and trained staff to step into key roles; firemen trained as drivers and locomotive cleaners trained to replace firemen. Numerous special fares were introduced to encourage travel, develop niche markets and overcome competitors. The cheap day return ticket offered return travel at a price usually equivalent to the single fare, although in areas with rival bus services they were sometimes offered at less than
6893-425: The companies, but there were some notable examples which extended beyond this borderland zone. Together with the London and North Eastern Railway , the LMS ran the former Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway network. Exceeding 183 miles (295 km), this was the largest jointly operated network in Great Britain in terms of route mileage, and extended from Peterborough to the East Anglian coast. The M&GN
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#17328836930447006-441: The company's goods depots, passenger stations and key dock facilities. There was even sales representation in the Irish Free State , certain European countries and North America. A monthly newsletter was produced entitled Quota News , and trophies were awarded to the best performing districts and salesmen. To provide maximum capacity during times of peak demand, the operating department re-organised maintenance schedules to maximise
7119-469: 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. London, Midland and Scottish Railway The London, Midland and Scottish Railway ( LMS ) was a British railway company. It was formed on 1 January 1923 under the Railways Act 1921 , which required the grouping of over 120 separate railways into four. The companies merged into
7232-729: 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 140 mph (225 km/h), in place of the previous maximum of 110 mph (177 km/h). 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
7345-400: 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 , Stafford , Coventry and London Euston . To enable the latter, the famous Doric Arch portal into
7458-466: The design of their advertisement posters. In this time, fine art already had a distinguished association in Europe and North America with good taste, longevity and quality. Jeffrey wanted LMS’ commercial image to align with these qualities and therefore accepted Wilkinson's advice. For the first series of posters, Wilkinson personally invited 16 of his fellow alumni from the Royal Academy of London to take part. In letter correspondence, Wilkinson outlined
7571-406: The details of the LMS proposal to the artists. The artist fee for each participant was £100. The railway poster would measure 50 X 40 inches. In this area, the artist's design would be reproduced as a photolithographic print on double royal satin paper, filling 45 X 35 inches. The mass-produced posters were pasted inside railway stations in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. LMS decided
7684-453: 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
7797-431: The excursion traffic was, it was the ordinary scheduled services which had to be the focus of efforts to improve the fortunes of the LMS. A number of initiatives were introduced, with the aim of making train travel more attractive and encouraging business growth. Services were accelerated, and better quality rolling stock was introduced and from 24 September 1928 sleeping cars were provided for third class ticket holders for
7910-466: The first time. The effect of these improvements was significant, with receipts from passenger traffic increasing by £2.9 million (equivalent to £2,226,910,000 in 2023) between 1932 and 1938. A number of premium services were offered, culminating in 1937 with the launch of the Coronation Scot , which featured streamlined locomotives hauling a nine coach train of specially constructed stock between London Euston and Glasgow Central in six and
8023-411: The former Midland main line from St Pancras (LMS) and Great Central Main Line from Marylebone (LNER) both providing express, stopping and local services between these destinations. The London to Birmingham corridor was fiercely contested with the LMS running expresses over its West Coast Main Line via Rugby , and the Great Western running services via Banbury . The LMS was also the only one of
8136-620: The head of its Carriage department. Reid had already started to introduce more efficient carriage building practices at the Derby Carriage and Wagon Works of the Midland Railway prior to grouping and these same practices were soon introduced to the carriage and wagon works of the former LNWR at Wolverton and the L&;YR at Newton Heath. Most railway carriages were constructed by fitting together component parts which had been roughly machined to larger dimensions than required, which were then cut to
8249-425: The initial jigs) such as doors, ventilators, windows and seats. The natural progression was to streamline the assembly process and the company introduced a method known as Progressive Construction. In this process the mass-produced parts were combined into "unit assemblies", each of which was a major sub-component of the finished carriage such as side panels, carriage ends or the roof. The workshops were organised on
8362-511: The largest commercial enterprise in the British Empire and the United Kingdom's second largest employer, after the Post Office . In 1938, the LMS operated 6,870 miles (11,056 km) of railway (excluding its lines in Northern Ireland ), but its profitability was generally disappointing, with a rate of return of only 2.7%. Under the Transport Act 1947 , along with the other members of
