Werrington Tunnel brings ECML improvements

THE PROJECT to build a tunnel beneath the East Coast Main Line at Werrington, near Peterborough, has been completed, with Rail Minister Chris Heaton-harris officially opening the new route on December 9.

While the route will be used by freight services, a special train using LNER Azuma 800107 carried invited passengers between Spalding and London King’s Cross to celebrate its completion and official opening.

The project is part of the £1.2 billion East Coast Upgrade, tackling some of the bottlenecks affecting services and the efficiency of the ECML route.

The route allows slower-moving freight services travelling between Peterborough and Lincoln on the Great North Great Eastern line to pass beneath the ECML rather than needing to cross it. Previously, such trains would delay passenger services on the ECML, when trains would need to be held at signals until the freight trains had cleared the section of line. The main engineering feature of the project is the 155m-long, 11,000-tonne curved concrete Werrington Tunnel, which was slid into place under the existing railway in January 2021. Network Rail Eastern Region managing director Rob Mcintosh said: “From building the huge concrete tunnel onsite next to the East Coast Main Line and pushing it into place in a UK first for engineering, to installing new track and signalling equipment to connect it to the existing lines – it’s been amazing to see the progress our teams have made on this ground-breaking project. Passengers travelling between London, Peterborough, the north of England and Scotland will benefit from faster, more reliable journeys as longer freight trains can now dive underneath the famous passenger route.

GB Railfreight CEO John Smith, added: “The Werrington tunnel is a win for both consumers and the rail freight industry.

“It will not only improve passenger journeys, but also crucially unlock much-needed extra capacity on the network for freight services.

“This is an important investment by the Government and furthers our industry’s efforts to create a more efficient supply chain across the UK, while making crucial environmental and regional investment progress at the same time.”