East Coast Main Line

"ECML" redirects here. For the European Conference on Machine Learning, see ECML PKDD.

East Coast Main Line
An InterCity 225 train on the East Coast Main Line near Stanborough Park, Welwyn Garden City.
Overview
Type	Commuter rail, Inter-city rail Heavy rail
System	National Rail
Status	Operational
Locale	Greater London East of England East Midlands Yorkshire and the Humber North East England Scottish Borders Central Scotland
Termini	London King's Cross Edinburgh Waverley
Stations	52
Operation
Opened	1850
Owner	Network Rail
Operator(s)	Virgin Trains East Coast Great Northern Hull Trains East Midlands Trains CrossCountry First TransPennine Express Northern Rail Abellio ScotRail Grand Central DB Schenker GB Railfreight Freightliner Direct Rail Services
Character	Primary
Depot(s)	Hornsey Bounds Green Neville Hill Heaton Haymarket
Rolling stock	Class 43 "HST" Class 91 "InterCity 225" Class 142 "Pacer" Class 144 "Pacer" Class 153 "Super Sprinter" Class 156 "Super Sprinter" Class 158 "Express Sprinter" Class 170 "Turbostar" Class 180 "Adelante" Class 185 "Pennine" Class 220 "Voyager" Class 221 "Super Voyager" Class 222 "Meridian" Class 313 Class 317 Class 321 Class 325 Class 365 "Networker Express"
Technical
Line length	393 miles (632 km)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Route availability	RA 7-9, RA 10 in parts between Selby and York
Operating speed	maximum

East Coast Main Line
Highland Main Line & Edinburgh to Aberdeen Line Edinburgh Waverley Waverley Line ( St Andrew Square)   Musselburgh Waverley Line Wallyford Prestonpans Longniddry Drem North Berwick Line North Berwick Dunbar Scotland England Berwick-upon-Tweed Chathill Alnmouth Acklington Widdrington Pegswood Morpeth Cramlington Manors Durham Coast Line Newcastle Central Tyne Valley Line KRZ4d Chester-le-Street Durham Tees Valley Line Leeds City Darlington Outwood Tees Valley Line Wakefield Westgate Northallerton- Eaglescliffe Line Sandal & Agbrigg Northallerton Fitzwilliam Thirsk Wakefield Line Harrogate Line South Elmsall York to Scarborough Line Adwick York Bentley Cross Country Route South Humberside Main Line Doncaster Swinton to Doncaster Line Sheffield to Lincoln Line Retford Nottingham to to Lincoln Line Newark North Gate Nottingham to Grantham Line Grantham Birmingham to Peterborough Line Peterborough to Lincoln Line Peterborough Ely to Peterborough Line Nene Valley Railway Huntingdon St Neots Sandy Biggleswade Arlesey Cambridge Line Hitchin Stevenage Hertford Loop Line Knebworth Watton-at-Stone Welwyn North Hertford North Digswell Viaduct Bayford Welwyn Garden City Cuffley Hatfield M25 motorway Welham Green Crews Hill Brookmans Park Gordon Hill Potters Bar Enfield Chase M25 motorway Grange Park Hadley Wood Winchmore Hill New Barnet Palmers Green Oakleigh Park Bowes Park New Southgate Hertford Loop Line Alexandra Palace Hornsey Harringay Gospel Oak to Barking Line Finsbury Park Northern City Line INTe London King's Cross
A detailed diagram of the ECML can be found at East Coast Main Line diagram

A map of CrossCountry, Grand Central, Hull Trains and Virgin Trains East Coast services on the East Coast Main Line

The East Coast Main Line (ECML) is a 393-mile long (632 km) railway link between London and Edinburgh via Peterborough, Doncaster, Wakefield, Leeds, York, Darlington and Newcastle, electrified along the whole route. Services north of Edinburgh to Aberdeen and Inverness use diesel trains. The main franchise on the line is operated by Virgin Trains East Coast.

The route forms a key artery on the eastern side of Great Britain and is broadly paralleled by the A1 trunk road. It links London, the South East and East Anglia, with Yorkshire, the North East Regions and Scotland. It also carries key commuter flows for the north side of London. It is important to the economic health of several areas of England and Scotland. It also handles cross-country, commuter and local passenger services, and carries heavy tonnages of freight traffic.

