Oakham to Kettering Line

Oakham to Kettering Line
The Welland (Harringworth) Viaduct
Overview
Type	Inter City, Heavy rail
System	National Rail
Status	Operational
Locale	East Midlands
Termini	Glendon (Kettering North) Junction Manton Junction
Stations	1
Operation
Owner	Network Rail
Operator(s)	East Midlands Trains GB Railfreight Freightliner
Rolling stock	Class 43/HST Class 222 "Meridian"
Technical
No. of tracks	One-Two
Track gauge	Standard gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in)
Loading gauge	W7[1]
Operating speed	Below 100 mph (160 km/h)

Oakham to Kettering Line
Legend Birmingham to Peterborough Line Oakham Manton Birmingham to Peterborough Line Uppingham Branch Rugby and Stamford Railway To Peterborough East Welland Viaduct Harringworth Gretton Corby Geddington Midland Main Line Kettering Midland Main Line

The Oakham to Kettering Railway Line is a railway line in the East Midlands of England. For many years it was used for mainly for freight traffic, and as an important diversionary route for passenger trains travelling the Midland Main Line as well as for the occasional excursion.

Recently, however, the part of the line south of Corby has seen the commencement of regular passenger services following years of discussion. A new Corby railway station opened on 23 February 2009, initially served by one return train to London St Pancras per day, operated by East Midlands Trains.^[2] Full service, with 13 daily returns to London, started on 27 April 2009. The service provides one train each hour calling at Corby, Kettering, Wellingborough, Bedford, Luton and London St Pancras; with a minimum journey time from Corby to London of 1 hour and 14 minutes.^[3] One of the train pairs is extended north of Corby to Oakham and Melton Mowbray.^[4] A further service was extended to and from Derby (calling at Oakham, Melton Mowbray, East Midlands Parkway) from the May 2010 timetable.

The highlight of the route is the Welland Viaduct, also known as Harringworth Viaduct, where the line crosses the Welland valley between Rutland and Northamptonshire.

Historically the line formed a major part of the Midland Main Line between London St Pancras, Nottingham, Leeds and Scotland hosting regular named expresses such as The Waverley.

References

1. ^ Network Rail: East Midlands RUS Loading Gauge (Page 55) Accessed August 2010
2. ^ "East Midlands Trains announces first trains for Corby". East Midlands Trains. 2009-02-17. http://www.eastmidlandstrains.co.uk/EMTrains/AboutUs/News/_EastMidlandsTrainsannouncesfirsttrainsforCorby_.htm. Retrieved 2009-05-04. 
3. ^ "East Midlands Trains announces start date for full services from Corby". East Midlands Trains. 2009-04-07. http://www.eastmidlandstrains.co.uk/EMTrains/AboutUs/News/_EastMidlandsTrainsannouncesstartdateforfullservicesfromCorby_.htm. Retrieved 2009-05-04. 
4. ^ "Passengers from Oakham set to benefit from direct link to London". East Midlands Trains. 2009-04-07. http://www.eastmidlandstrains.co.uk/EMTrains/AboutUs/News/_PassengersfromOakhamsettobenefitfromdirectlinktoLondon_.htm. Retrieved 2009-05-04. 

Coordinates: 52°39′N 0°43′W / 52.65°N 0.717°W / 52.65; -0.717