{"id":195003,"date":"2025-04-03T20:53:00","date_gmt":"2025-04-03T10:53:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/railuk.com\/?p=176068"},"modified":"2025-04-03T20:53:00","modified_gmt":"2025-04-03T10:53:00","slug":"electrification-project-hits-major-milestone-ahead-of-schedule-and-below-budget","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=195003","title":{"rendered":"\u201cElectrification Project Hits Major Milestone Ahead of Schedule and Below Budget\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The railway line between Kettering in Northamptonshire and Wigston near Leicester has reached a major milestone by being officially declared ready and safe for electric trains.<\/p>\n

The certification for the 23-mile section is a massive achievement in Network Rail\u2019s Midland Main Line Electrification Programme \u2013 the biggest programme of improvements to the line since its completion in 1870.<\/p>\n

Electrification is a key part of the Government\u2019s net zero carbon target by 2050, while also being quieter for passengers and residents living near the railway.<\/p>\n

The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) issued the Authorisation to Place into Service (APiS) for the Kettering to Wigston section, which includes a new substation at Braybrooke, near Market Harborough, to provide extra power and resilience to the network.<\/p>\n

The Kettering to Wigston section was energised in summer 2024, after which various tests took place to ensure that trains can draw power from the new infrastructure. This provided the necessary data for the ORR to grant the APiS.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n

The testing phase also explored how the Midland Main Line could be made even more efficient in future, such as having masts further apart to reduce costs and construction time.<\/p>\n

Seven bridges and four signal gantries on this section use voltage controlled clearance (VCC) technology. This innovative solution avoids the need for bridge rebuilds and lengthy road closures.<\/p>\n

Jorge Roque, Network Rail senior programme integration manager, said:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a huge milestone for the Midland Main Line Electrification Programme. It was achieved on time and under budget, and builds on the previous completion of London to Corby, meaning electric trains are able to run on here in the future.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe use of VCC on this Kettering to Wigston section has also saved time, money and avoided lengthy road closures. Where it can be used, it\u2019s a much better solution for residents living nearby, and for this project it reduced more complex interventions such as bridge reconstructions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Network Rail worked with contractors to achieve a 12% increase in biodiversity along the Kettering-Wigston section.<\/p>\n

Image credit: Network Rail<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>The railway line between Kettering in Northamptonshire and Wigston near Leicester has reached a major milestone by being officially declared ready and safe for electric trains. The certification for the 23-mile section is a massive achievement in Network Rail\u2019s Midland Main Line Electrification Programme \u2013 the biggest programme of improvements to the line since its [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":1,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11323,16013,16017,343,16015,47,85],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-195003","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-electrification","category-general-interest","category-industry-news","category-infrastructure","category-permanent-way","category-rail-news","category-uk"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195003","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=195003"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195003\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":195088,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195003\/revisions\/195088"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=195003"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=195003"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=195003"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}