Work will begin in April 2004 on a £12million upgrade of part of the East Coast main line near Grantham.

A new section of double track railway will be laid to allow trains travelling between Nottingham and Skegness to avoid the East Coast Main Line completely.

Additional track at Allington Junction will improve reliability and performance on the main line and offer improved connections for local services into Grantham as well as long distance services. When combined with other improvements it will also increase capacity on the main line.

At present local trains can occupy the main line for up to 15 minutes each between Grantham and Barkston South Junction.

Separating them from other trains will allow train operator GNER to run half hourly services between London King’s Cross and Leeds.

The work, jointly funded by the Strategic Rail Authority and Network Rail, is due for completion in 2005 to allow changes to services in the December 2005 timetable.

It is the first project developed by the East Coast Main Line SRA/Network Rail Integrated Project Team. Engineering firm Carillion has been awarded the contract for the improvement scheme.

Information from Transport Briefing