Integrated Rail Plan for the North and Midlands: glossary
Updated 22 March 2022
Applies to England, Scotland and Wales
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Schemes and corridors
Cheshire Line Committee (CLC)
A route that refers to the southernmost point of the Liverpool to Manchester railways, via Warrington Central station and Liverpool South Parkway.
Crewe Northern Connection (CNC)
A proposed connection north of Crewe station, enabling HS2 services to rejoin the HS2 mainline. The Crewe Northern Connection (CNC) is part of the HS2 Western Leg.
East Coast Main Line (ECML)
The East Coast Main Line (ECML) is one of the UK’s core rail lines, running between London King’s Cross and Edinburgh, via Peterborough, York, Doncaster, Darlington and Newcastle. Fast services between Leeds and London currently use this line.
Golborne Link
A spur from the Western Leg of HS2 connecting to the West Coast Main Line south of Wigan, enabling HS2 services to Scotland (Glasgow and Edinburgh) to avoid congested sections of the West Coast Main Line between Crewe and Wigan.
High Speed 2 (HS2)
High Speed 2 (HS2) is a new high-speed railway linking London, the Midlands and the North, with services continuing to Scotland via the West Coast Main Line. The construction of the new railway is split into phases: Phase One (linking London to the West Midlands), which received royal assent in 2017; Phase 2a (West Midlands and the North via Crewe) in 2021 and Phase 2b.
Plans for Phase 2b have to date included Crewe to Manchester and Golborne Link, West Midlands to East Midlands, Leeds, and the East Coast Main Line. These plans have been revisited in this Integrated Rail Plan.
HS2 Phase One
HS2 Phase One is the first phase of HS2 connecting London to the West Midlands, where it will rejoin the existing West Coast Main Line. Services will then travel onwards to northern England and Scotland, including Manchester, Glasgow, Liverpool, Preston and Wigan. Phase One will open between 2029 and 2033.
HS2 Phase 2a
HS2 Phase 2a will extend the high-speed rail line north from the West Midlands at Birmingham to Crewe, helping towns and cities across North West England, North Wales and Scotland benefit from it sooner. Phase 2a will open by 2033.
HS2 Phase 2b Eastern Leg (EL)
The Eastern Leg (EL) of HS2, originally part of HS2 Phase 2b. The 2017 plans consisted of a new high-speed line connecting Phase One (London to the West Midlands) to Leeds, serving an interchange at Toton (in the East Midlands) and with connections to Sheffield and the East Coast Main Line, to access destinations including York and Newcastle.
The Integrated Rail Plan sees the EL split with a First Phase including a new high-speed line from the West Midlands to the East Midlands, directly serving Derby and Nottingham (rather than Toton). Three broad options for completing the EL to Leeds under a Second Phase remain open and will be considered under further work, including the original HS2 plan, a route via the Erewash Line or a mix of upgrades and new lines via Newark and the East Coast Main Line.
HS2 Phase 2b Western Leg (WL)
The Western Leg (WL) of HS2 Phase 2b, completing the high-speed line from Crewe to Manchester, including the Golborne Link. The Phase 2b WL also includes sections of track that will be used for Northern Powerhouse Rail and will deliver a station at Manchester Piccadilly designed to integrate future NPR requirements. Phase 2b WL will open between 2035 and the early 2040s.
Midland Main Line (MML)
The Midland Main Line (MML) is one of the UK’s core rail lines, running between London, Sheffield and Nottingham, via Leicester. The line is currently electrified between London and Kettering/Corby, with electrification as far north as Market Harborough expected to be completed in 2024. The Integrated Rail Plan recommends completing the electrification of the MML, bringing fully-electric services to Leicester, Derby, Nottingham and Sheffield.
Midlands Engine Rail (MER)
Midlands Engine Rail (MER) is the flagship rail programme of Midlands Connect. It is a series of proposed rail interventions spanning the East Midlands and West Midlands, reaching destinations such as Birmingham, Leicester, Coventry, Nottingham, Derby, Stoke-on-Trent, Crewe, Shrewsbury, Lincoln, Worcester and Wolverhampton.
