East Coast Main Line

East Coast Main Line
LNER Azuma at Burnmouth
Overview
Status	Operational
Owner	Network Rail
Locale	Greater London East of England East Midlands Yorkshire and the Humber North East England Scottish Borders Central Scotland
Termini	London King's Cross 51°31′53″N 0°07′24″W / 51.5314°N 0.1234°W / 51.5314; -0.1234 (East Coast Main Line, London terminus) Edinburgh Waverley 55°57′08″N 3°11′20″W / 55.9522°N 3.1889°W / 55.9522; -3.1889 (East Coast Main Line, Edinburgh terminus)
Stations	52
Service
Type	Commuter rail Inter-city rail Heavy rail
System	National Rail
Operator(s)	London North Eastern Railway Great Northern Thameslink Hull Trains East Midlands Railway CrossCountry TransPennine Express Northern Trains ScotRail Grand Central Lumo DB Cargo UK GB Railfreight Freightliner Direct Rail Services Colas Rail
Depot(s)	Bounds Green (London) Craigentinny (Edinburgh) Doncaster Carr Haymarket (Edinburgh) Heaton (Newcastle upon Tyne) Hornsey (London) Neville Hill (Leeds)
History
Opened	1850
Technical
Line length	393 mi 13 chains (632.7 km)[1]
Number of tracks	Double and quadruple track
Character	Primary[2]
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Loading gauge	W9 (via Hertford Loop)
Route availability	RA 7–9, RA 10 in parts between Selby and York
Electrification	25 kV 50 Hz AC OLE
Operating speed	125 mph (200 km/h)[a]
Route map (Click to expand)

v t e East Coast Main Line
Legend
Edinburgh–Dundee line, Edinburgh–Dunblane line, Fife Circle Line, North Clyde Line, Shotts Line, Glasgow–Edinburgh via Falkirk line & Glasgow–Edinburgh via Carstairs line Edinburgh Waverley Borders Railway to Tweedbank Musselburgh Wallyford Prestonpans Longniddry Drem North Berwick Line to North Berwick East Linton Dunbar Reston Scotland England Berwick-upon-Tweed Chathill Alnmouth Acklington Widdrington Pegswood Morpeth Cramlington Manors (Manors) Durham Coast Line to Middlesbrough Newcastle Tyne Valley line to Carlisle Chester-le-Street Durham Tees Valley line to Bishop Auckland Darlington Tees Valley line to Saltburn to Wensleydale Heritage Railway Northallerton–Eaglescliffe line to Eaglescliffe Northallerton Thirsk Harrogate line to Leeds York–Scarborough line to Scarborough York Cross Country Route to Bristol and Dearne Valley line to Sheffield Selby Line to Selby Askern branch line to Knottingley Wakefield line to Leeds South Humberside Main Line Doncaster Swinton–Doncaster line to Swinton Doncaster–Lincoln line to Lincoln Sheffield–Lincoln line Retford Grimsby–Lincoln–Newark line Newark Northgate Nottingham–Grantham line to Nottingham and Poacher Line to Skegness Grantham Birmingham–Peterborough line to Birmingham New Street Peterborough–Lincoln line to Lincoln Peterborough Ely–Peterborough line to Ely to Nene Valley Heritage Railway Huntingdon St Neots Sandy Biggleswade Arlesey Cambridge line to Cambridge Hitchin Stevenage Hertford Loop Line Knebworth Welwyn North Welwyn Garden City Hatfield Welham Green Brookmans Park Potters Bar Hadley Wood New Barnet Oakleigh Park New Southgate Hertford Loop Line Alexandra Palace Hornsey Harringay Gospel Oak to Barking line Finsbury Park Northern City Line to Moorgate North London Line High Speed 1 Thameslink via London St Pancras London King's Cross
A detailed diagram of the ECML can be found at East Coast Main Line diagram

The East Coast Main Line (ECML) is a 393-mile long (632 km) electrified railway between its northern terminus at Edinburgh Waverley and southern terminus at London King's Cross. The key towns and cities of Peterborough, Doncaster, York, Darlington, Durham and Newcastle are on the line. The line is a key transport artery on the eastern side of Great Britain running broadly parallel to the A1 road. The main line acts as a 'spine' for several diverging branches, serving destinations such as Cambridge, Leeds, Hull, Sunderland and Lincoln, all with direct services to London. In addition, a few ECML services extend beyond Edinburgh to serve other Scottish destinations, such as Stirling, Inverness, Dundee, or Aberdeen.

The line was built during the 1840s by three railway companies, the North British Railway, the North Eastern Railway, and the Great Northern Railway. In 1923, the Railways Act 1921 led to their amalgamation to form the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) and the line became its primary route. The LNER competed with the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) for long-distance passenger traffic between London and Scotland. The LNER's chief mechanical engineer Nigel Gresley designed iconic Pacific steam locomotives including Flying Scotsman and Mallard, the latter of which achieved a world record speed for a steam locomotive, 126 mph (203 km/h) on the Grantham-to-Peterborough section.

In 1948, the railways were nationalised and operated by British Railways. In the early 1960s, steam was replaced by diesel-electric traction, including the Deltics, and sections of the line were upgraded so that trains could run at speeds of up to 100 mph (160 km/h). With the demand for higher speed, British Rail introduced InterCity 125 high-speed trains between 1976 and 1981. In 1973, a Class 41 (an HST prototype) achieved a top speed of 143 mph (230 km/h) in a test run. In the 1980s, the line was electrified and InterCity 225 trains introduced. These have in turn been largely replaced by Class 800 and Class 801 units. The November 2021 Integrated Rail Plan for the North and Midlands stated that the linespeed would be upgraded to 140 mph (225 km/h).

The line links London, South East England, East Anglia and the East Midlands, with Yorkshire, the North East and Scotland, and is important to their local economies. It carries commuter traffic in north London as well as cross-country, commuter and local passenger services, and freight. In 1997, operations were privatised. The primary long-distance operator is London North Eastern Railway, but open-access competition on services to Northern England and Scotland is provided by Hull Trains, Grand Central and Lumo.

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