The Trent Valley Line is a railway line between Rugby and Stafford in England, forming part of the West Coast Main Line.
The line was electrified on 25 kV AC system during the 1960s, in the wake of the 1955 British Rail modernisation plan.
The cities, towns and villages served by the line are listed below.
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The Trent Valley Line was opened in 1847 to give a more direct route from London to the North West of England, bypassing the existing route via Birmingham built by the Grand Junction Railway and the London and Birmingham Railway a decade earlier. The contractor for the original 50 miles of line was Thomas Brassey, working in partnership with Robert Stephenson and William Mackenzie. The engineers were Robert Stephenson, a Mr. Bidder and a Mr. Gooch.[1]
Initially, the Trent Valley Line was owned by an independent company, which started building it in 1845. While the line was still being built, it was absorbed into the newly created London and North Western Railway (LNWR) in August 1846, and became an important part of the network of routes now known as the West Coast Main Line. The line was opened officially on 30 November 1847.
In 1860 a serious accident occurred at Atherstone when the Scottish mail train ran into the back of a cattle train, killing 10 people.
Prior to this work being carried out, the West Coast Main Line had four tracks between London and Rugby, comprising a "fast line" and a "slow line" in each direction (the slow lines diverting via the Northampton Loop Line). Similarly, there were four tracks north of Stafford. Although parts of the Trent Valley Line previously had four tracks, there was an 11 miles (18 km) long section of track between Tamworth and Armitage that had only ever been double track. When plans for the modernisation of the WCML were being developed in the 1990s, it was realised that these arrangements could not accommodate the faster Pendolino trains as well as slower local services. It was therefore decided to increase the number of tracks between Lichfield and Armitage to four; later it was decided to extend this from Tamworth as well, giving four tracks throughout from Nuneaton to Colwich Junction, north of Rugeley. The two outer tracks are "slow", used mainly by local rail services, while the "fast" lines are the two innermost tracks, allowing trains to pass stations at high speed.
Work started in 2004, and access roads were built on the eastern side of the line. Substantial earthworks were carried out and 37 bridges were replaced. A level crossing at Hademore was replaced by two road bridges in early 2007. The four-track railway between Lichfield North and Armitage was brought into use on 29 May 2008. Concurrently, Lichfield Trent Valley signal box was closed and within a month had been demolished. On 8 September the same year, the four-track railway between Tamworth and Lichfield came into use and Tamworth signal box closed.
Additionally, the line between Rugby and Brinklow, formerly three tracks, was quadrupled on 27 May 2008. The line from Brinklow to Nuneaton remains three tracks. A 2 miles (3.2 km) section north-west of Colwich Junction, which passes through the 776 yards (710 m) Shugborough Tunnel, remains double track.
As well as the civil engineering works, the whole of the Trent Valley line has been resignalled. The work was completed in September 2008, at a cost of around £350 million.
Along with the modernisation improvements, new rolling stock will operate along the Trent Valley line. Class 350 "Desiro" rail cars started operation on the 11 December 2006. The Desiro trains replace the outdated passenger trains that originally ran on the line. They include more advanced features, such as 100 mph (160 km/h) running speeds.[2]
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