West Coast Main Line

History

Pre-grouping 1837–1923

The early history of the WCML is complex, as it was not originally conceived as a single trunk route; it was built as a patchwork of separate lines instead by different companies, mostly during the 1830s and 1840s, but some parts were opened as late as the 1880s. After the completion of the pioneering Liverpool and Manchester Railway in 1830, schemes were mooted to build more inter-city lines. The business practice of the early railway era was for companies to promote individual lines between two destinations, rather than to plan grand networks of lines, as it was considered easier to obtain backing from investors.

The first stretch of what is now the WCML was the Grand Junction Railway connecting the Liverpool and Manchester Railway to Birmingham, via Warrington Bank Quay, Crewe, Stafford and Wolverhampton, opening in 1837. The following year the London and Birmingham Railway was completed, connecting to the capital via Coventry, Rugby and the Watford Gap. The Grand Junction and London and Birmingham railways shared a Birmingham terminus at Curzon Street station, so that it was now possible to travel by train between London, Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool. These lines, together with the Trent Valley Railway (between Rugby and Stafford, avoiding Birmingham) and the Manchester and Birmingham Railway (Crewe–Manchester), amalgamated operations in 1846 to form the London and North Western Railway (LNWR). Three other companies, the North Union Railway (Parkside–Wigan–Preston), the Lancaster and Preston Junction Railway and the Lancaster and Carlisle Railway, completed a through route to Carlisle by the end of 1846; these were later absorbed by the LNWR.

North of Carlisle, the Caledonian Railway remained independent and opened its main line from Carlisle to Beattock on 10 September 1847; it connected to Edinburgh in February 1848 and to Glasgow in November 1849. The route to Scotland was marketed by the LNWR as 'The Premier Line'. Through trains consisted of jointly-owned West Coast Joint Stock to simplify operations because the cross-border trains ran over the LNWR and Caledonian Railway. The first direct London to Glasgow trains in the 1850s took 12.5 hours to complete the 399-mile (642 km) journey.

Another important section, the North Staffordshire Railway (NSR), which opened its route in 1848 from Macclesfield (connecting with the LNWR from Manchester) to Stafford and Colwich Junction via Stoke-on-Trent, also remained independent. The NSR provided a useful alternative route to Manchester, however poor relations between the LNWR and the NSR meant that through trains did not run until 1867.

The final sections of what is now the WCML were put in place over the following decades. A direct branch to Liverpool Lime Street, bypassing the earlier Liverpool and Manchester line, was opened in 1869 from Weaver Junction, north of Crewe, to Ditton Junction, via the Runcorn Railway Bridge over the river Mersey.

At the northern end, the Caledonian replaced its original Southside terminus in Glasgow, with the much larger and better located Glasgow Central in 1879.

To expand capacity, the line between London and Rugby was widened to four tracks in the 1870s. As part of this work, the Northampton Loop was built, opening in 1881, connecting to Northampton before rejoining the main line at Rugby.

LMS 1923–1948

The entire route came under the control of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) on 1 January 1923 when the railway companies were grouped, under the Railways Act 1921.

The LMS competed fiercely with the rival London and North Eastern Railway's East Coast Main Line for London to Scotland traffic. Attempts were made to minimise end-to-end journey times for a small number of powerful lightweight trains that could be marketed as glamorous premium crack expresses, especially between London and Glasgow, such as the 1937–39 Coronation Scot, hauled by streamlined Princess Coronation Class locomotives, which made the journey in 6 hours 30 minutes, making it competitive with the rival East Coast Flying Scotsman (British Railways in the 1950s could not match this, but did achieve a London-Glasgow timing of 7 hours 15 minutes in the 1959–60 timetable by strictly limiting the number of coaches to eight and not stopping between London and Carlisle.

British Rail 1948–1997

In 1948, following nationalisation, the line came under the control of British Railways' London Midland and Scottish Regions, when the term West Coast Main Line came into use officially, although it had been used informally since at least 1912.

Modernisation by British Rail

As part of the 1955 modernisation plan, British Rail carried out a large programme of modernisation of the WCML in stages between 1959 and 1974; the modernisation involved upgrading the track and signalling to allow higher speeds, rebuilding a number of stations and electrification of the route with overhead line equipment. The first stretch to be upgraded and electrified was Crewe to Manchester, completed on 12 September 1960; this was followed by Crewe to Liverpool, completed on 1 January 1962. Electrification was then extended south to London.

