110-508: The West London line (WLL) is a short railway in inner West London that links Willesden Junction in the north to Clapham Junction in the south. The line has always been an important cross-London link, especially for freight services. Southern and London Overground provide regular passenger services; detailed below. From autumn 2024 the North London line and the West London section of
220-418: 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
330-497: A complex intersection of track which crosses over the subsurface junction of three District line branches. The planned redevelopment of the site by Capital & Counties Properties envisages demolishing the Exhibition Centre to make way for retail and housing; as part of these plans, the West London line is to be enclosed by a concrete box. Commentators have noted that the proposals make no allowance for any future quadrupling of
440-628: A new east-west cross-London route which uses the Great Western Main Line up to Reading , and crosses the West London line 0.5 kilometres (0.31 mi) south of Willesden Junction at Old Oak Common. A new station, Old Oak Common railway station , is planned at this site to provide an interchange between the Elizabeth line, the GWML and High Speed 2 . Due to the proximity of Willesden Junction, it has been suggested that an interchange could be added with
550-509: A new, combined High-Level station was built, with an island platform plus a third shorter platform for Earls Court trains (which was later removed) together with a new station entrance building which still survives. By 1897 199 passengers and 47 goods trains passed through the High-Level station each day. The 'Willesden New Station' or Low-Level station on the Watford DC line was opened in 1910 to
660-410: 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
770-685: A scheme to realign the routes of both the West London and North London lines around the Old Oak Common site to create a new London Overground interchange station. The proposal envisages diverting the NLL Richmond route to curve around the eastern side of Old Oak Common, and re-routing the WLL to branch west south of the Mitre Bridge before curving north along a short section of the Dudding Hill Line to join
880-652: 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
990-512: 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
1100-520: 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
1210-499: 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
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#17328489270081320-442: 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
1430-545: 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
1540-552: 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
1650-539: 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 a route mileage of 700 miles (1,127 km). The Glasgow–Edinburgh via Carstairs line connects
1760-536: Is served by London Buses routes 18 , 220 , 228 , 266 , 487 and night route N18 . [REDACTED] London transport portal West Coast Main Line The West Coast Main Line ( WCML ) is one of the most important railway corridors in the United Kingdom, connecting the major cities of London and Glasgow with branches to Birmingham , Manchester , Liverpool and Edinburgh . It
1870-529: 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
1980-579: 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 was not originally conceived as
2090-481: 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,
2200-525: The London Midland and Scottish Railway ran from as far north as Glasgow to the South Coast. Through trains in the steam era changed locomotives here. From the 1920s there was a United Dairies depot on the site of a former dairy farm here, which up until the late 1970s had regular milk train deliveries. The northern section of the line, from Willesden Junction to Kensington Olympia and on to Earls Court,
2310-628: The London Overground . The station is located close to the Old Oak Lane conservation area in the East Acton ward. The station developed on three contiguous sites: the West Coast Main Line (WCML) station was opened by the London & North Western Railway on 1 September 1866 to replace the London and Birmingham Railway 's Willesden station of 1841 which was 0.5 miles (0.8 km) to
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#17328489270082420-562: 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
2530-697: The London and South Western Railway (L&SWR), powers to construct the West London Extension Joint Railway on the filled-in canal south from the Kensington Basin to the bridge under the Kings Road , to bridge the Thames and to connect near Clapham Junction to railways south of the river. The existing line was doubled, and the flat crossing of the GWR main line, where a number of collisions had occurred,
2640-564: 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
2750-484: 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
2860-767: The North London , Bakerloo , Watford DC and West London lines. A 2010 Department for Transport command paper highlights opportunities for interchanges at Old Oak Common with London Underground , London Overground and Southern 's cross-London services, while a report prepared by Terry Farrell and Partners for the Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham proposes the construction of an overhead light rail , automated people mover or personal rapid transit system linking "Old Oak Central" [ sic ] with Willesden Junction. However, as of 2013, no firm proposals exist to create an interchange with these lines. Proposals for Old Oak Common being considered by Transport for London include
