Cross Country Route
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Cross Country Route | |
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![]() A class 221 Super Voyager leaving Bristol Temple Meads station
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Overview | |
Type | Suburban rail, Heavy rail |
System | National Rail |
Status | Operational |
Termini | York Bristol Temple Meads |
Stations | 48 |
Operation | |
Owner | Network Rail |
Operator(s) | CrossCountry (principal operator) Arriva Trains Wales East Midlands Trains Great Western Railway (train operating company) First TransPennine Express Grand Central London Midland Northern Rail Virgin Trains |
Rolling stock | Class 43 HST (main stock) Class 170 Turbostar (main stock) Class 220 Voyager (main stock) Class 221 Super Voyager (main stock) Class 60 Class 66 Class 70 Class 91 Class 142 |
Technical | |
Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge |
Electrification | Partial 25 kV AC OHLE |
The Cross-Country Route is a long-distance UK rail route that has in its central part superseded the Midland Railway. It runs from Cornwall via Bristol, Birmingham, Sheffield and Leeds and the north east to Scotland. It facilitates some of the longest passenger journeys in the UK such as Penzance to Aberdeen. In the summer services are provided to additional coastal stations such as Newquay.
The line is classed as a high-speed line because the sections of the line from Birmingham to Wakefield and from Leeds to York have a speed limit of 125 mph (200 km/h), though the section from Birmingham to Bristol is limited to 100 mph (160 km/h) due to there being numerous level crossings, especially half-barrier level crossings, and the section from Wakefield to Leeds is limited to 100 mph (160 km/h) due to a number of curves.[citation needed]
Contents
History
The Birmingham to Bristol section was built as the Birmingham and Gloucester and Bristol and Gloucester Railways[n 1] before joining the Midland Railway, the southern forerunner to the Cross Country Route. From Birmingham to the NNE, the line had three separately owned sections, namely the:
- Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway to Derby, thence the
- North Midland Railway to Leeds, thence the
- York and North Midland Railway.
From the Labour Government's nationalisation in 1948 until privatisation in 1990 it ran through six regions of British Rail but had (timetabling) priority in none of them and therefore the services were poorly promoted and thus not always well-patronised.[citation needed]
Most Derby-Nottingham local passenger trains were taken over by diesel units from 14 April 1958, taking about 34 minutes between the two cities.[1]
Use and services have expanded since privatisation when a better-prioritised route was awarded as a single franchise to Virgin Trains.
During the 1990s and early 2000s, the network was served by High Speed Trains, and Class 47s, which hauled various types of coaching stock.
Modern, more powerful multiple-units of the 21st century such as the Turbostars and Voyagers have improved train performance without electrification. However, the line has higher operating costs and a significantly higher carbon footprint than if it were electrified.
The use of the route for freight has decreased, due to the bulk of haulage switching to road use and the building of the M5, M6 and M1 motorways.
Abortive British Rail proposals for complete electrification
In the 1960s the route was considered for electrification.[citation needed] This would have been particularly beneficial for climbing the Lickey Incline between Cheltenham and Birmingham, as many of the early diesels were underpowered. In 1977 the Parliamentary Select Committee on Nationalised Industries recommended considering electrification of more of Britain's rail network, and by 1979 BR presented a range of options that included electrifying the Cross Country Route by 2000.[2] Under the governments that succeeded the 1976–79 Labour government the proposal was not implemented.
Route
The route (as shown on the route diagrams for the Bristol to Birmingham and Birmingham to York sections) is well-connected, and aside from its own central track uses parts of the Great Western Main Line, West Coast Main Line, Midland Main Line, Sheffield to Hull Line, and the East Coast Main Line. Large places served along the route include:
- Nominal start-point - Derby
Milepost zero for the main predecessor Derby to Bristol route has always been Derby, hence a train travelling the whole route starts out going "up" then becomes "down". The Birmingham to Derby section of the route has a line speed of Lua error in Module:Convert at line 1851: attempt to index local 'en_value' (a nil value)., however Birmingham to Bristol is restricted to Lua error in Module:Convert at line 1851: attempt to index local 'en_value' (a nil value). due to a number of half barrier level crossings.
Electrification
The line is not fully electrified, but some sections are overhead electrified at 25kV AC: Barnt Green (to be extended to Bromsgrove by 2017) to Grand Junction, with further sections around Leeds and the East Coast Main Line near York. The section between Leeds and York is due to be fully electrified by 2022 with the electrification of the North TransPennine from Liverpool to York via Manchester Piccadilly,[3] as is the section between Westerleigh Junction and Bristol Temple Meads as part of the 21st Century modernisation of the Great Western Main Line.
It has been suggested that the line between Derby and Sheffield be electrified as part of the Midland Main Line upgrade, and it has also been suggested that the line between Bristol and Birmingham be electrified once the South Wales Main Line is done, as an in-fill scheme. In this eventuality, the CrossCountry trains running the length of the route could be converted from diesel to bi-mode by addition of a pantograph carriage, also helping to add capacity. The Voyagers can be replaced with more comfortable electric rolling stock as is the case with the Birmingham New Street to Liverpool Lime Street service.
Services
Most long distance services on the route are operated by Class 220/221 Voyager Trains, although a few services operate using Class 43 HSTs. These trains are capable of achieving 125 mph (200 km/h), compared to the previous Class 47s and Mk 2 coaching stock, which had a top speed of 95 mph (153 km/h).
See also
Notes and references
- Notes
- ↑ Briefly amalgamated as the Birmingham and Bristol Railway
- References
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cross Country Route. |
- Articles that mention track gauge 1435 mm
- Articles with unsourced statements from November 2013
- Articles with unsourced statements from October 2015
- Articles with unsourced statements from January 2012
- Commons category link is defined as the pagename
- Railway lines in the East Midlands
- Railway lines in South West England
- Railway lines in Yorkshire and the Humber
- Railway lines in the West Midlands (region)
- Main inter-regional railway lines in Great Britain