More MML wires

Network Rail receives instructions to design an extension of Midland Main Line electrification.

NETWORK Rail has been instructed to design an extension of the Midland Main Line electrification to Market Harborough.

Under plans announced by Secretary of State for Transport Chris Grayling in July 2017, the MML wiring was to be curtailed at Kettering (with the Corby branch also wired), with bi-mode trains to be used instead.

However, on February 26, Rail Minister Andrew Jones told Neil O’Brien (Conservative, Harborough) in a Commons Written Reply that NR has received the instructions as part of the MML enhancement programme.

He explained that the extension would enable a new connection to a power supply at Braybrooke, and that at the Outline Business

Case stage in March 2018 it was determined that this would be the best value for money option for making the power supply connection.

Jones added: “In line with normal practice, this will be tested again when the overall Midland Main Line programme Key Output 1a, of which Market Harborough electrification is a constituent part, is assessed at Full Business Case stage.”

Maria Machancoses, Director of Midlands Connect, said: “Extending electrification from Kettering to the national grid supply point at Market Harborough is the first step towards giving the East Midlands the transport infrastructure it deserves.

“The next steps include extending electrification to Leicester, Toton and Nottingham, to support Midlands Connect’s ambition for direct conventional compatible HS2 services between Leicester and Leeds and Nottingham and Leeds, via Toton.”

She added that a business case was being developed regarding these links, and that work is being carried out closely with Transport for East Midlands.

Railway Industry Association Technical Director David Clarke said: “We welcome the announcement that electrification will continue into Leicestershire, and support the Government keeping electrification on the table for future enhancement projects.

“As this decision shows, electrification is clearly the optimal solution for intensively used rail lines.”

COLIN POTTLE. East Midlands Trains 43467 Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service/BritishTransport Police Nottingham trails a St Pancras International-Nottingham service approaching Wellingborough on February 28. Overhead masts are being erected at this point on the Midland Main Line, and could now be extended to Market Harborough, having previously been cancelled north of Kettering in 2017.