Midlands Rail Hub (MRH)
Midlands Rail Hub (MRH) is a core component of the flagship Midlands Engine Rail programme. It is a series of proposed rail interventions to improve rail connectivity on a West-East basis through Birmingham Moor Street station.
Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR)
The government’s plan to transform rail links between key cities across the north of England through new lines and upgrades. The Integrated Rail Plan recommends the ‘core’ network would run from Liverpool to York via Warrington, Manchester Airport, Manchester Piccadilly, Huddersfield and Leeds, integrating with the HS2 Phase Western Leg. Wider Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) services are to be considered, including to Newcastle, Hull and Sheffield.
Project Speed
A cross-government programme of work led by HM Treasury, looking across the whole project lifecycle with the aim to deliver major infrastructure projects ‘better, greener, faster’.
Transpennine Route Upgrade
A ‘core’ package consisting of a series of transformative rail interventions improving the existing Transpennine line, which connects York to Manchester via Leeds and Huddersfield.
Rail SPEED
Rail SPEED (Swift, Pragmatic and Efficient Enhancement Delivery) is a joint programme led by the Department for Transport and Network Rail. It was set up to significantly reduce the time and costs of delivering rail infrastructure projects. Rail SPEED is one of the contributions that the Department for Transport is making to the cross-government work on Project Speed.
Restoring Your Railway (RYR)
The Restoring Your Railway (RYR) policy aims to reinstate axed local rail services and restore closed stations. This policy comprises a number of individual projects with varying stages of delivery maturity. Local stakeholders have been invited to propose RYR projects.
West Coast Main Line (WCML)
The West Coast Main Line (WCML) is one of the UK’s core rail lines, running between London and Glasgow via Crewe and Lancaster, with branches to Manchester, Birmingham and Liverpool. Trains using the WCML can also reach Edinburgh via Preston and Carstairs.
Technical terms
Capacity
The number of trains that can travel through a corridor during a period of time. This can be measured in trains per hour, or by seats.
Consents
The statutory approval process for schemes. This can be done as an order under existing legislation, such as Transport and Works Act Orders (TWAO) or Development Consent Orders (DCO), or via new legislation that must pass through Parliament (hybrid bills).
Conventional railway/station
A line or station operating below High Speed, similar to the existing national rail network. This is distinguished from ‘high speed’ lines and stations which are exclusive to high-speed services and/or are specified to operate at high speeds (>125mph).
Electrification
The process of switching the power source for trains from diesel to electric. This may comprise the use of batteries or the installation of electrical supply infrastructure allowing trains to draw current from either an electrified third rail or from Overhead Line Equipment (OLE).
In this Integrated Rail Plan, proposals for electrification in the North and Midlands refers to the installation of OLE along stated routes.
Flighting
An approach to train timetabling to maximise the use of a mixed-traffic railway. Flighting typically would see trains operating at similar end-to-end speeds, when accounting for station stops, grouped together (such as running several fast trains in sequence, followed by slower trains) to minimise congestion. This approach can lead to an irregular service pattern, with services timetabled together leaving longer waits for passengers in between these groups.
Four Tracking
A rail line that operates on 4 parallel tracks. This allows a line to handle more traffic than a standard 2-track alignment as fast services can be separated from slower and semi-fast services.
Freight
Trains that handle goods instead of passengers.
GRIP/PACE
Network Rail’s process for developing railway interventions, split into various gateways in a similar manner to the Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline (RNEP).
PACE has replaced GRIP as the government looks to speed up the delivery of rail projects. It consists of 5 stages, including project initiation, development and project selection, project design, project delivery and project close.
PACE allows schemes to progress through design decision gateways aligned with the RNEP investment decision gateways.
Hybrid bill
Hybrid bills mix the characteristics of public and private bills. The changes to the law proposed by a hybrid bill would affect the general public but would also have a significant impact for specific individuals or groups.
