London North Western

You are here:

Home
Running the railway
Our routes
London North Western

This route stretches from London to Carlisle, including the major towns and cities of the West Midlands and North West of England

The London North Western (LNW) route runs from London Euston in the South, through the West Midlands, the North West of England and Cumbria before joining with Scotland at Gretna. It is home to the West Coast Mainline – the busiest mixed use railway in Europe – and supports the major British cities outside of London.

Commuting by rail into Birmingham is forecast to grow significantly over the next 20 to 30 years – railway capacity will also need to increase to take more passengers. Journey times and frequency of services between major cities in the East and West Midlands are holding back economic growth. London continues to grow and evolve with economic hubs expanding beyond the traditional city. Passenger numbers at London Marylebone station increased 20 per cent between 2011 and 2015.

Find out more about how we’re meeting these challenges on this page. Some of the significant projects we’ve recently completed across the route include redevelopment of Manchester Victoria, investment in Birmingham New Street to provide an iconic gateway to the West Midlands, and the launch of rail services from Oxford Parkway to London Marylebone – the first new rail connection of a major city to the capital in a century.

Main railway lines:

the West Coast Mainline between London Euston and the Scottish border
the Chiltern Mainline between London Marylebone and Birmingham Snow Hill.

Safety

We work closely with local communities to promote safety by the railway. Find out more on our community safety page.

Projects in London North Western

Transpennine route upgrade

As part of the Great North Rail Project, we’re upgrading the railway between Manchester Victoria to Leeds and Selby /...

Cottonmill Lane Level Crossing

As part of our national level crossing risk reduction programme we want to improve the safety at Cottonmill Lane level...

Liverpool City Region upgrade

£340m is being invested in the railway in the Liverpool City Region Upgrades to Liverpool Lime Street, the Halton Curve...

High-speed rail

High Speed Two (HS2) will transform rail connectivity in Britain and provide the step-change in capacity we need to deliver...

Crewe hub

An opportunity to increase capacity, transform connectivity and improve performance, while rejuvenating the wider economy. Crewe station is a key...

Manchester to Preston improvements

We're upgrading one of the North West's busiest routes to prepare for faster trains with more space for passengers. Engineers will continue...

Ordsall Chord

The Ordsall Chord links Manchester’s Victoria, Oxford Road and Piccadilly stations and is part of the Great North Rail Project. We...

Calder Valley

We’re working to make the Calder Valley route between Manchester Victoria and Bradford Interchange via Halifax more reliable As part...

Preston to Blackpool North

Better rail journeys across the north of England are coming – we're upgrading this key route, paving the way for...

Bolton

Improving services at Bolton station Faster direct links to cities and towns across the north of England are coming. What's...

Carlisle

Iconic Settle-Carlisle line reopens after major repairs carried out at Eden Brows The Settle-Carlisle line fully reopened on Friday 31...

Birmingham New Street

Birmingham New Street redevelopment A bigger, better and brighter station for Birmingham Tweets by @NetworkRailBHM We’ve transformed Birmingham New...