Midland Main Line

The Midland Main Line is a major railway route in the United Kingdom, part of the British railway system.

The present-day line links London St. Pancras International to Sheffield in northern England via Luton, Bedford, Kettering, Leicester, Derby, Nottingham and Chesterfield.

Historically the line extended further north to Manchester in the north-west and through Leeds in the north-east to Carlisle; trains also ran through to both Glasgow and Edinburgh in Scotland. The more direct East Coast Main Line meant the demise of Midland trains to Leeds and ultimately Scotland due to the Midland's longer journey times. Later, electrification of the West Coast Main Line (WCML) and the Beeching cuts saw Manchester trains withdrawn from the Midland and transferred to the WCML.

Since the closure of the rival Great Central Main Line in the 1960s, the Midland has been the only direct main-line rail link between London and the East Midlands and South Yorkshire.

In January 2009 a brand-new station, East Midlands Parkway, was opened between Loughborough and Trent Junction, to act as a park-and-ride station for the major East Midlands cities; it also serves East Midlands Airport.

Express passenger services on the line are operated by East Midlands Trains. The section between St Pancras and Bedford is electrified and forms the northern half of the Thameslink suburban service (operated by First Capital Connect), which provides a through service from Bedford to Brighton. In July 2012 the Financial Times and the BBC reported that a £500–£530 million scheme to electrify the line north of Bedford would be announced on 16 July 2012. A £800 million electrification scheme was confirmed on 16 July 2012 for completion by 2019.

The northern part of the route between Derby and Sheffield also forms part of the Cross Country Route and is shared with CrossCountry. The route from Nottingham to Leeds via Barnsley and Sheffield is shared with Northern. TransPennine Express operate through Sheffield. East Midlands Local also operates regional and local services between Nottingham and Leicester / Derby / Sheffield / Manchester.