The first, to upgrade the power supply on the East Coast Main Line, reached a major milestone today (25 August), completion of all critical enhancement works to the existing railway power supply on the section of route from London to Doncaster, enabling the introduction of the new trains from late December 2018.

This phase of work has included the commissioning of new substations at Coreys Mill, Welwyn and Langley towards the end of 2016, Essendine and Stoke Rochford in April/May of this year and most recently, Hitchin earlier this month. Also in direct support of the milestone, this week has seen the entry into service of a new 400kv National Grid substation at Essendine, feeding power to the railway via a new lineside substation.

Phase one, completed in March 2016, saw a series of ‘firm service capacity’ upgrades, increasing the maximum power supply from the National Grid to the rail network at four locations between Doncaster and London – Ferme Park, Little Barford, Nene and Welwyn.

The second major landmark, which is anticipated to be completed on 31 August, will see the completion of a project to lengthen platforms at Durham, Northallerton and Stevenage to cater for the longer trains.

This included extending platform 1 at Durham by 35 metres, lengthening platform 2 by 17 metres at Northallerton and also the extension of platforms 1-2 (18m) and 3-4 (11m) at Stevenage station.

Rob McIntosh, Managing Director of Network Rail’s London North Eastern and East Midlands route, said: “I’m delighted that the vital work on the East Coast Main Line is continuing to progress well and these two milestones represent significant steps towards preparing the railway for the new Azuma trains. The East Coast Main Line is a vital route, and the improved service that will follow the introduction of the new fleet will bring major benefits to the economics and communities our railway serves.”

Rob Cairns, Route Delivery Director for Network Rail, said: “This is a tremendous achievement by all those involved with the project, enabling entry into service of the enhanced power supply, which in turn will facilitate the introduction of the new trains.”