Route definition and description

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

Overview of the ECML (in blue) and other north-south mainlines in the UK

• 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, Morpeth, Alnmouth, Berwick-upon-Tweed and Dunbar. The line crosses the Anglo-Scottish border at Marshall Meadows Bay;
• The Doncaster branch of the Wakefield Line, between Doncaster and Leeds, via Wakefield Westgate;
• The Northern City Line from Finsbury Park to Moorgate; and
• The Hertford Loop Line from Alexandra Palace to Stevenage.
• The branch line to North Berwick
• The Dunbar loop

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.

The route has ELRs ECM1 - ECM9.

History

The line was built by three railway companies, each serving their own area, but with the intention of linking up to form the through route that became the East Coast Main Line. From north to south they were

• the North British Railway, from Edinburgh to Berwick-upon-Tweed, completed in 1846,
• the North Eastern Railway from Berwick-upon-Tweed to Shaftholme
• the Great Northern Railway from Shaftholme to Kings Cross, completed in 1850.

When first completed, the GNR made an end-on connection at Askern, famously described by the GNR's chairman as, "a ploughed field four miles north of Doncaster", with the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway, a short section of which was used to reach the NER at Knottingley. In 1871, the route was shortened - NER opened a direct line which ran from an end-on junction with the GNR, at Shaftholme, just south of Askern to Selby and then (once over Selby bridge on the Leeds- Hull Line) direct to York

Realising that through journeys were an important part of their business, the companies established special rolling stock in 1860 on a collaborative basis; it was called the "East Coast Joint Stock".

In 1923 the three companies were grouped into the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER). This later became part of British Railways in 1948.

Numerous alterations to short sections of the original route have taken place, the most notable being the opening of the King Edward VII Bridge in Newcastle upon Tyne in 1906 and the Selby Diversion, built to bypass anticipated mining subsidence from the Selby coalfield and a bottleneck at Selby station. The Selby Diversion was opened in 1983 and diverged from the original ECML at Temple Hirst Junction, north of Doncaster, and joined the Leeds to York Line at Colton Junction south west of York.

LNER Class A3 No. 2547 Doncaster hauls the daily Flying Scotsman in 1928.

55012 "Crepello" enters King's Cross in May 1976. The Class 55 Deltic was the main express locomotive on the ECML between 1961 and 1981.

The ECML has been the backdrop for a number of famous rail journeys and locomotives. The line was worked for many years by Pacific locomotives designed by Gresley, including the famous steam locomotives "Flying Scotsman" and "Mallard". Mallard achieved a world record speed for a steam locomotive, at 126 miles per hour (203 km/h) and this record was never beaten. It made the run on the Grantham-to-Peterborough section, on the descent of Stoke Bank.

Steam locomotives were replaced by Diesel electrics in the early 1960s, when the purpose-built Deltic locomotive was developed by English Electric. The prototype was successful and a fleet of 22 locomotives was built, to handle all the important express traffic. The Class 55s were powered by two engines originally developed for fast torpedo boats, and the configuration of the engines led to the Deltic name. Their characteristic throaty exhaust roar and chubby body outline made them unmistakable. The Class 55 was for a time the most powerful diesel locomotive in service in Britain, at 3,300 hp (2,500 kW).

Just after the Deltics were introduced, the first sections of the East Coast Main Line were upgraded to allow 100 miles per hour (160 km/h) running. The first length to be cleared for the new higher speed was a 17 miles (27 km) stretch between Peterborough and Grantham on 15 June 1965, the second was 12 miles (19 km) between Grantham and Newark.

As the demand for higher speed intensified, the Deltics were superseded by the High Speed Train (HST), introduced between 1976 and 1981, and still in service in 2015 (re-engined, with the original Paxman Valenta power units replaced by MTU engines).

A prototype of the HST, the Class 41 achieved 143 mph (230 km/h) on the line in 1973. Current UK legislation requires in-cab signalling for speeds of over 125 mph which is the primary reason preventing the InterCity 225 train-sets from operating at their design speed of 140 mph (225 km/h) in normal service.

