The Chiltern Main Line is an intercity regional and commuter main line railway in the United Kingdom, part of the British railway system. It links London and Birmingham on a 106 mile route which runs via North West London, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Warwickshire. Although the West Coast Main Line is the faster and original main line between the two cities, the Chiltern Main Line remains popular due to its more direct route between its two termini; it thus complements the West Coast Main Line by providing an additional link between Britain's two largest cities, as well as a useful commuter route for the small towns near both ends of the route.
It is one of the Snow Hill Lines.
The line is not electrified, and is operated by Class 165 and Class 168 diesel multiple units.
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Passenger Services
Passenger services on the whole length of the route are currently operated by Chiltern Railways. London Midland operate services between Birmingham Snow Hill and Dorridge, some of which are extended to Leamington Spa, whilst CrossCountry run services over the line between Bordesley Junction/Leamington Spa and Aynho Junction as part of their services from Scotland and the north of England to the south coast of England via the Thames Valley. Wrexham & Shropshire's Marylebone-Wrexham service uses the section south of Leamington. Finally, First Great Western run limited services between London Paddington and Banbury, which utilise the section of the route to the north of Aynho Junction.
Connections
The Chiltern Main Line does not connect to many other main lines, illustrated by the fact that the service calls at Birmingham Snow Hill rather than Birmingham New Street. However the line does connect to:
- London Underground Central Line (via Ruislip Depot), Jubilee Line and Metropolitan Line (at Harrow-on-the-Hill and Amersham via Aylesbury Line)
- London to Aylesbury Line at Neasden South Junction
- Dudding Hill Line, freight only
- Link to Paddington at Northolt Junction.
- Princes Risborough to Aylesbury Line at Princes Risborough.
- Chinnor and Princes Risborough Railway, former line to Oxford (indirectly)
- Cherwell Valley Line at Aynho Junction
- Coventry to Leamington line at Leamington Spa
- Leamington to Stratford Line at Hatton Junction
- Birmingham to Stratford Line at Tyseley South Junction
- Cross-City Line in Birmingham
- Birmingham to Worcester via Kidderminster Line
Route Description and Line Speeds
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Marylebone to Neasden
After departing Marylebone, the speed limit rises to 50mph for Sprinter-class multiple unit trains (of which the Class 165s and Class 168s are qualifying derivatives) and 30mph for all other types of train. Beyond Canfield Place, near Finchley Road, the line speed remains at 30/50 until a point near Willesden Green, where the line speed for Sprinter-class trains rises to 60mph. The line speed remains 30/60 as far as Neasden Junction, where the Chiltern main line splits from the former Great Central Main Line London to Aylesbury Line to Aylesbury via Amersham. The line runs north in a tunnel from outside Marylebone, passing under Lord's Cricket Ground, before emerging to cross the West Coast Main Line, after which it enters another tunnel. It then turns to run west and climbs to run alongside London Underground's Metropolitan and Jubilee lines, joining them between Finchley Roadand West Hampstead stations.
Neasden to Northolt
This segment has a speed limit of 60mph, except for a section of the down line on the approach to Northolt Junction where it is reduced to 50mph; here the up and down lines diverge, with the former running at a higher level as the latter runs under the line from Paddington.
There is a central turnback siding immediately west of Wembley Stadium station, usually used only when there are major events being held at the Stadium and additional services are operated to/from Marylebone.
Northolt to High Wycombe
Beyond Northolt Junction, the line speed rises to 75mph for Sprinter-class multiple unit trains and 60mph for all other types of train. This speed is maintained throughout the entire section, with slacks in at least two places:
- Between Gerrards Cross and a point between Denham Golf Club and Denham stations, where the speed for non-Sprinter trains drops to 35mph on the up line
- Beaconsfield, where the speed for non-Sprinter trains drops to 55mph on the up line (the speeds for Sprinters also remain at 75mph).
