Midland Main Line
The
Midland Main Line is a main railway line in the
United Kingdom, part of the
British railway system.
The line links
London (
St Pancras) to
Sheffield (
Midland station) in northern
England and connects other important population centres including
Luton,
Bedford,
Wellingborough,
Kettering,
Market Harborough,
Leicester,
Loughborough,
Long Eaton,
Derby,
Beeston,
Nottingham and
Chesterfield. There are plans to build a station on the line to serve
Nottingham East Midlands Airport, to be called
East Midlands Parkway.
Express passenger services on the line are operated by the
Midland Mainline train operating company. The section between St Pancras and Bedford is electrified and is also used by
Thameslink commuter trains (operated by
First Capital Connect).
Central Trains also operates regional and local services between Nottingham and Leicester / Derby / Sheffield.
The Midland Main Line was built in stages between the
1830s and the
1860s, as three lines which met at the
Tri Junct Station in
Derby. First to arrive was the line built by the
Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway and its subsidiary the
Stonebridge Railway from
Hampton-in-Arden,
Warwickshire, on the
London and Birmingham Railway, to
Derby. This section opened on
12 August,
1839. This is now the "cross-country" route through
Birmingham to
Bristol.
This was followed on
1 July,
1840 by the
North Midland Railway, which ran from Derby to
Leeds Hunslet Lane Station via
Chesterfield,
Swinton,
Masborough, near Rotherham (from where the
Sheffield and Rotherham Railway ran a branch to
Sheffield Wicker Station), and
Normanton. This avoided
Sheffield,
Barnsley, and
Wakefield in order to reduce gradients.
On the same day the
Midland Counties Railway, which ran from Derby and
Nottingham to
Leicester, was extended from
Leicester (its previous
Campbell Street Station being replaced by the current
London Road Station) to a temporary station on the northern outskirts of
Rugby. A few months later, the Rugby viaduct was finished and the Midland Counties Railway reached the London and Birmingham's
Rugby Station. This cut 11 miles off the former route via Hampton-in-Arden. Consequently the Stonebridge Railway lost all importance, was soon
singled, and closed in
1917 as a wartime economy measure and to release track material for other use. Thus this became the first main line in Britain to close. Its parent company, the Birmingham and Derby Junction, survived, reached
Birmingham Lawley Street Station in
1842, and is now part of the Cross-Country InterCity route from
Birmingham to the North-East.
When these three companies merged to form the
Midland Railway on
10 May 1844, the Midland did not have its own route to London, and relied upon a junction at
Rugby with the London and Birmingham's line (which became part of the
London and North Western Railway on
1 January,
1846) to
London Euston for access to the capital.
By the 1850s the junction at Rugby had become severely congested, and so the Midland Railway constructed a route from Leicester to
Hitchin on the
Great Northern Railway, via Bedford. The line avoids
Northampton, a major town south of
Leicester, instead going via
Kettering and
Wellingborough in the east of
Northamptonshire. This line met with similar problems at Hitchin as the former alignment had at Rugby, so in 1868 a line was opened from Bedford via Luton to
London St Pancras.
The final stretch of what is considered to be the modern Midland Main Line was a short cut-off from Chesterfield through Sheffield, which opened in
1870.
Also part of the line is the
Erewash Valley Line, which carries services from Chesterfield and the north to Nottingham and the south.
The cities, towns and villages served by the MML are listed below. Those in bold are served by fast
InterCity services.
London to Trent Junction
*
London St Pancras*
Kentish Town*
West Hampstead*
Cricklewood*
Hendon*
Mill Hill Broadway*
Elstree & Borehamwood*
Radlett*
St. Albans*
Harpenden*
Luton Airport Parkway*
Luton Town*
Leagrave*
Harlington*
Flitwick*
Bedford (
First Capital Connect services and electrification end here.)
*
Wellingborough*
Kettering:
Kettering North Junction: formerly services to
Corby and
Melton Mowbray, from which both
Leicester and
Nottingham could be reached via an alternative route
*
Market HarboroughWigston South Junction*
Leicester*
Syston*
Sileby*
Barrow-on-Soar*
Loughborough* (
East Midlands Parkway - under construction):
At Trent Junction, the line splits into three, with lines to Derby, Nottingham and Erewash ValleyTrent Junction via Derby
*
Long Eaton*
Derby*
Duffield*
Belper:
Rejoins with Nottingham line.
Trent Junction via Erewash Valley Line
*
Langley Mill*
AlfretonTrent Junction via Nottingham
*
Attenborough*
Beeston*
Nottinghamtrains often reverse to join the Erewash Valley Line at Trowell JunctionContinued
*
Chesterfield*
Sheffield Midland*
Wakefield Westgate*
LeedsA Main Line to Manchester
The line was once the Midland Railway's route from
London St Pancras to
Manchester, branching at
Ambergate Junction along the
Manchester, Buxton, Matlock and Midlands Junction Railway, now known as the
Derwent Valley Line.In
LMS days it featured named expresses such as the Palatine and the Peaks.
This line was closed in the 1960s between
Matlock and
Buxton, severing an important link between Manchester and the
East Midlands, which has never been satisfactorily replaced by any mode of transport.The line between Matlock and
Rowsley is in the hands of the
Peak Rail preservation group.
The Settle-Carlisle and the West Ridings Extension
This is no longer considered part of the Midland Main Line: see
Settle-Carlisle Railway.
World War I prevented the Midland from finishing its direct route (avoiding reversal at Leeds) to join the Settle and Carlisle. The first part of the Midlands
West Riding extension from the main line at Royston (Yorks) to
Dewsbury was opened before the war. However the second part of the extension was not completed. This involved a viaduct at Dewsbury over the
River Calder, a tunnel under Dewsbury Moor and a new approach railway into Bradford from the south at a lower level than the existing railway (a good part of which was to be in tunnel) leading into Bradford Midland (or Forster Square) station. The 500yd gap between the stations at Bradford continues to exist today - closing it today would also need to take into account the different levels between the two Bradford stations, a task made easier in the days of electric rather than steam traction, allowing for steeper gradients than possible at the time of the Midlands proposed extension. The failure to complete this section ended the Midland's hopes of being a serious competitor on routes to Scotland and finally put beyond all doubt that Leeds, not Bradford, would be the West Riding's principal town. Midland trains to Scotland continues onwards from Carlisle via either the
Glasgow and South Western or
Waverley routes.
Heysham was the port for the Midland's Irish traffic.
As with most railway lines in Britain, the route used to serve far more stations than it currently does (and consequently passes close to settlements that it no longer serves). Places that the current mainline used to serve include
*
East Langton*
Kibworth*
Great Glen*
Wigston*
Leicester Humberstone Road*
Syston (reopened)
*
Sileby (reopened)
*
Barrow (reopened)
*
Hathern*
Kegworth*
Trent*
Derby Nottingham Road*
Clay Cross*
Sheepbridge*
Unstone*
Beauchief*
Millhouses*
Heeley*
Attercliffe Road*
Brightside*
Holmes*
Rotherham Masborough*
Rawmarsh and Parkgate*
Kilnhurst*
Swinton West (reopened
Swinton)