2970-472: The North London line using Class 378 EMUs . The weekday off-peak service is: London Overground also operate Lioness line services from the low-level station on the Watford DC line using Class 710 and Class 378 EMUs. The weekday off-peak service is: London Underground also operates Bakerloo line trains on the Watford DC line using 1972 Stock . The weekday off-peak service is: The station area
3080-566: The Post Office Savings Bank headquarters, Blythe House , near Olympia from Clapham Junction and back again, but these services were not publicly advertised. Kensington Olympia was used as late as the 1970s as a location for collecting milk tanks (for the west country) from various terminals in the London area such as Ilford. This activity later transferred to Clapham Junction. Since the 1940s
3190-633: 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
3300-478: The West Coast Main Line in the north to the Brighton Main Line in the south. Hourly trains run between East Croydon and Watford Junction , with additional peak services between Shepherd's Bush and Clapham Junction . Southern services pass through Willesden Junction without stopping as the mainline platforms were removed in 1962. However there are plans for these services to stop at Willesden Junction in
3410-539: The West London Railway (WLR) the line officially opened on 27 May 1844, and regular services began on 10 June, but before that trials to demonstrate the potential of the atmospheric railway system had been held from 1840 to 1843 on a half-mile section of track adjacent to Wormwood Scrubs , leased to that system's promoters; The WLR used conventional power but was not a commercial success. After only six months it closed on 30 November 1844. An Act of 1845 authorised
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3520-450: 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
3630-555: 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
3740-585: 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
3850-483: The privatisation of British Rail , operation of both the West London line and North London line was brought under the North London Railway franchise, and taken over by National Express , trading as Silverlink . For a decade, the West London line was operated with the green-and-purple liveried Silverlink Metro trains. Channel Tunnel infrastructure work in 1993 electrified the line at 750 V DC third rail from
3960-520: 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
4070-445: 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
4180-589: 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
4290-607: 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
4400-502: The DC line to accommodate 4-coach class 378 trains. The HL station previously had a third platform on the eastern side which was used by services to/from Earls Court. There is another turnback siding further east which was previously used; it was laid in the late 1990s to allow Royal Mail trains to reach the Royal Mail depot at Stonebridge Park. The low-level station, at the level of the area to
4510-488: 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
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4620-554: The GWR and the L&;BR (which became part of the London and North Western Railway [LNWR] in 1846) to take a joint lease of the WLR. The line was used only to carry coal, and passenger service was not re-introduced. The lack of success of the line became such a regular target of Punch magazine that the line was called Punch's Railway . An Act in 1859 granted those two companies, with the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR) and
4730-600: 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
4840-681: The London Overground will be merged and named the Mildmay line (to honour the Mildmay Mission Hospital which treated victims of the HIV/AIDS crisis in the 1980s) and will be coloured light blue on the Tube map . The Birmingham, Bristol & Thames Junction Railway was authorised in 1836 to run from the London and Birmingham Railway (L&BR), near the present Willesden Junction station, across
4950-780: 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
5060-489: The Ministry of Transport. The terminal had the capacity to handle 2,000 containers a week. In the late nineteenth century, it was nicknamed "Bewildering Junction" or "The Wilderness" because it contained such a maze of entrances, passages and platforms. There are no platforms on the West Coast Main Line, which is separated from the low-level station by the approach road to Willesden Depot which lies immediately south-east of
5170-458: 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
5280-611: The South to the North Pole depot. The line is electrified at 25 kV AC overhead wires from Westway (near the overbridge carrying the Hammersmith and City Line) to Willesden and the North. Until the High Speed 1 railway line from St Pancras opened in November 2007, Eurostar trains from Waterloo International used the West London line to access their North Pole depot . The line was crucial to
5390-514: 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
5500-495: 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 is one of the busiest freight routes in Europe, carrying 40% of all UK rail freight traffic. The line
