Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Railway electrification in the UK has been a stop-start or boom-bust cycle since electrification began. The initial boom was under the 1955 modernisation plan. There was a flurry of activity in the 1980s and early 1990s but this came to a halt in the run up to privatisation and then continued in the 2000s, and also the Great Recession intervened.
According to Network Rail, as at 2003, 64% of the electrified network used the 25 kV AC overhead system, and 36% used the 660/750 V DC third-rail system. [2] The electrified network is set to expand over the coming years, as 25 kV electrification is extended to currently unelectrified lines such as the Midland Main Line, as well as lines in the ...
In July 2012, the UK government announced £4.2 billion of 25 kV AC electrification schemes. The Transpennine Route Upgrade from Manchester to York and Selby via Leeds was announced at this time. In November 2014, the deputy prime minister Nick Clegg reported on the government's desire to see the whole route upgraded and electrified. [52]
In June 2020 it was reported that the UK government would provide £350 million to fund the UK's first digital signalling system on a long-distance rail route. The signalling is to be fitted on a 100-mile (161 km) section of the East Coast Main Line between King's Cross, London, and Lincolnshire, which will allow trains to run closer together ...
The current programme of upgrades began in 2012, although electrification was proposed a number of times previously. [2] The current programme includes electrification of the railway line between Bedford , Wellingborough , Corby , Leicester , Derby , Nottingham and Sheffield .
Today, many countries have extensive electrified railway networks with 375 000 km of standard lines in the world, including China, India, Japan, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom. Electrification is seen as a more sustainable and environmentally friendly alternative to diesel or steam power and is an important part of many countries ...
When the announcement was made in July 2009 to electrify the Great Western (along with the Liverpool-Manchester line), it represented the first big rail electrification project in the UK for 20 years. [10] The South Wales Main Line section of the GWML was set to be the first electrified cross-country railway line in Wales.
The UK was ranked eighth among national European rail systems in the 2017 European Railway Performance Index for intensity of use, quality of service and safety performance. [9] To cope with increasing passenger numbers, there is a large programme of upgrades to the network, including Thameslink , Crossrail , electrification of lines , in-cab ...