Time to slow down the East Coast Main Line

[whole diary]

[grahame]

From Rail Review

With Network Rail ditching the latest version of the December 2024 East Coast Main Line timetable, Gareth Dennis argues the case for more trains stopping at more stations, to ease the capacity crunch.

[snip]

A long and very interesting article, with perhaps lessons and thoughts looking ahead on the main lines from Paddington / Old Oak?

The ECML^▸ (East Coast Main Line), Britain’s fastest north-south inter-city route, was one of the first parts of the network to exceed pre-COVID passenger levels, with growth pushing overcrowding to extremes (as was the case before the pandemic).

There is a vital need for a new timetable to maximise the extent to which the railway can accommodate this growth.

So, why has it become impossible for the railway to create a new timetable that works for the ECML?

The answer, at its core, is all about complexity and capacity - and the conflict when you have too much of one and not nearly enough of the other.

[Electric train]

The biggest pinch point on the ECML^▸ (East Coast Main Line) is the Welwyn Viaduct. 4 track railway reduced to 2 this has always been one of the limiting factors for the entire route