Portal:Trains/Selected article/Week 2, 2015

The Great Central Main Line (GCML), also known as the London Extension of the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway (MS&LR), is a former railway line in the United Kingdom. It opened in 1899 and ran from Sheffield in the North of England, southwards through Nottingham and Leicester to Marylebone Station in London. The GCML was the last main line railway built in Britain during the Victorian period. It was built by the railway entrepreneur Edward Watkin who aimed to run a high-speed, north-south main line to London. The line was not only designed to a specification which would permit trains to run at higher speeds, but also built to a larger loading gauge in anticipation of larger continental European trains. The GCML operated as a fast trunk route from the North and the East Midlands to London. It was not initially a financial success, only recovering under the leadership of Sam Fay. In the 1960s, the line was viewed by Dr Beeching as an unnecessary duplication of other lines which served the same places, especially the Midland Main Line and to a lesser extent the West Coast Main Line. Most of the route was closed between 1966 and 1969 under the Beeching axe. A part of the former main line has been preserved as the Great Central (heritage) Railway between Leicester and Loughborough. The route is being assessed by the Labour Party as a cheaper alternative to High Speed 2.