A secondary factor was that the signalling technology of the time was insufficient to allow detection of two broken rails on the line on which the train was operating.

Before the present in-cab regulations came in, British Rail experimented with 140 mph running by introducing a fifth, flashing green signalling aspect on the Down Fast line (signals P487 to P615) and Up Fast line (signals P610 to P494) between New England North and Stoke Tunnel. The fifth aspect is still shown in normal service and appears when the next signal is showing a green (or another flashing green) aspect and the signal section is clear, which ensures that there is sufficient braking distance to bring a train to a stand from 140 mph. Locomotives have operated on the ECML at speeds of up to 161.7 mph (260.2 km/h) in test runs. The capability to run special test trains in excess of 125 mph is listed as being maintained in the LNE Sectional Appendix

Electrification

The ECML was electrified using 25 kV AC overhead lines in two phases between 1976 and 1991: The first phase between London (Kings Cross) and Hitchin was carried out between 1976 and 1978 as part of the Great Northern Suburban Electrification Project using Mk.3A equipment. This included the Hertford Loop Line. The second phase began in 1984, when authority was given to electrify to Edinburgh and Leeds using Mk.3B equipment. Construction began in 1985, and the section between Hitchin and Peterborough was completed in 1987, Doncaster and York were reached in 1989. By 1990 electrification had reached Newcastle, and in 1991 Edinburgh. At the peak of the electrification project during the late 1980s, it was claimed to be the "longest construction site in the world" at over 250 miles (400 km). The current InterCity 225 rolling stock was introduced in 1990 to work the electrified line.

Infrastructure

The line is mainly four tracks from London to Stoke Tunnel, south of Grantham. However, there are two major twin-track sections: the first of these is near Welwyn North Station as it crosses the Digswell Viaduct and passes through two tunnels; the second is a section around 'Stilton Fen', between Fletton Junction near Peterborough, and southwards towards Holme Junction; furthermore, the section between Holme Junction south to Huntingdon is mostly triple track. North of Grantham the route is twin track except for four-track sections at Retford around Doncaster, between Colton Junction (which is south of York), Thirsk and Northallerton, and another at Newcastle.

The main route is electrified along the full route and only the line between Leeds and York (Neville Hill Depot to Colton Junction) is non-electrified. This diversionary route will be electrified as part of the transpennine electrification scheme, to be completed by December 2018.

With most of the line rated for operation, the ECML was the fastest main line in the UK until the opening of High Speed 1. These relatively high speeds are possible because much of the ECML travels on fairly straight track on the flatter, eastern regions of England, through Lincolnshire and Cambridgeshire, though there are significant speed restrictions (due to curvature) particularly north of Darlington and between Doncaster and Leeds. By contrast, the West Coast Main Line has to traverse the Trent Valley and the mountains of Cumbria, leading to many more curves and a lower general speed limit of 110 mph (180 km/h). Speeds on the WCML have been increased in recent years with the introduction of tilting Pendolino trains and now match the 125 mph speeds available on the ECML.

Rolling stock

Most express passenger services use the InterCity 225 rolling stock.

Some diesels still operate on line, including:

• CrossCountry's Class 220 Voyagers, Class 221 Super Voyagers and, occasionally, HST sets that CrossCountry introduced after it took over from Virgin CrossCountry. (Joining the ECML at York and continuing to Newcastle, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dundee and Aberdeen)
• Hull Trains Class 180 Adelantes (Kings Cross–Hull)
• Virgin Trains East Coast HST sets work to Inverness and Aberdeen, as well as daily services to Lincoln, Hull and Harrogate .
• East Midlands Trains operates a limited service of HSTs over a portion of the route between Doncaster and Leeds, and a summer Saturday service with Class 222 Meridians from York and Scarborough to London St Pancras, and back.
• Grand Central's HSTs and Class 180 Zephyrs (Kings Cross–Sunderland/Bradford)

Operators

A train operated by the former main provider of services on the line, East Coast.