The first electric trains from London ran on 12 November 1965, with a full public service to Manchester and Liverpool launched on 18 April 1966. Electrification of both the Birmingham branch and the routes to Manchester via Stoke-on-Trent was completed on 6 March 1967, allowing electric services to commence to those destinations. In March 1970, the government approved electrification of the northern half of the WCML, between Weaver Junction (where the branch to Liverpool diverges) and Glasgow, and this was completed on 6 May 1974. The announcement, after five years of uncertainty, was made 48 hours before the writ was issued for a by-election in South Ayrshire. The Observer commented that, if the £25 million decision was politically rather than financially motivated, it would have the makings of a major political scandal.

A new set of high-speed long-distance services was introduced in 1966, launching British Rail's highly successful InterCity brand and offering journey times as London to Birmingham in 1 hour 35 minutes, and London to Manchester or Liverpool in 2 hours 40 minutes (and even 2 hours 30 minutes for the twice-daily Manchester Pullman). This represented a big improvement on the 3 hours 30 minutes to Manchester and Liverpool of the fastest steam service. A new feature was that these fast trains were offered on a regular-interval service throughout the day; initially hourly to Birmingham, two-hourly to Manchester and so on.

The service proved to be so popular that, in 1972, these InterCity service frequencies were doubled to deal with increased demand. With the completion of the northern electrification in 1974, London to Glasgow journey times were reduced from 6 hours to 5. Along with electrification came modern coaches such as the Mark 2 and the fully integral, air-conditioned Mark 3 design from 1974. These remained the mainstay of express services until the early 2000s. Line speeds were raised to a maximum 110 mph (180 km/h) and these trains, hauled by Class 86 and Class 87 electric locomotives, came to be seen as BR's flagship passenger service. Passenger traffic on the WCML doubled between 1962 and 1975.

The modernisation also saw the demolition and redevelopment of several of the key stations on the line; BR was keen to symbolise the coming of the electric age by replacing the Victorian-era buildings with new structures, built from glass and concrete. Notable examples were Birmingham New Street, Manchester Piccadilly, Stafford, Coventry and London Euston. To enable the latter, the famous Doric Arch portal into the original Philip Hardwick-designed terminus was demolished in 1962, amid much public outcry.

Electrification of the Edinburgh branch was carried out in the late 1980s, as part of the ECML electrification project, to allow InterCity 225 sets to access Glasgow via Carstairs Junction.

Modernisation brought great improvements in speed and frequency. However some locations and lines were no longer served by through trains or through coaches from London, such as Windermere; Barrow-in-Furness, Whitehaven and Workington; Huddersfield, Bradford Interchange, Leeds and Halifax (via Stockport); Blackpool South; Colne (via Stockport); Morecambe and Heysham; Southport (via Edge Hill); Blackburn and Stranraer Harbour. Also notable was the loss of through services between Liverpool and Scotland; however, these were restored by TransPennine Express in 2019.

British Rail introduced the Advanced Passenger Train (APT) project, which proved that London–Glasgow WCML journey times of less than 4 hours were achievable and paved the way for the later tilting Virgin Pendolino trains. In the late 1980s, British Rail put forward a track realignment scheme to raise speeds on the WCML; a proposed project called InterCity 250, which entailed realigning parts of the line in order to increase curve radii and smooth gradients in order to facilitate higher-speed running. The scheme, which would have seen the introduction of new rolling stock derived from that developed for the East Coast electrification, was scrapped in 1992.

Privatised era 1997–present

As part of the privatisation of British Rail in the 1990s, the infrastructure was taken over in 1994 by the private company Railtrack, which later collapsed in 2002 and was replaced by the not-for-profit company Network Rail. WCML's InterCity services became part of the InterCity West Coast franchise; Virgin Trains commenced operations in 1997. In 2019, Avanti West Coast won the new West Coast Partnership franchise, taking over from Virgin.

Modernisation by Railtrack and Network Rail

By the dawn of the 1990s, it was clear that further modernisation was required. Initially this took the form of the InterCity 250 project. The modernisation plan unveiled by Virgin and the new infrastructure owner Railtrack involved the upgrade and renewal of the line to allow the use of tilting Pendolino trains with a maximum line speed of 140 mph (225 km/h), in place of the previous maximum of 110 mph (177 km/h). Railtrack estimated that this upgrade would cost £2 billion, be ready by 2005, and cut journey times to 1 hour for London to Birmingham and 1 hour 45 mins for London to Manchester.

