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Werrington Junction flyover - Probably or unlikely to happen ?

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PhilipW

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The possibility of a flyover at Werrington Junction has been around for a while. With much freight traffic now planned to be diverted off the ECML via Spalding and Lincoln, is a flyover likely to happen ?

I am not personally familiar with the area but my understanding of the track layout around there is as follows:

1) From Peterborough heading north there are 4 ECML tracks with two Stamford tracks on the west side running parallel but slightly seperated as far as Helpston where the line diverges for Stamford.

2) These two Stamford tracks are electrified as far as Helpston where there is a connection back to the ECML.

3) The Spalding line joins the ECML at Werrington with connections to all 4 ECML tracks but not to the Stamford tracks.

If any of this is wrong, I am happy to be corrected.

The proposed Werrington flyover would (I think).
- Connect the 2 Stamford tracks to the 2 Spalding tracks with a flyover over the 4 ECML tracks.
- Connect the Down Slow ECML to the Spalding line using the same flyover

So once complete the Spalding line would be connectioned to the Stamford tracks and to the Down/Up Slow ECML but not to the Down/Up Fast ECML. This would allow freight to move from East Anglian lines through Peterborough and onto the Spalding line without touching the ECML at all.

Is this correct ?
 
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Tomnick

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Only a minor correction - there are only three lines on the ex-GN side. One of the pair of lines on the Midland side is known as the Down Slow / Down Stamford, and this is the only electrified line of the pair. There's a connection off this line that (only) forms the Down Slow at Helpston. As you say, theres no connection from the Midland side to the Spalding line at Werrington Jn, so trains must use either the Down Fast or the bi-directional Up Slow from Peterborough station.
 

Zoe

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3) The Spalding line joins the ECML at Werrington with connections to all 4 ECML tracks but not to the Stamford tracks.
All five tracks are part of the East Coast Main Line at this point. The only access to the Werrington Branch is from the Up Slow or Down Fast. For trains joining the East Coast Main Line the only access is to the Up Slow.
 

PhilipW

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Zoe, Tomnick, Thank You both. That explains it well.

So the flyover (if built) would just need to connect the 2 western most lines (one known as Down Slow/Down Stamford and the Up Stamford) to the two Spalding lines.

So any northbound train heading for Spalding would have to be on the one line (Down Slow/Down Stamford) (or on the bi-directional Up Slow if that remains as is).

Any southbound train from Lincoln/Spalding could either:
- join Up Slow EMCL if heading London
- or go over new flyover to join the Up Stamford if heading to March and East Anglia, thus avoiding ECML completely.
 

DaveNewcastle

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If it helps, I've made a quick and dirty composite image from the 2 relevant sections of the 2009 Baseline Sectional Appendix: (click to enlarge)
ECML Werrngton.gif

You'll see that there's about a mile of ECML at Helpston which is 6-tracked ! (just before the Uffington & Stamford lines diverge - actually, its the ECML which curve at that point).
 

PhilipW

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Thanks Dave, Very interesting.

One more question. How much further north of Helpston is the ECML 4-track before it goes down to 2-track for most of the way then to Doncaster ?
 

Zoe

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One more question. How much further north of Helpston is the ECML 4-track before it goes down to 2-track for most of the way then to Doncaster ?
It's four track as far as Stoke. That's 18 miles and 4 chains north of Helpston Junction.
 

GNER 91128

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Aren't there plans for a flyover from the March line In to the Peterborough goods yard?

Also once the new platforms and station layout are supposed to be built the Lincoln train will leave from a higher numbered platform and have to cross the main lines at Werringtion to join the branch, thus requiring the flyover anyway?
 

swt_passenger

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Also once the new platforms and station layout are supposed to be built the Lincoln train will leave from a higher numbered platform and have to cross the main lines at Werringtion to join the branch, thus requiring the flyover anyway?

Network Rail have referred to Lincoln trains using permissive working at the north ends of the newly lengthened platforms 2 and 3. We had quite a thread about Peterborough's new platform layout last year some time - those platform numbers might possibly become 1 and 2 after remodelling.
 

PhilipW

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Network Rail have referred to Lincoln trains using permissive working at the north ends of the newly lengthened platforms 2 and 3. We had quite a thread about Peterborough's new platform layout last year some time - those platform numbers might possibly become 1 and 2 after remodelling.

It may be that Spalding passenger trains can leave from the easterly platforms and proceed along the bi-directional Up Slow lineup to Werrington junction, but all the freights from Felixstowe/Harwich will have to travel under the ECML and pass through the new Stamford bound platform and then to reach Spalding will have to either either cross over the ECML lines (Up/Down fast and Up slow) at the flat at Werrington or use the new flyover (if ever built).
 

LE Greys

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What's really needed is the down slow back. That eliminates conflicting moves at Helpston, gives something to attach the flyover to and generally boosts capacity out of Peterborough going northwards. There was an idea once about sinking the fasts into a cutting past New England, but that would be even more costly.
 
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