The line's current principal operator is Virgin Trains East Coast, whose services include regular trains between King's Cross, the East Midlands, Yorkshire, the North East of England and Scotland. Virgin Trains East Coast is jointly operated by Stagecoach Group and Virgin Group and took over from East Coast on 1 March 2015. Other operators of passenger trains on the line are:

• Great Northern: long distance services between King's Cross, Peterborough, Cambridge and King's Lynn and commuter services between Moorgate and Stevenage via either Welwyn Garden City or the Hertford Loop.
• Hull Trains: operate six trains per day between Kings Cross and Hull and one per day between Kings Cross and Beverley on weekdays, whilst on weekends there are seven trains a day between Kings Cross and Hull.
• East Midlands Trains: local services between Grantham and Peterborough, part of the service that runs between Liverpool Lime Street and Norwich, as well as infrequent services between London-York and Scarborough, extensions of services running to/from Sheffield, Leicester and London St Pancras.
• CrossCountry: cross-country services north of Sheffield are routed via either Leeds or Doncaster. Leeds trains use the ECML between Wakefield Westgate and Leeds and then again north of York. Doncaster trains use the ECML north of Doncaster. Services run to and beyond Edinburgh. Occasional services run from Doncaster to Leeds before rejoining the ECML at York.
• First TransPennine Express: between Liverpool Lime Street and Newcastle also between Manchester Airport and Middlesbrough before they divert off the ECML to Middlesbrough via Yarm.
• Northern Rail: suburban services from Doncaster to Leeds and Chathill to Newcastle via Morpeth railway station and infrequent services between Newcastle and Darlington that continue to Middlesbrough and Saltburn. Services between Selby and York also use the line from Hambleton Junction to York.
• Abellio ScotRail: services from Edinburgh Waverley to North Berwick and Dunbar. The overnight Caledonian Sleeper occasionally uses the ECML when engineering works prevent it from using its normal train path on the WCML.
• Grand Central: intercity operate five daily services between Kings Cross and Sunderland, branching off the main line at Northallerton; and four daily services between Kings Cross and Bradford, branching off at Doncaster.

Eurostar previously held the rights to run five trains a day on the line for services from continental Europe to cities north of London, as part of the Regional Eurostar plan, although such services have never been run.

DB Schenker, FirstGBRf, Freightliner, Freightliner Heavy Haul and Direct Rail Services operate freight services.

Development

Capacity problems

The ECML is one of the busiest lines on the British rail network and there is currently insufficient capacity on parts of the line to satisfy all the requirements of both passenger and freight operators.

There are bottlenecks at the following locations:

• The section of twin track within a four-line section at Welwyn North over the Digswell Viaduct and through the Welwyn tunnels
• The twin and triple track sections located between Huntingdon and Peterborough.
• Just north of Newark station at a flat crossing with the Nottingham to Lincoln Line.
• The section of double track between Stoke Tunnel and Doncaster.
• Doncaster station has limited facilities for terminating branch trains on the up side of the station. This is to be remedied with the opening of a new platform (platform 0) on the up side so that trains to and from the Thorne direction will be able to de-conflict their arrivals and departures with high speed trains.
• The north throat of York station including Skelton Bridge Junction.
• South of Newcastle to Northallerton (which is also predominately double track), leading to proposals to reopen the Leamside line to passenger and freight traffic.

Railway operations are vulnerable during high winds and there have been several de-wirements over the years due to the unusually wide spacing (up to 75m) between the supporting masts of the overhead lines. The other cost-reduction measure was the use of headspan catenary support systems over the quadruple track sections - as employed in the Weaver Junction to Glasgow Electrification on the WCML during the 1970s. Headspans do not have mechanically independent registration (MIR) of each electrified road and thus are more complex to setup, compared to TTC and portal style support structures, during installation. In the event of a de-wirement of a given road, headspans result in the need to correctly setup the OLE of adjacent roads before the line can reopen to electric traction. This was a result of extreme pressure from the Department for Transport to reduce avoidable costs when the line was originally electrified between 1985 and 1990.

Recent developments

• The Allington Chord was constructed near Grantham in 2006, allowing services between Nottingham and Skegness to call at Grantham without having to use the ECML, trains now passing under the line. This provided sufficient extra capacity for 12 additional services between Leeds and London each day.

