Modern Usage
As described the Central line has largely replaced its business.
Chiltern Railways operates a token Paddington service on weekdays; in some timetable revisions it has been one up or one down train, or one of each way between Gerrards Cross and Paddington via West Ruislip. The line is still used for Goods trains carrying refuse from London and for empty coaching stock movements, and it is a diversionary route when the normal lines to Marylebone or Paddington are closed.
For operational reasons such as balancing wheel wear, trains including those of Heathrow Express which were affected by tight track at Heathrow Junction have been turned using the London end of the NNML, its triangular junction with the Greenford Branch Line and the GWML through Ealing. At weekends in 2008 when major engineering works were taking place on the WCML, it was also used by Virgin Trains' Euston-Birmingham International Blockade Buster service, which ran from London Euston via Willesden, Acton Main Line, Ealing Broadway, Greenford, High Wycombe, Banbury and Coventry using pairs of 5-car Voyager sets.
- One-off uses
On two Sundays in February 2010, Chiltern and Wrexham & Shropshire trains were diverted to Paddington via the line while engineering work blocked the route to Marylebone. This happened again between 15 and 19 August 2011.
The route is also used for testing out new trains and for the training of new drivers.
The line is now officially known as the Acton-Northolt Line and carries the Engineer's Line Reference code of ANL.
Read more about this topic: New North Main Line
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