8475-461: The line has a maximum speed of 125 mph (201 km/h), it meets the European Union 's definition of an upgraded high-speed line , 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 110 mph (177 km/h). The spine between London Euston and Glasgow Central
8588-468: 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
8701-542: The line, was announced as opening on 12 December 2005, bringing the fastest journey between London and Glasgow to 4 hours 25 mins (down from 5 hours 10 minutes). 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
8814-510: 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 400 miles (644 km) and was opened from 1837 to 1881. With additional lines deviating to Northampton , Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Edinburgh, this totals
8927-612: The northern end, the Caledonian replaced its original Southside terminus in Glasgow, with the much larger and better located Glasgow Central in 1879. 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 Northampton before rejoining the main line at Rugby. The worst-ever rail accident in UK history,
9040-848: The original Philip Hardwick -designed terminus was demolished in 1962 amid much public outcry. 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. 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 Edge Hill ); Blackburn and Stranraer Harbour. Notable also
9153-444: The original Mark 3 rakes with a Driving Van Trailer and a Class 90 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
9266-594: 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 Class 390 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
9379-794: The replacement of a weak bridge in Watford allowed line-speeds to be increased from 90 mph (145 km/h) to 125 mph (201 km/h), decreasing journey times. 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 Rugby and the other pair diverting via Northampton 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
9492-429: The required size and joined together by skilled coachbuilders. Reid's new method involved the use of templates or " jigs " to mass-produce components to a set pattern and size. Once these had been checked any example of a specific part could be used interchangeably with any other of the same type. The technique was applied to any item which could be manufactured in large numbers (as there were significant costs in producing
9605-433: The rival East Coast Flying Scotsman (British Railways in the 1950s could not match this, but did achieve a London-Glasgow timing of 7 hours 15 minutes in the 1959–60 timetable by strictly limiting the number of coaches to eight and not stopping between London and Carlisle. ) In 1948, following nationalisation , the line came under the control of British Railways ' London Midland and Scottish Regions , when
9718-537: 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,
9831-435: 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
9944-522: 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 9 ft 6 in (2,896 mm) hi-cube shipping containers . The route passes through Nuneaton and
10057-456: The senior appointments on the operating side were of former Midland men, such as James Anderson, so that Midland ideas and practices tended to prevail over those of other constituents. For example, the Midland's system of traffic control was imposed on a system-wide basis, along with the Midland livery of Crimson Lake for passenger locomotives and rolling stock. Particularly notable, especially after
10170-663: 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, 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
10283-419: The single fare. Companies holding large freight accounts with the LMS received reduced price season tickets for nominated employees, while commercial travellers, anglers and conveyors of racing pigeons were all tempted with special offers. Passenger miles rose quite dramatically, from a low point of 6,500 million in 1932 to 8,500 million by 1937, while at the same time the number of coaches required
10396-514: The subject advertised, but choices of style and approach were left to the artist's discretion. LMS’ open design brief resulted in a collection of posters that reflected the large capacity of destinations and experiences available with the transport organisation. For the Irish Free State , Wilkinson designed a poster in 1927 encouraging the public to avail of the LMS ferry and connecting boat trains to Ireland. For this promotion, Wilkinson's design
10509-455: 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. The bankruptcy of Railtrack in 2001 and its replacement by Network Rail following the Hatfield crash brought
10622-409: The term "West Coast Main Line" came into use officially, although it had been used informally since at least 1912. 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
10735-407: The time taken to construct a typical carriage fell from six weeks to six days and by 1931 Derby and Wolverton were able to handle the entire LMS carriage building workload, and production at Newton Heath ceased. Each of the constituent companies of the LMS had their own liveries for locomotives and rolling stock. The board of directors of the LMS was dominated by former Midland Railway officers, and
10848-536: The west side is largely unaltered. The viaduct was described by John Cooke Bourne in his account of the building of the LBR. It has been a Grade II listed building since 1981. Listed status provides legal protection from unauthorised demolition or modification. West Coast Main Line The West Coast Main Line ( WCML ) is one of the most important railway corridors in the United Kingdom, connecting
