DEPARTMENT FOR
TRANSPORT News Release (063) issued by COI News Distribution Service
on 13 May 2009
JOURNEY TIMES
SLASHED - MORE TRAINS MORE OFTEN
Britain is now better connected and rail passengers across the
country are benefitting from quicker journeys and more frequent
services as Rail Minister Andrew Adonis officially opened the
upgraded £8.9bn West Coast Mainline.
The line, which runs from London to Glasgow serving destinations
including Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool, has been
completely overhauled over the past five years. The upgrade sees
journey times fall by up to 30 per cent and a 45 per cent increase
in long distance train services on the line.
The route is the UK's main rail artery and one of the most
intensively used lines in Europe, accommodating many long distance
passenger trains, local and regional passenger services and
handling 40 per cent of the nation's rail freight.
Andrew Adonis said:
"Getting to this point has not been easy. That we are here
today is testament both to the hard work of Network Rail and the
Government's continuing commitment to this vital project.
"It is easy to lose sight of how this work has changed the
transport map of Britain and brought real improvements for rail
passengers. Five years ago, Manchester was nearly three hours from
London and was served by barely one train an hour. Today trains
reach Manchester in two hours and run every twenty minutes
throughout the day.
"This project helps to better connect Britain. Businesses
rely on it both to move their people and to move their freight,
giving them the connections they need to help our economy through
these difficult times."
Passenger numbers on the line have doubled since 2004 while
improved journey times have caused a massive shift from air to
rail on the busy Manchester to London route with rail now
accounting for two-thirds of journeys, up from one third in 2004.
Weekend travellers will also be a major beneficiary of the
upgrade's completion with far fewer engineering closures and
an almost doubling of weekend trains. Future closures will be
confined to the late Saturday evening/early Sunday morning period
or holiday periods when passenger volumes are lower.
Work will now continue to help improve resilience and capacity on
the line. Four extra Pendolino trains have been ordered to help
ensure that the new higher frequency services are more resilient
to disruption, while 31 existing Pendolinos are to be lengthened
from nine to eleven carriages to provide extra capacity on the route.
Journey improvements to/from London Euston for selected destinations
May 2004 May 2009
Journey time Trains per day Journey time Trains per day
(both directions) (both directions)
1h 43m 66 1h 22m 98
2h 41m 39 2h 08m 93
2h 53m 30 2h 08m 35
5h 06m 15 4h 31m 26
Typical 'all day' services, speeds and frequencies
Notes to Editors
1. Work began on the WCML upgrade in 1998 following the signing
of the upgrade contract between Railtrack and Virgin Trains. The
Strategic Rail Authority took over sponsorship of the scheme in
2002 and published its Strategy in Spring 2003. The Department for
Transport assumed sponsorship of the project in early 2006. Key
improvements for passenger and freight customers have been
delivered by Network Rail in stages up to December 2008.
2. Further capacity improvements: In 2008 DfT asked Virgin Rail
Projects to deliver 106 new carriages. These will be used to
increase 31 of the 52 Pendolino sets from nine to 11 cars and to
form four new 11 car Pendolinos sets to accommodate traffic growth
and replace the vehicles lost at Grayrigg in 2007. It is
anticipated that all of the additional vehicles will be in service
by the end of 2012. Options for the provision of more capacity
could include further Pendolino vehicles to extend the remaining
21 trains from 9 to 11 cars.
Public Enquiries: 020 7944 8300
Department for Transport
Website: http://www.dft.gov.uk