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Electric Spine
The "Electric Spine" was the name for part of a, now largely cancelled, rolling programme of railway electrification projects in England initially estimated to cost £800 million, but later thought to cost close to £3 billion. The aim was to form 25 kV AC overhead-wire electrified links northward from the Port of Southampton to major cities in northern and central England and dry port container terminals in the Midlands. The government wanted efficient electric-hauled freight trains to compete with road haulage.
In 2012, the spine was set to be completed within Network Rail's Control Period 5 (CP5, 2014–2019). This was not the case, because various works were delayed, suspended for several months, moved into Control Period 6 (CP6, starting in 2019), and then scrapped altogether (despite various preliminary work, like bridge replacement, having been conducted).
Other works associated with the project included gauge clearance for large shipping containers and electrified connections to adjacent electrified routes, depots and freight facilities.
The north–south axis of the link leads to the spine name.
A high-capacity passenger and freight corridor would run from the south coast through Basingstoke and Reading to Oxford, where it would split. One branch would run to Leamington Spa, Coventry, and the west Midlands, and another would use the re-instated East West Rail to Bletchley (Milton Keynes) for the West Coast Main Line (WCML) (to the West Midlands, North-West England and Scotland), and also onward to Bedford for the Midland Main Line to the East Midlands, Sheffield and South Yorkshire.
The various projects to create the spine are at different stages of development, and will be completed at different times. The initially prioritised works are fully planned and under way as part of CP5 (i.e., works for 2014–2019). Some projects will be planned and undertaken in CP5, others will be planned in CP5 for completion in the following Control Period, and some remain yet to be firmly committed to.
East West Rail is a project in progress to rebuild the former Varsity Line route between Oxford and Cambridge (via Bicester Village, Bletchley, Bedford and Tempsford – thus interconnecting the Cherwell Valley Line (and thus the Great Western Main Line), Chiltern Main Line, West Coast Main Line, Midland Main Line, East Coast Main Line, West Anglia Main Line). As originally specified, the route was to be electrified as an integral part of the Electric Spine. As of April 2015, electrification and track upgrade of the Bletchley to Bedford section was planned, but greater work on the East West Rail than that scheduled for CP5 would be needed to achieve the Electric Spine. In August 2017, the Transport Secretary announced that he had defunded electrification of the line.
The electrification of the MML northward from its limit at Bedford to Derby was originally scheduled for completion by 2019, but the work was "paused" in June 2015 despite significant progress having already been made. The electrification to Derby and beyond (e.g., from Trent Junction via Derby to Sheffield—completion originally due in December 2020—and also to Doncaster—originally due June 2021) will be much delayed. On 30 September 2015, the Department for Transport announced the resumption of the work with revised completion dates of 2019 for Corby and Kettering and 2023 for the line further north to Leicester, Nottingham and Sheffield. Again the upgrade to the line north of Kettering was shelved in July 2017 by the Transport Secretary.
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Electric Spine
The "Electric Spine" was the name for part of a, now largely cancelled, rolling programme of railway electrification projects in England initially estimated to cost £800 million, but later thought to cost close to £3 billion. The aim was to form 25 kV AC overhead-wire electrified links northward from the Port of Southampton to major cities in northern and central England and dry port container terminals in the Midlands. The government wanted efficient electric-hauled freight trains to compete with road haulage.
In 2012, the spine was set to be completed within Network Rail's Control Period 5 (CP5, 2014–2019). This was not the case, because various works were delayed, suspended for several months, moved into Control Period 6 (CP6, starting in 2019), and then scrapped altogether (despite various preliminary work, like bridge replacement, having been conducted).
Other works associated with the project included gauge clearance for large shipping containers and electrified connections to adjacent electrified routes, depots and freight facilities.
The north–south axis of the link leads to the spine name.
A high-capacity passenger and freight corridor would run from the south coast through Basingstoke and Reading to Oxford, where it would split. One branch would run to Leamington Spa, Coventry, and the west Midlands, and another would use the re-instated East West Rail to Bletchley (Milton Keynes) for the West Coast Main Line (WCML) (to the West Midlands, North-West England and Scotland), and also onward to Bedford for the Midland Main Line to the East Midlands, Sheffield and South Yorkshire.
The various projects to create the spine are at different stages of development, and will be completed at different times. The initially prioritised works are fully planned and under way as part of CP5 (i.e., works for 2014–2019). Some projects will be planned and undertaken in CP5, others will be planned in CP5 for completion in the following Control Period, and some remain yet to be firmly committed to.
East West Rail is a project in progress to rebuild the former Varsity Line route between Oxford and Cambridge (via Bicester Village, Bletchley, Bedford and Tempsford – thus interconnecting the Cherwell Valley Line (and thus the Great Western Main Line), Chiltern Main Line, West Coast Main Line, Midland Main Line, East Coast Main Line, West Anglia Main Line). As originally specified, the route was to be electrified as an integral part of the Electric Spine. As of April 2015, electrification and track upgrade of the Bletchley to Bedford section was planned, but greater work on the East West Rail than that scheduled for CP5 would be needed to achieve the Electric Spine. In August 2017, the Transport Secretary announced that he had defunded electrification of the line.
The electrification of the MML northward from its limit at Bedford to Derby was originally scheduled for completion by 2019, but the work was "paused" in June 2015 despite significant progress having already been made. The electrification to Derby and beyond (e.g., from Trent Junction via Derby to Sheffield—completion originally due in December 2020—and also to Doncaster—originally due June 2021) will be much delayed. On 30 September 2015, the Department for Transport announced the resumption of the work with revised completion dates of 2019 for Corby and Kettering and 2023 for the line further north to Leicester, Nottingham and Sheffield. Again the upgrade to the line north of Kettering was shelved in July 2017 by the Transport Secretary.
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