• A new platform at London Kings Cross was opened on 20 May 2010. This was originally to be called "Platform Y". Instead it has been named Platform 0 to avoid confusion of lettered and numbered platforms.
• At the southern end of York station a short length of fourth track was installed in early 2011 at Holgate Junction with accompanying OLE and signalling systems. This work helped to remove one of the bottlenecks on the East Coast Main Line. Previously, trains from Leeds would sometimes have to wait before entering the station. The improvement allows for better flow of trains in and out of the station.
• Provision of a grade-separated junction to the north of Hitchin (the Hitchin flyover) enabling down Cambridge trains to cross the main line The work was completed by 26 June 2013
• Major remodelling of Peterborough station was completed during early 2014 providing three platform faces for services in the up direction towards London and two for ECML services travelling north on the down lines. An additional two platform faces are also available for Cross Country services to and from stations to the east of Peterborough.
• A new flyover just south of Joan Croft level crossing in South Yorkshire to allow freight trains from Immingham to pass over the line on their way to Eggborough and Drax power stations, was completed in very early 2014. The project, known as the North Doncaster Chord, also replaced the level crossing on a minor road with a new overbridge just to the north of the original crossing point.
• Renewal and gauge enhancement of the Great Northern and Great Eastern Line which runs parallel to the ECML between Peterborough and Doncaster. This removes freight traffic from a heavily congested section of the ECML.
• A new Rail Operating Centre (ROC), with training facilities, opened in early 2014 at the "Engineer's Triangle" in York. The ROC will enable signalling and day-to-day operations of the route to be undertaken in a single location. Signalling control/traffic management using ERTMS is scheduled to be introduced from 2020 on the ECML between London Kings Cross and Doncaster - managed from the York ROC.
• An £8.6 million redevelopment of Newcastle Central Station was completed in 2014 enhancing the existing station and provide a state-of-the-art station for thousands of passengers.

Planned or proposed developments

See also: Intercity Express Programme

Over the years successive infrastructure managers have developed schemes for route improvements. The most recent of which is the £240 million "ECML Connectivity Fund" included in the 2012 HLOS with the objective of increasing capacity and reducing journey times. Current plans include the following:

• Connection of the ECML to Thameslink as part of the Thameslink Programme (for Thameslink and Great Northern commuter services to be extended to south London).
• Full reversible signalling over the Stilton Fen section
• Power supply upgrades (PSU) between Wood Green and Bawtry (Phase 1) and Bawtry to Edinburgh (Phase 2), including some overhead lines (OLE) support improvements, rewiring of the contact and catenary wires, and headspan to portal conversions (HS2P).
• Re-quadrupling of the route between Huntingdon and Woodwalton which was rationalised in the 1980s (part of the ECML Connectivity programme)
• Power supply enhancement on the diversionary Hertford Loop route
• Level crossing closures between Kings Cross and Doncaster: As of July 2015 this will no longer be conducted as a single closure of 73 level crossings - but conducted on a case-by case basis.
• Additional down platform and turnback facility at Stevenage (part of the ECML Connectivity programme) - now delayed from CP5 to CP6.
• Additional turnback facility at Gordon Hill (part of the ECML Connectivity programme).
• Provision of a new Up bay platform (Platform 0) at Doncaster station (part of the ECML Connectivity programme). This is currently under construction.
• Enhanced passenger access to the platforms at Peterborough and Stevenage
• Further remodelling at Peterborough and linespeed enhancements on the down slow line in the Fletton area
• Modified north throat at York Station to reduce congestion for services calling at Platforms 9 - 11 (part of the ECML Connectivity programme)
• Increasing maximum speeds on the fast lines between Woolmer Green and Dalton-on-Tees up to 140 mph (225 km/h) in conjunction with the introduction of the Intercity Express Programme, level crossing closures, ETRMS fitments, OLE rewiring and the OLE PSU - est. to cost £1.3 billion. This project is referred to as "L2E4" or London to Edinburgh (in) 4 Hours and is currently (November 2015) under development. L2E4 examines the operation of the IEP at 140 mph on the ECML and the sections of track which can be upgraded to permit this, together with the engineering and operational costs.
• Remodelling north of Peterborough to provide a new grade separated junction at Werrington to allow freight services to join or be diverted off the ECML to/from the GNGE without crossing all four tracks at level. Network Rail's preferred option is for a dive-under.
• Upgrading of the fast lines at Shaftholme Junction from 100 mph to 125 mph.
• Replacement of the Flat Crossing at Newark with a flyover (scheme developed currently to GRIP Stage 2 by Jacobs)
• The line between London King's Cross to the approach of Doncaster will be signalled with Level 2 ERTMS. The target date for operational ERTMS services is December 2018 with completion in 2020
• Darlington station up fast line platform
• Fitment of TASS Balises and Gauging/Structure works proposed by the open operator GNER (Alliance Rail) to support its aspirations for express 3hr43min London to Edinburgh Services. Tilt would be required north of Darlington for Pendolino trains.

