Britain’s Secretary of State for Transport approved Network Rail proposal on the construction of new section of railway underneath the East Coast Main Line.
The new section will link the Stamford lines and the Great Northern Great Eastern lines at Werrington Junction near Peterborough, removing the need for freight trains to cross over the East Coast Main Line.
Work on the project will begin later this summer and the dive under is expected to be completed by early 2021.
The project, when combined with upgrades elsewhere along the route, will mean greater capacity for passenger services on the line, as they will no longer need to slow down on the approach to Werrington Junction, meaning it would be possible to run additional passenger services.
“This is a significant investment into the railway in this area which, when coupled with other upgrades on this route, will have widespread benefits for those travelling between London and the North through an increased capacity of 33 per cent,” Rob McIntosh, Route Managing Director at Network Rail said.
This investment, combined with the introduction of new trains, other schemes on the route and revised timetables will not only create space for additional train services between London and the North, but will also help ease congestion and reduce journey times.
Currently, slow moving freight trains need to cross over three lines of the East Coast Main Line, causing high speed passenger trains to have to slow down on the approach to Werrington Junction. The investment will mean freight trains no longer need to do this and can dive under the East Coast Main Line.
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