Newcastle to Edinburgh

The East Coast Main Line runs north from London to Edinburgh and then up to Aberdeen. The total length of the route is 393 miles.

This major artery on the eastern side of Great Britain runs largely parallel to the A1 trunk road. It handles cross-country, commuter and local passenger services as well as passenger traffic running north and south of the England-Scotland border. Heavy tonnages of freight traffic are also carried on the route.

The section of the East Coast Main Line covered in this add-on runs from Newcastle to Edinburgh, and this part of the route was constructed by two railway companies: the North British Railway from Edinburgh to Berwick-upon-Tweed and the North Eastern Railway south of that point.

The route was electrified using 25 kV AC overhead lines in two phases between 1976 and 1991. The first phase, between Kings Cross and Hitchin, was carried out between 1976 and 1978,

The second phase began in 1984 to electrify the route all the way up to Edinburgh. Work started in 1985, and the section between Hitchin and Peterborough was completed in 1987. Electrification reached Doncaster and York in 1989, Newcastle by 1990 and Edinburgh in 1991.

The InterCity 225 rolling stock was introduced in the late 1980s to work the newly electrified line.

Most of the line is speed rated for 125 mph (200 km/h) operation and was the fastest main line in the UK until High Speed 1 opened. These high speeds are possible because much of the route is fairly straight track on the flatter eastern regions of England.