Accidents

The ECML has been witness to a number of incidents resulting in death and serious injury:

Title	Date	Killed	Injured	Note
Welwyn Tunnel rail crash	9 June 1866	2	2	Three-train collision in tunnel, caused by guard's failure to protect train and signalling communications error
Hatfield rail crash (1870)	26 December 1870	8	3	Wheel disintegrated causing derailment killing six passengers and two bystanders
Abbots Ripton rail disaster	21 January 1876	13	59	Flying Scotsman crashed during a blizzard.
Morpeth rail crash (1877)	25 March 1877	5	17	Derailment caused by faulty track.
Thirsk rail crash (1892)	2 November 1892	10	43	Signalman forgot about a goods train standing at his box and accepted the Scotch Express onto his line with inevitable consequences.
Grantham rail accident	19 August 1906	14	17	Runaway or overspeed on junction curve causing derailment - no definite cause established.
Welwyn Garden City rail crash	15 June 1935	14	29	Two trains collided due to a signaller's error.
King's Cross railway accident	4 February 1945	2	26	Train slipped on gradient and slid back into station.
Potters Bar rail crash	10 February 1946	2	17	Local train hit buffers fouling main line with wreckage hit by two further trains.
Goswick rail crash	26 October 1947	28	65	Edinburgh-London Flying Scotsman failed to slow down for a diversion and derailed. Signal passed at danger
Doncaster rail crash	16 March 1951	14	12	Train derailed south the station and struck a bridge pier.
Goswick Goods train derailment	28 October 1953		1	'Glasgow to Colchester' Goods train was derailed at Goswick.
Connington South rail crash	5 March 1967	5	18	Express train was derailed.
Thirsk rail crash	31 July 1967	7	45	Cement train derailed and hit by North bound express hauled by prototype locomotive. DP2
Morpeth rail crash (1969)	7 May 1969	6	46	Excessive speed on curve.
Penmanshiel Tunnel collapse	17 March 1979	2		Two workers killed when the tunnel collapsed during engineering works.
Morpeth rail crash (1984)	24 June 1984		35	Excessive speed on curve.
Newcastle Central railway station collision	30 November 1989		15	Two InterCity expresses collided.
Morpeth rail crash (1992)	13 November 1992	1		Collision between two freight trains.
Morpeth rail crash (1994)	27 June 1994		1	Excessive speed led to the locomotive and the majority of carriages overturning.
Hatfield rail crash	17 October 2000	4	70	InterCity 225 derailed due to a failure to replace a fractured rail. The accident highlighted poor management at Railtrack and led to its partial re-nationalisation.
Great Heck rail crash	28 February 2001	10	82	A Land Rover Defender swerved down an embankment off the M62 motorway into the path of a southbound GNER Intercity 225, which then was struck by a freight train lead by a Class 66
Potters Bar rail crash (2002)	10 May 2002	7	70	Derailment caused by a badly maintained set of points. Resulted in the end of the use of external contractors for routine maintenance.

