R A I LT R AC K - The Railways Archive

Our ECML upgrade scheme
TAKING THINGS FORWARD In line with our vision for the route and the strategy developed with the Franchising Director and our customers, we have continued our
analysis of the current bottlenecks, timetables, and forecasts of demand. Set out below are our enhancement proposals to meet the growing markets for rail services on the
ECML and to meet the Franchising Director-specific requirements for train frequency and journey times.
LOCATION PROPOSED SOLUTION
King’s Cross Station area London King’s Cross is a highly complex interchange location. We are drawing up a master plan to develop the station which
will consider the needs of the ECML, London Underground and the adjacent St Pancras Station. It will also consider future
opportunities for interchange with Channel Tunnel Rail Link, Thameslink 2000 and Heathrow Express services. The plan will
develop facilities for passengers on the station to include better waiting lounges, travel centres, conference centres, restaurants
and shops. It will also be necessary to build an additional platform by 2004 to provide extra capacity for longer trains running
to Peterborough and destinations beyond.
A brand new track layout will be built in this area just north of King’s Cross Station (known as Belle Isle) to connect the ECML
to the existing cross-London Thameslink route via tunnels as part of the Thameslink 2000 project. This will provide increased
station capacity, more flexibility and greater reliability.
Holloway–Alexandra Palace The existing four–five passenger tracks between Alexandra Palace and Holloway create a bottleneck in this busy section. The
number of passenger tracks will be increased to six by 2004 and the junction layout at Alexandra Palace improved to the
benefit of long-distance services and services via the Hertford Loop and will enable the Thameslink 2000 service to operate.
Extra platforms will be built at Finsbury Park, Harringay and Hornsey.
Welwyn The four-track railway reduces to two tracks where it passes over the viaduct at Welwyn and through the adjacent tunnels. The
current maximum capacity is 17 trains per hour. Four tracking with a new viaduct and tunnels will alleviate this bottleneck and
enable 30 trains per hour to operate. Current forecasts of demand indicate that this will be required by 2009/10. Feasibility
work has been undertaken in the last year.
Hitchin King’s Cross to Cambridge services cross the ECML over a flat crossing at Hitchin, and a flyover will be required by 2007/08 to
avoid congestion and delays with north–south trains. This will also improve the reliability of the Cambridge services. Feasibility
work has been undertaken in the last year.
Huntingdon to Peterborough This mainly two/three-track section supports a large number of commuter and longer-distance services and is close to capacity
during peak periods. This line will be restored to four tracks for much of the route between Peterborough and Huntingdon by
2003/04.
Peterborough This station is a busy passenger interchange between north–south and east–west services as well as the northern terminal for a
large number of London commuter services. Present station platform capacity and track layouts are the limiting factor. Many
freight trains cross the ECML here as they travel to and from East Anglian ports. Extra platform capacity is proposed for the
station with junctions improved or reconstructed to provide additional capacity and reduce delays. A new flyover to the north
of the station will carry both freight and cross-country passenger services over the main lines and feed trains on to the Lincoln
Line. This will enhance services between the Midlands and East Anglia as well as those on the ECML by reducing congestion,
improving reliability and reducing journey times. We plan to improve the station at Peterborough with better passenger facilities
and more car parking in line with the growth in passenger travel from this thriving city.
Grantham area Central Trains services for Lincolnshire use the ECML in this area and cross the main line to the north of Grantham. We will
create a new junction and chord line at Allington on the Grantham–Nottingham route. This new infrastructure will increase the
punctuality of both the Central Trains services from Nottingham and the main line services. It will also allow more local trains
to serve Grantham, while reducing congestion and improving reliability on the main line.
Newark Central Trains services and heavy freight trains cross the ECML here over a flat crossing and reduce the available capacity. We
will replace the flat crossing with a flyover and separate the main line north–south services from freight and cross-country
trains travelling east–west. This option will be required by 2006/07. Reconstruction of the Trent Navigation Bridge in 2000 will
allow for future linespeed increases once the flat crossing is eliminated.
Doncaster Station and area The junctions to the north and south of Doncaster are major bottlenecks and have constrained development of services in
South Yorkshire for many years. We will fundamentally change the geometry of these junctions in two phases; building new
south and north junctions by 2003/04 and a new flyover by 2007/08 to reduce congestion and improve reliability on all routes.
Doncaster is a major transport interchange. We are participating in the project developing the area adjacent to the station with
local partners South Yorkshire PTE in order to provide an integrated transport solution. This will provide better bus
connections, improved car parking and new retail opportunities for the city.
Wakefield Westgate We intend to build new platforms at Wakefield with a better track and signalling layout in order to cater for the mix of PTEsupported
stopping services in West and South Yorkshire and the faster long-distance services. This will increase capacity and
improve reliability. The station facilities will be improved and extra car parking will be provided.
Leeds The ‘Leeds 1st’ project is now in hand and this represents the first phase of the upgrade of the ECML. It includes major
reconstruction of the station track layout as well as several important junctions and chords in the area. These improvements
will accommodate additional train services to London, Birmingham, the Leeds commuter area and other locations. The ‘Leeds
1st’ project also includes major enhancements of the station facilities to create a major new transport interchange with full
accessibility (see Route 8 for full details). The works will improve capacity and reliability, and shorten journey times for both
passenger and freight trains in West Yorkshire.
Yo r k We will build an additional track through the station to Skelton Junction (north of York) and modify signalling to enhance cap a c i t y
and re l i a b i l i t y. The station car park will be enlarged and station facilities will be developed to give improved access for all.
Newcastle–Edinburgh Freight and local services share the busy double-track Newcastle–Edinburgh Line with high-speed services. We plan to build
extra capacity into this section, particularly in Scotland.
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