However, these plans proved too ambitious and were subsequently scaled back. The upgrade was described as "a classic example of disastrous project management." Central to the implementation of the plan was the adoption of moving block signalling, which had never been proven on anything more than simple metro lines and light rail systems – not on a complex high-speed heavy-rail network such as the WCML. Despite this, Railtrack made what would prove to be the fatal mistake of not properly assessing the technical viability and cost of implementing moving block prior to promising the speed increase to Virgin and the government.

By 1999, with little headway on the modernisation project made, it became apparent to engineers that the technology was not mature enough to be used on the line. The bankruptcy of Railtrack in 2001 and its replacement by Network Rail, following the Hatfield crash brought a reappraisal of the plans, while the cost of the upgrade soared. Following fears that cost overruns on the project would push the final price tag to £13 billion, the plans were scaled down, bringing the cost down to between £8 billion and £10 billion, to be ready by 2008, with a maximum speed for tilting trains of a more modest 125 mph (201 km/h) – equalling the speeds available on the East Coast route, but some way short of the original target, and even further behind BR's original vision of 155 mph (250 km/h) speeds planned and achieved with the APT.

The first phase of the upgrade, south of Manchester, opened on 27 September 2004 with journey times of 1 hour 21 minutes for London to Birmingham and 2 hours 6 minutes for London to Manchester. The final phase, introducing 125 mph (201 km/h) running along most of the line, was announced as opening on 12 December 2005, bringing the fastest journey between London and Glasgow to 4 hours 25 minutes (down from 5 hours 10 minutes). However, considerable work remained, such as the quadrupling of the track in the Trent Valley; upgrading the slow lines; the second phase of remodelling Nuneaton; and the remodelling of Stafford, Rugby, Milton Keynes and Coventry stations, which were completed in late 2008. The upgrading of the Crewe–Manchester line via Wilmslow was completed in summer 2006.

In September 2006, a new speed record was set on the WCML; a Pendolino train completed the 399-mile (642 km) Glasgow Central to London Euston run in a record 3 hours 55 minutes, beating the APT's record of 4 hours 15 minutes, although the APT still holds the overall record on the northbound run.

The decade-long modernisation project was finally completed in December 2008. This allowed Virgin's VHF (very high frequency) timetable to be progressively introduced through early 2009; the highlights of which were a three trains per hour service to both Birmingham and Manchester during off-peak periods. Nearly all London-Scottish timings were brought under the 4 hours 30 minutes barrier with one service (calling only at Preston) achieving a London–Glasgow time of 4 hours 8 minutes.

Some projects that were removed from the modernisation as a result of the de-scoping, such as a flyover at Norton Bridge station, were later restarted. A £250 million project to grade-separate the tracks at Norton Bridge that allowed for increased service frequency as well as improved line-speeds was completed in spring 2016. Other projects such as the replacement of a weak bridge in Watford allowed line-speeds to be increased from 90 mph (145 km/h) to 125 mph (201 km/h), decreasing journey times.

Infrastructure

Track

The main spine of the WCML is quadruple track on almost all of the route from London to south of Winsford. At Hanslope Junction, near Milton Keynes, the line divides with one pair going direct to Rugby and the other pair diverting via Northampton to rejoin at Rugby. The spine continues north in quadruple track until Brinklow, where it reduces to triple track. The line between Brinklow and Nuneaton has three tracks, with one northbound track and fast and slow southbound tracks. The line then reverts to quadruple track at Nuneaton. North of Rugeley, there is a short double track stretch through the 777-yard (710 m) Shugborough Tunnel. The line is then quadruple track most of the way to Acton Bridge except for a double track section between Winsford and Hartford. The line becomes quadruple again between Warrington Bank Quay and Wigan North Western, except for a short section via the Golborne cut-off where it has two tracks. There are two more stretches of quadruple track, otherwise the line is double track to Scotland. The first is from Euxton Balshaw Lane to Preston, and the second is between Glasgow Central and Rutherglen.

The WCML is noted for the diversity of branches served from the spine, notably those to/from the West Midlands and North Wales, Greater Manchester and Merseyside. These are detailed in the route diagram.

The complete route has been cleared for W10 loading gauge freight traffic, allowing use of higher 9 ft 6 in (2,896 mm) hi-cube shipping containers. The route passes through Nuneaton and the Midlands and this area has been called the "Golden Triangle of Logistics".