At South Ruislip the route joins the single track line from Paddington via Greenford and turns to run west; 3 tracks remain through the station and trains from Paddington cannot call there as there is no connection to the down platform line (served only by the route from Marylebone). However, in the up direction, the platform was extended in width and built out across the alignment of the up slow line so that trains to Paddington can call. The Paddington line also provides a connection into the Waste Transfer station which lies between the up and down Marylebone lines to the east of Northolt Junction. The route then runs alongside London Underground's Central line between Northolt Junction and West Ruislip; this section was once 4-track. At West Ruislip, the up platform is served by a loop, the slow line alignment being retained through the station, while the down platform was built out across the slow line alignment (in the same manner as the up platform at South Ruislip) to reach the former fast (now only) down line.
Immediately before Gerrards Cross station the line runs through a cutting between two arched overbidges; here Tesco proposed to build a new store over the line by creating a tunnel, with pre-cast concrete arch sections erected in 2004-2005 and subsequently backfilled. However on 30th June 2005, at about 19:30, following heavy rainfall, the partially-built tunnel sections collapsed, fortunately missing any trains, although one was in the up platform about to leave at the time while another, fortunately slowing to stop, was approaching on the down line and the driver managed to stop in time. This resulted in the line being closed for several weeks while the debris was cleared and investigations were undertaken as to what caused the collapse. During this time, a shuttle service ran between Marylebone and Denham, and between Seer Green and Birmingham, with buses opertaing between Denham and Seer Green, and between Beaconsfield/High Wycombe and Amersham, while a through Marylebone-Birmingham service ran via Amersham, Aylesbury and Princes Risborough (reversing at each of the latter two stations). The collapsed tunnel lining sections have still to be replaced.
There is a facing crossover and turnback siding immediately to the west of Gerrards Cross station; this is usually used only during weekday peak peiods for services starting and terminating there, and was extended to accommodate trains delivering backfill material during construction of the Tesco tunnel. At Gerrards Cross the remaining up line has been realigned to run where the former down through line ran, with a new up platform built on the former up through line alignment, allowing the car park to be extended south across the alignment of the former up slow line. The remaining down line runs on the alignment of the down slow line through the station.
At High Wycombe, the heavily curved alignment on a viaduct through the town centre (a consequence of the line's origin as a branch from Maidenhead) requires a severe drop in speeds; the speed through the station and over the viaduct to the west is 50mph for all types of train on the down line and 35/50 on the up line (increasing to 45/75 east of the station). At High Wycombe there is an east-facing bay platform on the south (down) side of the line (formerly used by Marlow/Maidenhead trains), and the down line is signalled for bi-directional working, with a trailing crossover to the east of the station and a facing crossover to the west.
High Wycombe to Princes Risborough
At High Wycombe the line curves to run north and speeds remain low as the line curves on a viaduct above the town centre, increasing through the northwestern suburbs and past the site of West Wycombe railway station. Beyond this point, the line straightens significantly (as a result of its upgrade by the GWR in the early 1900s); the speed limit increases to 75mph for all types of train.
North of Saunderton, the speed limit drops to 60mph on the down side, remaining 75mph on the up side. The speed limit is difficult to reach on the down side due to a steep 1 in 88 rising gradient. Just to the south of Princes Risborough, the line speed drops to 40mph for all types of train and remains this speed through the station limits; just north of the station, line speeds for Sprinters rise to 65mph. At Princes Risborough there is a north-facing bay platform on the up side on the line which can only be used by trains to/from Aylesbury, and the up line is bi-directional, also being used by down through London-Aylesbury trains, with a facing crossover south of the station and a trailing one to the north. The down platform currently used is on the alignment of the former down slow line (which was removed in the 1970s when the old down platform was taken out of use and the footbridge removed) and was brought into use following reinstatement of double track between Princes Risborough and Bicester North in 1998, requiring provision of a new footbridge.
The Icknield Line has aspirations to reintroduce heritage services to Princes Risborough on their preserved route from Chinnor (which formerly continued west to Watlington) using the disused western face of the platform. Chiltern Railways was proposing at one time to operate services on this line, reinstating the station at Chinnor and building a new station at Aston Rowant where a Park & Ride facility would be provided close to the M40 J7; however this proposal was subsequently abandoned. A third branch line to Oxford via Thame and Wheatley also diverged from the main line; while Chiltern Railways did propose to reinstate the whole length of this at one time this aspiration also appears to have been abandoned in favour of a new chord at Bicester and the route is now a cycleroute called The Phoenix Trail, forming part of Sustrans national network.