5610-683: 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
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#17328489270085720-457: The WLL curves east before turning south towards Shepherd's Bush. Southern services from Watford Junction join the WLL at this junction after branching off from the WCML near Willesden Junction and curving south over a level crossing . [REDACTED] South London line [REDACTED] National Rail The West Cross Route , one side of the Ringway 1 inner ring road , would have paralleled
5830-418: The West Coast Main Line. The NLL and WLL would meet at a point on the southern side of Old Oak Common, adjacent to Wormwood Scrubs , where new interchange platforms would be built. Alternative versions of this scheme also consider cheaper options such as terminating the WLL at Old Oak Common or two separate London Overground stations. The West London line passes beneath the Earls Court Exhibition Centre along
5940-453: The West London line route to cross from Acton Main Line , stopping at Olympia and passing through Clapham Junction. The CrossCountry franchise was taken over by Arriva CrossCountry and in 2008 the Brighton route was terminated. In 2009, Southern introduced its cross-London service from Milton Keynes to East Croydon. For a brief period, Southern and Connex also operated a direct service from Rugby to Brighton via Gatwick Airport , but this
6050-430: The West London line trains and stations in orange livery. The line appears today on the Tube Map as an orange stripe. New stations opened at Shepherd's Bush in 2008 and Imperial Wharf in 2009, bringing main line rail services to a large catchment area in West London. In July 2023, TFL announced that it would be giving each of the six Overground services unique names by the end of the following year. In February 2024, it
6160-486: 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
6270-474: The addition of a fourth and then a fifth coach to class 378 trains. In 1896 staff totalled 271, including 79 porters, 58 signalmen (in 14 signal boxes) and 58 shunters and yard foremen. They issued 1,006,886 tickets to passengers in 1896, up from 530,300 in 1886. Many of them were housed in what is now the Old Oak Lane conservation area, built by the LNWR in 1889 and which included an Institute, reading room and church. The main-line platforms were numbered from
6380-729: 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
6490-504: The demise of the line was hastened by wartime bombing. In 1940, LMS steam trains from Clapham Junction to Kensington ceased on 20 October and the services to Willesden and Edgware Road Met electric services ceased on 3 and 20 October respectively. In 1948, the line became part of British Rail , following the nationalisation of the railways , but remained mostly in use as a freight route. For many years, limited passenger trains ran on workday mornings and evenings, to carry workers at
6600-400: 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
6710-460: The difficulty in securing train paths in the congested West Midlands, and operated only as far as Rugby . With engineering works on the upgrade of the West Coast Main Line, the service was shortened to terminate at Watford, and was discontinued, later revived as a shorter regional route as part of the South Central franchise in 2008. Due to congestion on the West Coast Main Line, the service did not run north of Milton Keynes Central , and in May 2022
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#17328489270086820-453: 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
6930-413: The first and last NLL trains of the day, which start or terminate here, use the bay platform, though it is used for empty stock transfers between the depot and the North London and Gospel Oak to Barking lines. The station signs on the platforms say, below the Overground roundel, "Alight for Harlesden town centre". The LNWR opened a large locomotive depot on a site on the south side of the main line to
7040-399: The future which will mean building new main line platforms at Willesden Junction. This regional service previously ran from Brighton to Watford Junction. It was originally conceived as a Brighton-Birmingham service, and until December 2008 a twice-daily CrossCountry service ran from Brighton via Kensington (Olympia) and Reading to Birmingham New Street . The service was curtailed due to
7150-489: The late 1970s, the Greater London Council began to revitalise the North London line (NLL), incorporating it onto the Tube Map in 1977 as a white line with black borders marked "British Rail" and electrifying the route from Dalston to Woolwich in 1985. The limited Clapham Junction – Kensington Olympia service appeared in the public timetables, but full passenger services on the West London line were not re-introduced until 1994 by Network SouthEast service. In 1997, as part of
7260-405: 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
7370-504: The line has often been used for excursion and other special through trains across London to the South Coast. Between April 1963 and June 1965 the section between Willesden Jn and Kensington Olympia was used for trains diverted from Euston during the rebuilding of Euston station section. Kensington Olympia station was refurbished accordingly. During 1967 passenger services were diverted from Paddington between Old Oak Common and Kensington Olympia during engineering works at Paddington station. In