Passenger volume

Station usage
Station Name	2002–03	2004–05	2005–06	2006–07	2007–08	2008–09	2009–10	2010–11	2011–12	2012–13	2013–14
Edinburgh to Doncaster
Edinburgh Waverley	12,470,767	14,219,772	14,645,022	15,285,837	16,169,294	17,571,392	19,312,458	19,957,346
Musselburgh	161,121	170,852	193,386	202,895	306,185	385,274	389,240	364,690
Wallyford	90,351	110,686	126,719	135,819	159,949	209,260	227,874	221,772
Prestonpans	91,789	108,398	129,192	142,604	170,388	192,574	202,296	206,808
Longniddry	117,121	122,678	135,040	140,490	161,410	165,716	157,908	154,040
Drem	73,871	78,009	80,563	84,905	99,735	109,418	107,844	100,208
Dunbar	224,552	266,142	288,282	299,172	332,377	339,094	318,976	333,916
Berwick-upon-Tweed	331,108	378,727	395,000	380,555	391,772	405,828	419,454	454,568
Chathill	1,482	1,503	2,279	1,037	1,847	1,864	2,612	2,642
Alnmouth	86,436	134,902	165,049	172,170	181,912	197,222	192,380	214,230
Acklington	727	917	1,137	985	948	778	268	108
Widdrington	5,481	7,740	6,618	5,523	4,707	6,314	6,398	5,124
Pegswood	2,417	3,564	2,940	2,281	2,332	2,788	2,688	1,102
Morpeth	123,142	163,627	177,497	188,798	206,458	226,652	228,252	243,982
Cramlington	40,886	68,472	77,304	83,314	87,737	89,828	87,374	85,454
Manors	1,409	1,882	1,390	1,002	1,406	2,574	2,998	2,976
Newcastle Central	4,869,662	5,728,348	6,108,240	6,230,498	6,447,267	7,098,624	7,163,284	7,500,338
Chester-le-Street	86,686	126,033	151,486	160,799	192,519	186,930	197,398	205,572
Durham	1,359,425	1,649,935	1,739,801	1,774,271	1,858,078	1,996,852	2,051,432	2,180,044
Darlington	1,509,282	1,795,683	1,906,131	2,013,516	2,099,480	2,184,436	2,164,428	2,209,274
Northallerton	293,137	380,622	413,038	453,459	488,647	531,676	544,070	556,990
Thirsk	124,877	142,359	147,333	148,260	161,474	173,944	174,826	189,288
York	4,985,396	5,795,978	6,148,333	6,363,387	6,534,388	6,802,004	6,855,682	7,173,016
Leeds to Doncaster
Leeds	11,285,693	14,733,503	16,059,517	17,356,732	18,121,572	22,421,732	21,978,372	24,491,616
Outwood	108,221	166,801	187,314	208,174	211,079	301,388	299,434	354,792
Wakefield Westgate	1,451,587	1,760,373	1,846,988	1,877,981	1,610,947	2,017,854	1,866,320	2,148,410
Sandal and Agbrigg	86,415	97,328	107,190	118,718	123,387	162,448	158,610	180,046
Fitzwilliam	79,428	105,216	116,088	126,419	142,144	180,606	178,518	195,542
South Elmsall	209,839	253,244	265,547	281,906	304,642	353,696	351,194	351,140
Adwick	115,496	176,479	175,754	156,826	160,541	253,986	244,904	247,964
Bentley (South Yorkshire)	81,494	114,419	123,292	98,641	95,264	159,788	153,550	152,994
Doncaster to London Kings Cross
Doncaster	2,347,584	2,772,500	2,837,400	2,790,811	2,903,339	3,780,314	3,676,152	3,784,752
Retford	252,113	298,398	320,410	363,084	357,812	376,066	374,322	399,996
Newark North Gate	335,126	377,172	400,286	1,187,545	923,070	960,948	924,528	976,526
Grantham	806,299	917,447	935,848	999,186	1,032,641	1,054,634	1,033,374	1,071,320
Peterborough	3,386,580	3,689,729	3,720,034	3,960,429	4,070,725	4,099,754	3,930,704	4,076,724
Huntingdon	1,277,164	1,360,288	1,373,378	1,448,338	1,564,270	1,592,696	1,542,100	1,629,780
St Neots	715,993	768,708	822,064	888,971	979,356	1,029,338	1,001,248	1,091,388
Sandy	344,127	391,673	400,416	424,161	449,698	446,186	424,906	444,122
Biggleswade	582,318	638,358	653,872	689,369	751,155	734,458	703,386	739,632
Arlesey	256,882	327,106	349,725	369,425	398,128	413,870	411,056	444,680
Hitchin	1,806,889	1,948,003	2,049,217	2,368,121	2,543,526	2,569,494	2,478,832	2,594,012
Stevenage	3,267,031	3,495,795	3,539,052	3,968,033	4,206,418	4,257,732	4,093,020	4,222,776
Knebworth	328,011	344,003	343,752	392,409	457,813	480,706	471,564	494,182
Welwyn North	368,789	406,270	395,304	428,164	455,322	468,312	454,296	485,856
Welwyn Garden City	1,717,434	2,002,197	2,020,502	2,322,204	2,502,240	2,522,398	2,385,014	2,431,948
Hatfield	1,130,146	1,407,219	1,429,839	1,642,091	1,768,214	1,904,588	1,836,546	1,928,032
Welham Green	114,701	125,769	120,413	134,934	147,553	153,116	145,220	160,884
Brookmans Park	136,394	143,537	150,325	167,346	185,759	198,784	191,500	203,654
Potters Bar	1,382,046	1,440,036	1,445,179	1,604,056	1,681,137	1,649,420	1,569,258	1,599,666
Hadley Wood	181,811	206,767	244,961	344,989	393,690	402,194	353,224	343,208
New Barnet	658,099	673,521	674,532	1,057,667	1,126,244	1,013,310	1,029,964	1,069,706
Oakleigh Park	571,227	601,453	623,602	993,003	993,011	909,208	917,232	952,304
New Southgate	291,538	291,290	299,461	476,100	550,758	498,252	512,446	553,174
Alexandra Palace	592,357	609,875	692,845	1,042,833	1,310,940	1,057,712	1,063,484	1,114,960
Hornsey	391,655	362,488	381,659	737,369	1,031,000	896,096	942,828	1,068,740
Harringay	387,794	328,145	317,815	775,050	1,102,321	901,968	963,282	1,039,098
Finsbury Park	3,006,865	5,021,634	5,041,828	5,875,109	5,545,881	5,492,164	6,566,019	7,337,297
London Kings Cross	19,137,693	20,805,979	20,301,663	22,503,777	23,945,017	24,641,427	24,817,616	26,254,644
The annual passenger usage is based on sales of tickets in stated financial years from Office of Rail Regulation statistics. The statistics are for passengers arriving and departing from each station and cover twelve month periods that start in April. Please note that methodology may vary year on year.

