East Coast Main Line - Route Definition and Description

Route Definition and Description

The ECML forms part of Network Rail's Strategic Route G which comprises four separate lines:

• The main line between London King's Cross and Edinburgh Waverley stations, via Stevenage, Peterborough, Grantham, Newark North Gate, Retford, Doncaster, York, Darlington, Durham, Newcastle, Berwick-upon-Tweed and Dunbar;
• The Doncaster branch of the Wakefield Line, between Doncaster and Leeds;
• The Northern City Line from Finsbury Park to Moorgate; and
• The Hertford Loop Line from Alexandra Palace to Stevenage.

The core part of the route is the main line between King's Cross and Edinburgh, with the Hertford Loop used for local and freight services and the Northern City Line only used on weekdays for inner suburban services.

In addition to the formal Network Rail definition, the ECML is sometimes regarded as including the Edinburgh to Aberdeen Line, on which some East Coast services continue beyond Edinburgh Waverley to Aberdeen, running mostly in view of the east coast via Kirkcaldy, Dundee and Arbroath.| North of Edinburgh it includes the red cantilever Forth Bridge, and at Dundee the curved Tay Bridge, both crossing wide river estuaries.