10961-506: The world's first long-distance trunk railway. It is still in use today and now carries the West Coast Main Line . It crosses North Circular Road, though the route of the North Circular (the A406) now bypasses the road to the south and is spanned by a more modern bridge. The Brent Viaduct has been widened several times on its east side, though in a sympathetic style, to accommodate more tracks but
11074-516: Was accompanied with four posters of Ireland by Belfast modernist painter, Paul Henry . The commercial success of Wilkinson and Jeffrey's collaboration manifested between 1924 and 1928, with public sale of 12,000 railway posters. Paul Henry's 1925 poster depicting the Gaeltacht region of Connemara in County Galway proved most commercially popular, with 1,500 sales. Charter and excursion trains were
11187-567: Was appointed First President of the Executive, the equivalent of a Chief executive in modern organisational structures. He added the role of chairman of the board of directors to his portfolio in January 1927, succeeding Sir Guy Granet . The arrival of the new chief mechanical engineer, William Stanier , who was brought in from the Great Western Railway by Josiah Stamp in 1932, heralded
11300-510: Was completed, replacing the traditional board of directors with an executive headed by a president, supported by vice-presidents each with responsibility for a specific area. Ernest Lemon , who had briefly held the office of Chief Mechanical Engineer pending the arrival of William Stanier became Vice-President (Railway traffic, operating and commercial), with separate chief operating and chief commercial managers of equal status reporting to him. Railway operations were directed by Charles Byrom,
11413-419: Was described as "a classic example of disastrous project management". 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
11526-683: Was even more varied than passenger services, catering for a range of goods from fresh perishables such as milk, fish and meat through to bulk minerals and small consignments sent point to point between individuals and companies. Particularly notable were the Toton – Brent coal trains, which took coal from the Nottinghamshire coalfield to London. The LMS owned and operated a number of railway works, all of which were inherited from constituent companies. Between them these sites constructed locomotives, coaching stock, multiple units and freight wagons, as well as
11639-477: Was finally completed in December 2008. 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 4 hours 30 minutes barrier – with one service (calling only at Preston) achieving
11752-399: Was later dropped) and offering journey times as London to Birmingham in 1 hour 35 minutes, and London to Manchester or Liverpool in 2 hours 40 minutes (and even 2 hours 30 minutes for the twice-daily Manchester Pullman ). This represented a big improvement on the 3 hours 30 minutes to Manchester and Liverpool of the fastest steam service. A new feature
11865-472: Was made 48 hours before the writ was issued for a by-election in South Ayrshire . 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 (the hyphen
11978-445: 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
12091-456: 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
12204-477: Was opened in the 1860s by the Midland Railway as part of a reorganisation of facilities in Derby and left the original site to concentrate on locomotive manufacture and repair. The Midland Railway also had works at Bromsgrove in Worcestershire, which had been inherited from the Birmingham and Gloucester Railway . The LNWR also contributed several works sites to the LMS. Crewe Works was opened in 1840 by
12317-473: Was particularly marked in the case of the Midland and the North Western , each of which believed its way was the right – and only – way of doing business. This rivalry was so severe, that stories of connecting trains at Birmingham New Street from the previous LNWR and MR parts of the system, being deliberately made to miss each other persisted even as late as the early 1950s, long after their demise. Many of
12430-467: Was reduced through improved maintenance and more efficient utilisation. In 1938 it opened a School of Transport in Derby to train its staff in best railway practice. The LMS's commercial success in the 1920s resulted in part from the contributions of English painter, Norman Wilkinson . In 1923, Wilkinson advised Superintendent of Advertising and Publicity of the LMS, T.C Jeffrey, to improve rail sales and other LMS services by incorporating fine art into
12543-479: 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. The service proved to be so popular that in 1972 these InterCity service frequencies were doubled to deal with increased demand. With the completion of the northern electrification in 1974, London to Glasgow journey times were reduced from 6 hours to 5. Along with electrification came modern coaches such as
12656-518: Was wholly incorporated into the LNER in 1936. The LMS also operated a significant joint network with the Southern Railway, in the shape of the former Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway . This network connected Bath and Bournemouth, and wound its way through territory nominally allocated to a third railway company, the Great Western . Through the former Midland Railway holdings, the LMS, together with
12769-673: 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
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