The Northern City Line (NCL), between Finsbury Park and Moorgate in the City of London, today (Tuesday 19 May) celebrates one year since its physical lineside signals were removed.
The NCL became Britain’s first ‘no signals’ commuter railway in May 2025, and since then almost 70,000 train services have been operated by Great Northern using digital in-cab signalling.
The groundbreaking NCL project is a vital ‘pathfinder’ for the introduction (from later this year) of digital signalling to the East Coast Main Line (ECML), enabling a more reliable, more efficient, greener and even safer railway. Part of the Government-funded £1.4 billion East Coast Digital Programme (ECDP), it will be the largest and most complex digital signalling migration undertaken anywhere in the world. The learnings taken from NCL in integrating the European Train Control System (ETCS), preparing and supporting drivers and signallers through the changes, and progressing through industry assurance, have all been vital in that regard.
The move from an ‘overlay’ (where trains can be operated either with digital or conventional signalling) to a no-signals railway has seen a steady improvement in the reliability of services. The partners involved (GTR, Network Rail, and Siemens Mobility) have worked closely to optimise how colleagues interact with the system, ensuring that learnings have been taken from teething issues encountered in the early stages.
Sarah Jane Crawford, Network Rail’s industry partnership director, ECDP, said: “I’d like to thank all our teams across our partners who have worked hard to embed ‘no signals’ operations on the NCL as part of the regular, day-to-day service pattern.
“We’ve ‘learned by doing’ on NCL, where we successfully secured the necessary approvals and integrated across track and train. We’re now close to beginning the introduction of digital in-cab signalling on the East Coast Main Line, with significant learnings informing a gradual migration plan aimed at ensuring high performance throughout.”
Richard Cooper, infrastructure lead and ECDP project director, Siemens Mobility UK&I, commented:
“This milestone proves digital signalling works reliably and at scale on one of the UK’s most demanding urban routes. Working with GTR and Network Rail, we have delivered a more reliable, connected and sustainable railway, with the Siemens‑built Class 717 fleet and our ETCS technology at its core.
“These lessons now underpin the next step of introducing ETCS to the East Coast Main Line to help transform rail travel and transport for passengers and freight across the network.”
Image credit: Network Rail