Electrification

Nearly all of the WCML is electrified with overhead line equipment, energised at 25 kV AC. Several branches of the WCML in the North West have been electrified between 2012 and 2019, such as:

• Preston to Blackpool North line, on which electric services commenced in May 2018
• Preston to Manchester Piccadilly, via Bolton, which saw electric services commence in February 2019
• Wigan to Liverpool, via St Helens Shaw Street and St Helens Junction
• Wigan to Lostock Parkway branch.

Rolling stock

The majority of stock used on the WCML is new-build, part of Virgin's initial franchise agreement having been a commitment to introduce a brand-new fleet of tilting Class 390 Pendolino trains for long-distance high-speed WCML services. The 53-strong Pendolino fleet, plus three tilting Super Voyager diesel sets, were leased for use on these inter-city services. One Pendolino was written off in 2007, following the Grayrigg derailment. After the 2007 franchise changes in the Midlands, more Super Voyagers were transferred to Virgin West Coast, instead of going to the new CrossCountry franchise. The Super Voyagers were used on London Euston to Chester and Holyhead services because the North Wales Main Line is not electrified. Super Voyagers were also used on Virgin's London-Scotland via Birmingham services, even though this route is entirely electrified; this situation changed since the expansion of the Pendolino fleet; from 2013 onward, Class 390 sets have been routinely deployed on Edinburgh/Glasgow–Birmingham services.

By 2012, the WCML Pendolino fleet was strengthened by the addition of two coaches to 31 of the 52 existing sets, turning them into 11-car trains. Four brand new 11-car sets were also part of this order, one of which replaced the set lost at Grayrigg. Although the new stock was supplied in Virgin livery, it was not expected to enter traffic before 31 March 2012, when the InterCity West Coast franchise was due to be relet, although the date for the new franchise was later put back to December 2012.

Previous franchisees Central Trains and Silverlink (operating local and regional services partly over sections of the WCML) were given 30 new Class 350 Desiros, originally ordered for services in the South East. Following Govia's successful bid for the West Midlands franchise in 2007, another 37 Class 350 units were ordered to replace its older fleet of Class 321s.

The older BR-vintage locomotive-hauled passenger rolling stock still has a limited role on the WCML, with the overnight Caledonian Sleeper services between London Euston and Scotland using Mark 3 and Mark 2 coaches until their replacement with Mark 5 stock in October 2019. Virgin also retained and refurbished one of the original Mark 3 rakes with a Driving Van Trailer and a Class 90 locomotive, as a standby set to cover for breakdowns. This set was retired from service with a railtour on 25 October 2014. In November 2014, the "Pretendolino" was transferred to Norwich Crown Point to enter service with Abellio Greater Anglia, having come to the end of its agreed lease to Virgin Trains.

In September 2022, following the death of Queen Elizabeth II, locomotive-hauled services returned briefly to the WCML once more when incumbent operator Avanti West Coast employed a rake of Mark 3 coaches, hauled by a Class 90 locomotive, to provide additional services to Euston for those wishing to travel to London for the Queen's lying-in-state and subsequent funeral.

The following tables list the rolling stock that forms core passenger services on the WCML, serving its principal termini; it is not exhaustive, as many other types use small sections of the WCML as part of other routes.

Commuter and regional trains

High-speed trains

Sleeper trains

Operators

Avanti West Coast

The current principal train operating company on the WCML is Avanti West Coast, which runs the majority of long-distance services under the West Coast Partnership rail franchise. In November 2016, the government announced that the (then named) InterCity West Coast franchise would be replaced by a new West Coast Partnership, which includes operating the planned High Speed 2 (HS2) service as well as the existing WCML express services. In August 2019, the DfT announced that First Trenitalia West Coast Rail (trading as Avanti West Coast) was the successful bidder. It commenced operation of the franchise on 8 December 2019.

Avanti operates the following general off-peak service pattern, in trains per hour (tph):

• 9 tph from London Euston; of which:
  • 3 tph to Manchester Piccadilly
  • 2 tph to Birmingham New Street; of which:
    • 1 tph continues to Scotland, via Wolverhampton, alternating between Edinburgh Waverley or Glasgow Central
  • 1 tph to each of Chester, Liverpool Lime Street and Glasgow Central, via the Trent Valley
  • 5 tpd to Holyhead
  • 1 tpd to Wrexham General.