Journey time
The time it takes for a train service to depart from a station to a destination station.
Low-level/high-level platforms
Description used where a station consists of multiple layers of tracks – the ‘low-level’ line runs below the ‘high-level’ line. The Integrated Rail Plan plans for Warrington include the reopening of the disused ‘low-level’ platforms underneath Warrington Bank Quay and the West Coast Main Line, which runs broadly perpendicular to the proposed Northern Powerhouse Rail service.
Parkway station
A parkway railway station is a railway station that primarily serves a park and ride interchange rather than a town or city centre.
Quantified risk assessment
A form of risk analysis applied to engineering projects that considers the impact and likelihood of risks and quantifies them numerically.
Range estimates
The production of estimates, for example, in terms of cost, in a range, producing both a low and higher estimated outcome.
Reference class forecasting
Reference class forecasting is a method for predicting future outcomes based on the outcomes for a group of similar past projects, for example hypothetically using HS1 and HS2 as benchmarks for the final cost of Northern Powerhouse Rail and the Integrated Rail Plan.
Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline (RNEP)
The Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline (RNEP) is the government’s rolling process of determining rail enhancements, by structuring the process of development through various assurance ‘gateways’ as project plans mature.
The decision taken at each gateway will be whether or not to proceed with progressing the intervention to the next development stage, with a final gateway providing the decision to deliver.
Segregated route
Segregating fast and slow rail services onto separate tracks. This reduces the issues associated with timetabling fast and slow trains on the same tracks, which become particularly prominent when the speeds differential of such services is greater, or when a greater frequency of trains operates.
Specification and over-specification
The standards to which infrastructure is built. Overspecification is the process of building infrastructure to standards that are unnecessarily specific or risk-averse, potentially resulting in higher costs.
Train path
The time slot required to operate one train on any given line based on the characteristics of that line (such as top speed). The higher the capacity of a line, the more train paths can be provided. A slower train being run on a route with a high line speed may occupy several train paths as it travels along the line.
Tram-train
A light rail service (tram) that operates on both tram lines and conventional rail lines.
Turnback
The reversing of the direction of travel of a train. This could be due to the train completing its journey and beginning a new journey or due to the train needing to turn around during its journey to access the necessary route.
In this Integrated Rail Plan, Manchester Piccadilly station would operate as a ‘turnback’ station. This is common in city centres, several of the busiest through stations on Europe’s high-speed networks operate with high-speed trains reversing in their platforms during their journeys.
Value for Money (VfM) / Benefit Cost Ratio (BCR)
Value for Money is one of the key considerations of any decision involving the use of public funds as referenced in The Green Book guidance issued by HM Treasury on how to appraise policies, programmes and projects across government. It is often referenced by project or policy benefit cost ratio (BCR), which for transport schemes is based on the method set out by the Transport appraisal process.
BCRs are calculated by dividing the forecast monetised benefits of a scheme by the forecast total cost across the scheme’s lifecycle.
Organisations
Greengauge 21
An independent, not-for-profit company that provides analysis and commentary on the UK’s high-speed rail network.
HS2 Ltd
A non-departmental public body, wholly funded by the Secretary of State for Transport and sponsored by the Department for Transport, tasked with delivering HS2.
Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA)
The Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA) is the government’s centre of expertise for infrastructure and major projects, supporting the successful delivery of all types of major projects.
Midlands Connect
A non-statutory sub-national transport body that researches, develops, progresses and makes the case for transport projects that may benefit the Midlands. It represents the local transport and local highways authorities of the West and East Midlands.
National Infrastructure Commission (NIC)
The UK National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) is the executive agency responsible for providing expert advice to the UK government on infrastructure challenges facing the UK.
Network Rail
A non-departmental public body, wholly funded by the Secretary of State for Transport and sponsored by the Department for Transport, that owns, operates and develops Britain’s railway infrastructure.
Transport for the North
A statutory sub-national transport body that makes the case for transport improvements in the north of England. It represents the local transport and local highways authorities of the North of England.