engineering

List of proposed railway electrification routes in Great Britain

List of proposed railway electrification routes in Great Britain is a engineering topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand List of proposed railway electrification routes in Great Britain rather than just read about it. In short: This article lists proposed railway electrification routes in Great Britain. Background Railway electrification in the UK has been a stop-start or boom-bust cycle since electrification began.

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Reference excerpt

This article lists proposed railway electrification routes in Great Britain.

Background

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. In 2009 Lord Adonis was appointed Secretary of State for Transport and, after a gap of more than a decade, electrification of the UK rail network was back on the agenda with Adonis announcing plans to electrify the Great Western Main Line from London as far as Swansea, as well as infill electrification schemes in the North West of England. The 2010 general election produced a coalition government that wanted to reassess spending, and so electrification was paused again. In July 2012 the UK government announced £4.2 billion of new electrification schemes, all at 25 kV AC and reconfirmed schemes previously announced by Adonis. These were to be Northern Hub, Great Western Main Line, South Wales Main Line, Midland Main Line, Electric Spine, Crossrail, Gospel Oak to Barking line and West Midlands suburban lines including the Cross-City Line. The Trans-Pennine route from Manchester to York and Selby via Leeds was also announced. Rail transport in Scotland is a devolved matter for the Scottish Government, but they too have pursued electrification with multiple schemes in the Central Belt. All these have been 25 kV AC, as in England and Wales.

Delays and cancellations of projects On 25 June 2015 the government announced that some of the electrification projects would be delayed or cut back because of rising costs. Electrification work was to be "paused" on the Trans-Pennine route between York and Manchester, and on the Midland Mainline between Bedford and Sheffield. Electrification of the Great Western Main Line would go ahead but the status of the Reading-Newbury and Didcot-Oxford sections was unclear. However, in September 2015, the electrification work was "un-paused", but with a delayed completion date. In November 2016, plans to electrify the route between Chippenham and Bristol, as well as Didcot and Oxford, were announced as delayed indefinitely. On 20 July 2017 Chris Grayling the Secretary of State for Transport cancelled a number of electrification projects citing disruptive works and the availability of bi-mode technology as an alternative. Electrification has had much controversy with cancellations and various appearances of the Secretary of State for Transport called before the Transport Select Committee. The Transport Select Committee published its report into various matters including regional investment disparity on the railways and calling again for the reinstatement of various cancelled electrification schemes. A written question was submitted and answered in parliament regarding route miles electrified in the years 1997–2019. In March 2019 the Railway Industry Association published a paper on Electrification cost challenge suggesting ways forward and a rolling programme of electrification. In September 2020 the TDNS (Traction Decarbonisation Network Strategy) Interim Business case was published though it was dated 31 July 2020. The principal recommendation was further electrification of 13000 STKs - single track kilometres of UK railways. As of November 2020, there were very few confirmed schemes. As of October 2022, the TDNS has been quietly abandoned. In July 2025, electrification of the Midland Main Line between South Wigston and Sheffield was paused indefinitely.

List of routes

Infill schemes for freight The Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport has shown that electrifying 800 miles (1,300 km) of track used by British rail freight could allow 95% of freight trains to be hauled by more powerful, non-polluting electric locomotives. They propose three schemes that would make a substantial difference.

From Felixstowe, avoiding London to the Midlands and the North. Electrifying a direct link to the West Coast Main Line at Nuneaton, and from Peterborough via Lincoln to Doncaster. From Southampton to inland markets, the Electric Spine. Electrifying from Basingstoke to Reading and from Didcot via Oxford to join the West Coast Main Line at Bletchley using East West Rail. Electrifying links to major quarries and cement works in the Peak District and the Mendips These proposals are supported by the Railway Industry Association.

Northern Hub

As part of the Northern Hub project, the following lines in North West England and Yorkshire were to have been electrified: In December 2013 it was announced that the branch from Bolton to Wigan North Western would be electrified by 2017. However, the enhancements delivery plan update of September 2016 moved the completion date with only GRIP Stage 3 (Option selection) being completed by then. On 1 September 2021, the Department for Transport formally announced this would now go ahead.

Harrogate line: Harrogate to Leeds electrification was proposed, but not yet agreed.

Transpennine

Electrification of the Transpennine north route, comprising the Huddersfield Line between Manchester Victoria and York via Huddersfield and Leeds is in progress and due to be completed April 2026. This is affected by the 2021 Integrated Rail Plan for the North and Midlands. As an extension of this the Hull to Selby Line was going to follow: Hull Trains planned to electrify the line between Temple Hirst Junction on the East Coast Main Line south of Selby and Hull using private finance. This moved closer to reality on 20 March 2014 when Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin confirmed in the House of Commons that he had made £2.4m available to move the project to the next stage of development, GRIP Stage 3. This scheme was to have joined the already planned transpennine electrification (part of the Northern Hub project) at Selby. In November 2016 this project was shelved indefinitely.

Windermere branch line Windermere Branch Line: In August 2013, the Department for Transport announced that the branch line between Oxenholme and Windermere was to be electrified by 2016. The Hendy review moved the completion of GRIP 3 to March 2017 with a yet to be determined date for completion of electrification. In July 2017 Chris Grayling the Secretary of State for Transport announced the scheme had been cancelled and bi-mode technology would be used.

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with List of proposed railway electrification routes in Great Britain

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what List of proposed railway electrification routes in Great Britain claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In engineering, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to List of proposed railway electrification routes in Great Britain before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about List of proposed railway electrification routes in Great Britain ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of List of proposed railway electrification routes in Great Britain

In research: List of proposed railway electrification routes in Great Britain appears in engineering research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses List of proposed railway electrification routes in Great Britain in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: List of proposed railway electrification routes in Great Britain is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Electrification, Lists of proposals, Proposed rail infrastructure in England, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for List of proposed railway electrification routes in Great Britain outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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Frequently asked questions

What is List of proposed railway electrification routes in Great Britain in simple terms?

This article lists proposed railway electrification routes in Great Britain. Background Railway electrification in the UK has been a stop-start or boom-bust cycle since electrification began.

Why does List of proposed railway electrification routes in Great Britain matter?

Because it connects several engineering ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study List of proposed railway electrification routes in Great Britain?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on List of proposed railway electrification routes in Great Britain.