Additional peak terminating services run between London Euston and Preston, Wolverhampton, Crewe, Birmingham International, Lancaster and Carlisle. Additional trains during the early morning, late evening, rush hour and night that terminate or start at Birmingham. There are also three daily services each weekday between London Euston and Blackpool North.

West Midlands Trains

West Midlands Trains is the current principal commuter and outer suburban operator on the route; it also provides some long-distance services which terminate at London Euston. They are all operated under the London Northwestern Railway brand.

From London Euston, there are:

• 2 tph from London to Birmingham; of which:
  • 1 tph calling at the majority of stations en route
  • 1 tph calling only at Watford Junction, Milton Keynes Central, Northampton, Rugby, Coventry, Canley, Tile Hill, Berkswell, Hampton-in-Arden, Birmingham International and Marston Green
• 1 tph to Northampton, calling at Leighton Buzzard, Bletchley, Milton Keynes Central and Wolverton
• 1 tph to Crewe, stopping at Watford Junction, Milton Keynes Central, Rugby, Nuneaton, Atherstone, Tamworth, Lichfield Trent Valley, Rugeley Trent Valley and Stafford. Some services also call at Hemel Hempstead, Berkhamsted, Tring, Cheddington, Leighton Buzzard and Bletchley.
• 2 tph to Milton Keynes Central, calling at Bushey, Watford Junction, Kings Langley, Apsley, Hemel Hempstead, Berkhamsted, Tring, Cheddington, Leighton Buzzard and Bletchley
• 2 tph to Tring, calling at Harrow & Wealdstone, Watford Junction, Hemel Hempstead and Berkhamsted.

It also operates on the following local branches off the WCML and are classified as part of it:

• 2 tph between Bletchley to Bedford, on the Marston Vale Line
• 1 train every 45 minutes between Watford Junction and St Albans Abbey, on the Abbey Line.

CrossCountry

CrossCountry operates the following services that run along the WCML.

Between Coventry and Manchester:

• 2 tph to Manchester Piccadilly
• 1 tph to Bournemouth
• 1 tph to Bristol Temple Meads; of which:
  • 2 tpd extend to Paignton.

Between Coventry and Birmingham New Street:

• 1tph to Reading
• 1tph to Newcastle.

Between Edinburgh Waverley and Glasgow Central:

• A limited service to/from Glasgow Central, which operate to either Penzance, Plymouth, Newcastle, Bristol Temple Meads or Birmingham New Street. On summer weekends, trains also extend to Paignton, Penzance and Newquay.

ScotRail

ScotRail operates services on the following sections of the WCML:

• Argyle Line trains on the section from Cambuslang to Carluke, before veering off on the short branch to Lanark or continuing to Carstairs
• North Berwick Line runs from Glasgow Central High Level, via Motherwell and Carstairs, and on to Haymarket, Edinburgh Waverley and North Berwick
• Glasgow South Western Line runs for several miles near to Carlisle, before heading west towards Dumfries, Kilmarnock, Ayr and Stranraer.

Southern

Southern operates a service on the West London Line and then between Wembley Central, Harrow & Wealdstone and Watford Junction:

• 1 tph to East Croydon
• 1 tph to Watford Junction.

TransPennine Express

TransPennine Express provides 1 tph in each direction along the WCML between Manchester Piccadilly or Liverpool Lime Street, and Glasgow Central or Edinburgh Waverley; services alternate between serving each.

Caledonian Sleeper

Caledonian Sleeper operates services along the length of the WCML, providing 1 tpd each way overnight between London and Scotland.

Recent developments

Felixstowe and Nuneaton freight capacity scheme

A number of items of work are under way or proposed to accommodate additional freight traffic between the Haven ports and the Midlands, including track dualling:

• The Nuneaton North Chord was completed and opened on 15 November 2012; it has eased access for some trains between the Birmingham to Peterborough Line and the WCML
• The Ipswich chord was opened at the end of March 2014, allowing trains to run without reversing from the Port of Felixstowe towards the Midlands.

Stafford Area Improvements Programme

A planned flying junction and 2.5 mi (4.0 km) track diversion in the Stafford to Norton Bridge area. This replaced the previous level junction where the Stafford to Manchester via Stoke-on-Trent line diverges from the trunk route at Norton Bridge, avoiding conflicting train movements to enhance capacity and reduce journey times. This allowed two extra off-peak trains per hour from Euston to the North West, one extra train per hour from Manchester to Birmingham and one additional freight train per hour. Additional freight capacity was also provided around Stafford station.

