Electric operation is spreading north along the Midland main line. The May 2021 timetable heralded a significant landmark – for the first time, electric services were introduced north of Bedford in the shape of East Midlands Railway’s Class 360s operating London to Corby services.
After a chequered history of electrification projects in recent years, the London to Corby (L2C) scheme has been widely lauded as a success. Although Covid forced a delay from the originally planned December 2020 timetable change, L2C met its May 2021 deadline and the electrification from Bedford to Kettering and Corby was delivered under budget. Gavin Crook, Network Rail’s Principal Programme Sponsor for the Midland main line upgrade, hails the success of the May 2021 timetable, which he attributes to good co-operation with EMR.
The programme between Bedford and Kettering is not quite complete yet. The new overhead line equipment on this stretch is to the UK Master Series (UKMS) design, a hybrid of the Series 1 equipment used on the Great Western scheme and the Series 2 system used on local schemes such as in the North West.
Between Kettering and Corby, the UKMS100 system has been installed, capable of a maximum 100mph, in …