7480-417: 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
7590-487: 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
7700-507: The line. Trains in scheduled passenger services on the West London line are as follows: These are passenger volume statistics for the line from the years beginning April 2002 to April 2022. The large increases in the year beginning April 2006 were due to travelcards for National Rail journeys being made available from stations with London Underground ticket offices, and also using a different methodology to estimate likely journeys made from National Rail stations in Zone 1. The large increases in
7810-401: The line.) The steam depot had the shed code 1A and was a major depot for predominantly freight locomotives used on the West Coast Main Line and for suburban passenger services from Euston . The new London Overground line names and colours were introduced across the London rail network in November 2024 London Overground operate Mildmay line services from the high-level station on
7920-399: The north of the main line with two outer through platforms and two inner bay platforms at the London end. The bay platforms were originally long enough for four-coach Bakerloo trains when such trains ran outside peak times, but were shortened in the 1960s when a new toilet block was installed; in more recent times the platform buildings have been reconstructed and the bay length increased due to
8030-612: 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,
8140-548: The northwest. Passenger services ended in 1962 when the platforms were removed during the electrification of the WCML to allow the curvature of the tracks to be eased. Later the bridges for the North London line (NLL) were rebuilt. The High-Level station on the NLL was opened by the North London Railway in 1869 for two Richmond tracks and later for two Shepherds Bush tracks, both crossing the WCML roughly at right angles. In 1894
8250-848: 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
8360-444: 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
8470-594: 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
8580-472: The planned Regional Eurostar service, and between 1995 and 1997 carried two daily services connecting the ECML and WCML respectively to Waterloo for international passengers. However the idea was cancelled. Platforms were reinstated at West Brompton in 1999. In 2007, Transport for London took over the North London Railway franchise as the London Overground concession, introducing new rolling stock and rebranding
8690-645: The proposed route of the Great Western (GWR) on the level, to the Kensington Canal Basin. For about twelve years, the railway ran alongside the Kensington Canal, formerly Counter's Creek , a minor tributary of the Thames River until it was filled in, the water course turned into a sewer and the future District line built over it. Construction was delayed by engineering and financial problems. Renamed
8800-794: 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
8910-433: 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
9020-592: 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,
9130-435: 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
9240-522: 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
9350-663: 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
9460-533: The south side (including one or two on the Kensington route) followed by the high level platforms and then the DC line platforms which thus had the highest numbers. Later the surviving platforms were renumbered. A freight liner terminal was opened in August 1967. It was built on an 18-acre site of the steam locomotive depot alongside the main electrified rail-link. It was opened by John Morris , Parliamentary Secretary for
9570-453: The south, is an Edwardian island platform, with outer faces as platforms 1 and 3 and northern bay platform bay as platform 2, the southern bay now has no track. In October 2014 the DC line was closed temporarily between Wembley Central and Queens Park reportedly by Network Rail (London Overground) to allow platform 2 to be extended further west as a through platform. Most of the original and later platform buildings were demolished when platform 2
9680-429: The southbound service began at Stonebridge Park. This imbalance arose as there were no London Underground staff beyond Willesden Junction to oversee passenger detrainment, but this changed after London Underground took over the staffing of stations on the line, including Stonebridge Park, from Silverlink in November 2007, and trains bound for Stonebridge Park depot now terminate at Stonebridge Park station. Normally only
9790-465: The station. The high-level (HL) station consists of an island platform rebuilt in 1956, with faces as platforms 4 and 5, which are roughly at the level of Old Oak Lane to the west of the station, serving the NLL and the West London line (WLL); some trains on the latter reverse in a central turnback siding on the NLL to the east of the station, this opened in 2011. Both platforms have been extended across
9900-455: 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
10010-409: 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