The resignalling work associated with this project was due to be completed in summer 2015 and the Norton Bridge work was complete in December 2016, followed by a new timetable introduced in December 2017.

Weaver Junction to Liverpool signalling

Resignalling work the WCML spur track from Liverpool to Weaver Junction was underway in 2016. Signal control moved to the Manchester Rail Operating Centre, removing five local signal boxes. The signalling improvements have improved journey times on this section of line.

Proposed development

Increased line speed

In 2007, Virgin Trains proposed plans to increase the line speed in places on the WCML; this was particularly along sections of the Trent Valley Line between Stafford and Rugby from 125 to 135 mph (201 to 217 km/h), after the quadrupling of track had been completed. This would permit faster services and possibly allow additional train paths. It was claimed that 135 mph (217 km/h) was achievable by Pendolino trains, while using existing lineside signalling without the need for cab signalling via the use of the TASS system (Tilt Authorisation and Speed Supervision) to prevent overspeeding. In practice, regulations introduced by the HMRI (now the Office of Rail and Road) at the time of the ECML high-speed test runs in 1991 are still in force prohibiting this. Network Rail was aware of Virgin Trains' aspirations; however, in November 2009 Chris Mole MP (then Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Transport) announced that there were no plans for this to happen and thus for the foreseeable future the maximum speed will remain at 125 mph (201 km/h). In promoting this proposal, Virgin Trains reported that passenger numbers on Virgin West Coast increased from 13.6 million in 1997/98 to 18.7 million in 2005/6, while numbers on CrossCountry grew from 12.6 million to 20.4 million over the same period.

Crossrail extension

In the London & South East Rail Utilisation Strategy (RUS) document published by Network Rail in 2011, a proposal was put forward to extend the Crossrail lines along the WCML as far as Tring and Milton Keynes Central. The scheme would involve the construction of a tunnel in the vicinity of the proposed new station at Old Oak Common, in West London, connecting the Crossrail route to the WCML slow lines, with a potential for interchange with the forthcoming High Speed 2 line.

A proportion of westbound Crossrail trains terminate at London Paddington, due to capacity limitations; the RUS recommends that the WCML extension as it will enable these services to continue beyond Paddington, maximising the use of the central London tunnels. The RUS also notes that diversion of WCML regional rail services via Crossrail into central London would alleviate congestion at Euston station; consequently, this would reduce the need for the infrastructure work required on the London Underground network to accommodate HS2 passengers arriving at Euston. The Crossrail extension proposal has not been confirmed or funded. In August 2014, the government launched a study into the Crossrail extension.

Accidents

Route

In June 2019, Network Rail formed five regions to support Britain's railways. In August and September 2019, 14 routes responsible for the operation, maintenance and renewal of infrastructure were assigned across these regions. The WCML runs through two of these regions (Scotland's Railway and North West and Central) and is a part of three routes (Scotland, North West and West Coast Main Line South).

The cities and towns served by the WCML are listed in the tables below. Stations on loops and branches are marked **. Those stations in italics are not served by inter-city services run by Avanti West Coast, but only by local trains. Between Euston and Watford Junction, the WCML is largely but not exactly paralleled by the operationally independent Watford DC Line; this is a local stopping route now part of London Overground, with 17 intermediate stations including three with additional platforms on the WCML.

The final table retraces the route specifically to indicate the many loops, branches, junctions and interchange stations on the core of the WCML.

The North Wales Coast Line between Crewe and Holyhead is not electrified. Services between London, Chester and Holyhead are operated by Class 805 bi-mode units; the route was formerly operated by Class 221 Super Voyager diesel-electric multiple units or, on occasions, a Pendolino set was hauled from Crewe to Holyhead by a Class 57/3 diesel locomotive.

London to Glasgow and Edinburgh

Branches and loops

The WCML is noted for the diversity of branches served between London and Glasgow. The adjacent diagram deals with the very complex network of lines in the West Midlands that link the old route via Birmingham with the new WCML route via the Trent Valley (i.e. 1830s versus 1840s).

In the following tables, related to the WCML branches, only the inter-city stations are recorded:

Rugby–Birmingham–Wolverhampton–Stafford

Crewe–Manchester–Preston

Tunnels, viaducts and major bridges

Major civil engineering structures on the WCML include the following. Many of the engineering features on the southern part of the route are original to the opening of the London and Birmingham Railway in the 1830s and are now listed buildings in recognition of their historic and engineering interest.

WCML branches and junctions