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Concept
East Coast Main Line
Summary
The East Coast Main Line (ECML) is a electrified railway between its southern terminus at London King's Cross station and via , , , , and Newcastle. The line is a key transport artery on the eastern side of Great Britain running broadly parallel to the A1 road. The main line acts as a 'spine' for several diverging branches, serving destinations such as Cambridge, , , and , all with direct services to London. In addition, a few ECML services extend beyond Edinburgh to serve , although the principal London-Glasgow route is the West Coast Main Line (WCML).
The line was built during the 1840s by three railway companies, the North British Railway, the North Eastern Railway, and the Great Northern Railway. In 1923, the Railway Act of 1921 led to their amalgamation to form the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) and the line became its primary route. The LNER competed with the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) for long-distance passenger traffic between London and Scotland. The LNER's chief mechanical engineer Nigel Gresley designed iconic Pacific steam locomotives including Flying Scotsman and Mallard, the latter of which achieved a world record speed for a steam locomotive, on the Grantham-to-Peterborough section.
In 1948, the railways were nationalised and operated by British Railways. In the early 1960s, steam was replaced by diesel-electric traction, including the Deltics, and sections of the line were upgraded so that trains could run at speeds of up to . With the demand for higher speed, British Rail introduced InterCity 125 high-speed trains between 1976 and 1981. In 1973, a Class 41 (an HST prototype) achieved a top speed of in a test run. In the 1980s, the line was electrified and InterCity 225 trains introduced. These have in turn been largely replaced by Class 800 and Class 801 units. The November 2021 Integrated Rail Plan for the North and Midlands stated that the linespeed would be upgraded to .
The line links London, South East England, East Anglia and the East Midlands, with Yorkshire, the North East and Scotland, and is important to their local economies.
Official source
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