10120-639: The track to increase capacity on the line. Download coordinates as: 51°29′57″N 0°12′42″W / 51.4991°N 0.2116°W / 51.4991; -0.2116 Willesden Junction railway station Willesden Junction is an interchange station located in Harlesden , north-west London . It is situated on the Bakerloo line of the London Underground and the Lioness and Mildmay lines of
10230-406: The west of the station, in 1873. This was enlarged in 1898. The London Midland and Scottish Railway opened an additional roundhouse on the site in 1929. Both buildings were demolished when the depot was closed in 1965 by British Railways and replaced by a Freightliner depot. (The servicing of locomotives and multiple units was then undertaken by the present Willesden TMD on the other side of
10340-454: The year beginning April 2010 were due to increased train frequencies helped by the introduction of new rolling stock. Shepherd's Bush opened 2008 and Imperial Wharf the following year. There was a significant change in methodology for estimating usage of London stations in 2015–16, resulting in large changes in usage numbers for some stations. The Crossrail project instated the Elizabeth line ,
10450-487: Was also part of London Underground for a time and operated as a branch of the Metropolitan Railway between Edgware Road and Addison Road. The branch was eventually closed and the link between the West London line and today's Hammersmith & City line was dismantled in 1930. A branch was installed to allow trains from the former Southern Railway to access to the West Coast Main Line and vice versa: in summer
10560-514: Was at Kensington (Olympia), using the West London line for its wide connections to the UK mainline rail network. Motorail ceased operations in 1981. Intercity prior to 1997, and then from 1997 to 2007 Virgin CrossCountry operated a long-distance service between Edinburgh Waverley and Manchester Piccadilly and Brighton , in addition Intercity operated Summer Saturday services Liverpool to Dover Western Docks and Manchester to Eastbourne which use
10670-598: Was confirmed that the North London / West London section would be named the Mildmay line (to honour the Mildmay Hospital which treated victims of the HIV/AIDS crisis in the 1980s) and would be coloured blue on the updated network map. In 1966 British Rail launched Motorail , a long-distance accompanied car train which transported passengers and their cars to the West of England and Scotland . The London Motorail terminal
10780-570: Was curtailed to Watford Junction. From north to south, to line follows the following route with current and former stations, junctions with other railways and other features: [REDACTED] Bakerloo [REDACTED] North London line [REDACTED] Watford DC line [REDACTED] South London line [REDACTED] National Rail [REDACTED] Bakerloo [REDACTED] North London line [REDACTED] Watford DC line Junction located just south of bridge over Hythe Road;
10890-419: 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
11000-555: Was electrified by the LNWR in 1915. After a period of popularity, passenger usage dwindled on the West London Railway. Competition from the new deep-level Underground railways and electric tramways took away custom by offering more direct routes into Central London . With the onset of World War II , the West London line was badly hit in some parts by enemy action during the Blitz and
11110-491: Was extended in preparation for longer Class 378 trains and provision of a new footbridge and lift in 1999. Platforms 1 and 3 are used by the Bakerloo line services, which began on 10 May 1915, and London Overground services between Euston and Watford Junction . Until May 2008 north-bound Bakerloo line trains which were to reverse at Stonebridge Park depot (two stations further north) ran empty from Willesden Junction although
11220-619: Was extended to Clapham Junction via the South London line , linking it to the West London line. Along with the Thameslink and the East London line routes, the West London line presently forms part of the West London Route which is one of three National Rail routes which run across London instead of terminating in the central area. This regional rail service operated by Southern connects
11330-477: 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
11440-399: 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
11550-472: 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
11660-445: 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
11770-552: Was replaced by a flyover. The new line opened on 2 March 1863 with a passenger station at Addison Road (now Kensington (Olympia) ) slightly north of the original Kensington station, and was then well used by various inner London services for the remainder of the nineteenth century. For a time, the West London line formed part of the GWR's Middle Circle route (1872–1905) which ran (clockwise) from Mansion House to Aldgate (originally Moorgate) via Earl's Court , Kensington Olympia, Latimer Road and Baker Street . The West London line
11880-479: 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
11990-468: Was withdrawn in 2001. The core operation of the West London line is the metro / commuter rail operated by London Overground. Four trains per hour run between Clapham Junction and Willesden Junction, with most trains continuing on the North London line to and from Stratford . It forms the western section of the Overground's orbital rail route which was completed in December 2012 when the East London line
12100-673: 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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