Princes Risborough to Aynho Junction
Beyond Risborough the line runs across the Vale of Aylesbury, passing Haddenham before reaching the site of the former Ashendon Junction where the former Great Central Main Line to Rugby, Leicester, Nottingham and Sheffield diverged; here the up and down lines diverge. North of Ashendon the line passes through a short tunnel at Brill, before continuing in a north westerly direction to Bicester North. Beyond Bicester the line passes under the M40 motorway and a longer tunnel at Ardley before emerging on a viaduct running above the Didcot-Oxford-Banbury line; the down line crosses the latter on a girder bridge at the grade separated Aynho Junction. Line speeds remain 60/100 north of Risborough in the appropriate directions (70/90 on the up line between Aynho and Bicester, and only 25 on the up line through Bicester North station); speed limits are lower when trains are running in the "wrong" direction on the down line, which is signalled for bi-directional working.
At Bicester there is a turnback siding on the down side of the line immediately north of the station, and a trailing crossover to the south of the station and a facing crossover to the north.
At Aynho, train speeds are low on the down side, but higher on the up side, the speed through the turnout having been increased from 40 to 65 during the Project Evergreen works.
Aynho Junction to Leamington Spa
Beyond Aynho Junction, line speeds rise to 90mph for all types of train and remain 90 throughout this segment, apart from 75mph slacks through Banbury and around the curve at Fenny Compton. Several segments of this section are signed at 90/95 for HSTs; Chiltern's Class 168s have a derogation to observe these speeds.
Leamington to Birmingham
Line speeds for HSTs vary between 85 and 95 in each direction along most of this section, falling to 20mph through Leamington station where there are two through lines and two platform lines, plus two west-facing bay platforms at the Birmingham end. The single track branch to Coventry diverges immediately to the west of the station, while the Birmingham line continues through Warwick and the new station at Warwick Parkway.
The single track branch to Stratford-upon-Avon diverges at Hatton. The main line continues alongside the M40 motorway between Hatton and Lapworth. Between Lapworth and Tyseley there were once four tracks but the former slow lines (which were on the west side of the line) have been removed, except through Dorridge; here a bi-direcional through loop has been retained which is used by London Midland services which normally start/terminate here. The slow line platforms remain in place at Solihull and Olton; at Acocks Green a car park has been constructed on the former slow line alignment and most of the slow line platforms demolished.
Beyond Tyseley, where the branch from Stratford via Shirley joins, the slow lines have been retained, and Chiltern (and London Midland) trains cross to them lines to continue to Moor Street/Snow Hill, the fast lines diverging at Bordesley Junction and continuing north towards Derby with a connection to Birmingham Snow Hill. New 60mph crossovers were installed at Tyseley (on the down side of the station) in conjunction with resignalling in 2008, replacing the old 20mph crossovers on the up side of the station. The speed limit is 60 from Tyseley until beyond Bordesley Junction where it drops to 30.
Beyond Bordeseley Junction the slow lines continue through the new through platforms at Moor Street, the three original terminus platforms still being out of use. The through lines continue into a tunnel (20mph limit) to reach the new Snow Hill station, where three platforms are available for national rail, the fourth now being used by Midland Metro. Beyond Snow Hill the Jewellery Line continues to Worcester via Stourbridge Junction and Kidderminster.
Map
History
Early history
The original line from Birmingham, England to London, England was built by the Great Western Railway (GWR) in the 1850s, to connect Oxford to Birmingham and Wolverhampton. For many years, trains from Birmingham to London went the "long way round", via Leamington, Oxford and Didcot, then along the Great Western Main Line to London Paddington. This routing was circuitous, and not competitive with the LWNR's London-Birmingham route; such routes between major conurbations were common in the early days of the GWR, earning it the sobriquet "Great Way Round".
In this time period, the only segments of the Chiltern Main Line that currently existed were the Aynho-Banbury-Leamington-Birmingham routing, and the single-track Wycombe Railway between Princes Risborough and High Wycombe; this single-track line continued further south, via Bourne End, to Maidenhead on the 1838 Great Western Main Line.