East Coast train at London King's Cross railway station

Popular culture

The cuttings and tunnel entrances just north of King's Cross make a memorable smoky appearance in the 1955 Ealing comedy film The Ladykillers. Also during the 1950s, the line featured in the 1954 documentary short Elizabethan Express. Later, the 1971 British gangster film Get Carter features a journey from London Kings Cross to Newcastle in the opening credits. The motoring show Top Gear featured a race including LNER A1 60163 Tornado running up this line from London to Edinburgh.

The route has been featured in several train simulator games. Trainz Simulator 2010 features the route between London and York, Trainz Simulator 12 extends the route to Newcastle, and Trainz: A New Era brings it all the way to Edinburgh, allowing the entire 393-mile route to be driven. All three routes take place during the 1970s, around the time the InterCity 125 was introduced. This is reinforced by instructions in the "HST Southbound Express" session not to move until the guard has locked the doors, since the trains did not have pneumatic locks initially; doing so will lead to an automatic failure. Other rolling stock includes Class 37s, Class 47s, and Class 105s, plus Mark 2 coaches. TS12's version added Class 55 Deltics and Class 313s, as well as additional pre-made, pre-scripted sessions.

King's Cross is also known as the starting point of the Hogwarts Express from the books and films in the Harry Potter series. Within the station concourse there is a tourist attraction of the Platform 9¾ sign and a luggage trolley partially embedded in the station wall with an owl cage and suitcases on it.