GW/GC Joint Line
In an attempt to compete with the LNWR's London-Birmingham route, and also speed up container traffic between London and the port at Birkenhead, the GWR took advantage of an existing partnership with the Great Central Railway (GCR) to build a new, direct route referred to as the Great Western and Great Central Joint Railway (the two companies were already working together over a link between Woodford Halse station and Banbury). This enabled the GCR to run faster services than was possible on the congested Metropolitan Railway route through Aylesbury and Amersham which was used by stopping services.
The new route started at Northolt Junction in Middlesex, from which two lines ran southward:
- a direct line, referred to as the New North Main Line, towards London Paddington via Greenford and Old Oak Common, built by the GWR. This line also included a triangular junction at Greenford, providing access to the 1838 Great Western Main Line via Castle Bar Park.
- a line via South Harrow and Wembley to meet the existing GCR route at Neasden Junction, near Neasden station on the Jubilee Line. This is the line used by almost all Chiltern services. Despite being used soley by the GCR, this line was also built by the GWR.
The new Joint Line route, also built by the GWR, ran northwest via Gerrards Cross to High Wycombe, where the line met the existing route of the Wycombe Railway's single-track branch from Maidenhead to Aylesbury via Princes Risborough. North of High Wycombe station the existing route was reused, with significant upgrading of the formation, including dualling, and a new route chosen for the new up line north of Saunderton. The existing route, taken by the down line today, has a gradient of 1 in 88, which was too steep for the heavy coal trains run by the GCR. As a result, the two tracks of the route are horizontally and vertically separated at this point, with the down line crossing the Chiltern Hills at the Risborough gap and the up line passing through an 88 yard tunnel on a flatter gradient.
Upon reaching Princes Risborough, new construction was started again. The station was already a major junction, with the single-track line bifurcating into three branches; one to Chinnor and Watlington (which survives in part as the Chinnor and Princes Risborough Railway), one to Thame, Wheatley and Oxford, and one to Aylesbury. The new main line was constructed in the 'V' formed by the three branches, and ran northwest to a point near the hamlet of Dorton, where the line curved to the north to meet the GCR's main line at Grendon Underwood Junction in Buckinghamshire.
The Joint Line was completed in its entirety in 1906 (with portions opening as they were completed), operated by the GWR and immediately benefited both parties. The GCR, unable to gain equal access to their route via Aylesbury, Amersham and Harrow, gained a new and fast bypass route for their express passenger and freight services to London Marylebone, while the GWR gained a fast cut-off that allowed their Birmingham trains to run via Gerrards Cross, Princes Risborough and Oxford to regain their original routing. GCR trains used both the Metropolitan and Joint lines for their Marylebone-Sheffield expresses, while the Joint Line was used by GWR expresses running between Paddington, Birmingham and Wolverhampton and onto Shewsbury, Chester and Mid/North Wales, plus container traffic to Birkenhead.
The Bicester cut-off
Four years later, the GWR constructed a second line, starting at Ashendon Junction in Buckinghamshire, near Dorton, and running northwest via Bicester to meet the existing route from Oxford at Aynho Junction. This truncated the original Joint Line to Ashendon Junction, the section northwards of there being sold to the GCR after the completion of the Bicester cut-off. The new cut-off provided both a faster route between London Paddington and Birmingham Snow Hill stations for the GWR, which could now divert its services to the latter station away from the route via Oxford; the final saving in distance was approximately 20 miles.
Heyday, decline and rationalisation
During the heyday of the route, many prestigious trains ran from Paddington to the northwest of England via the Joint Line, reaching Wolverhampton, Shrewsbury, Wrexham, Chester, Liverpool and Birkenhead. Various through services from Marylebone to the GCR network also ran via the Joint Line between London and Ashendon Junction.
In the late 1960s, following completion of electrification of when the rival West Coast Main Line (WCML), express services from London to Birmingham/Wolverhampton on this route were discontinued as part of the Beeching Axe; beforehand, it was even more heavily used by many long trains running from Liverpool and Birkenhead, as the WCML was restricted in capacity due to the electrification works. All local trains on the route were diverted to Marylebone in 1963 and operated by 4-car Class 115 DMUs, and Greenford station on the New North route between Old Oak Common and Northolt Junction was run down and eventually closed. The route was downgraded to secondary status in 1967, and subsequently single-tracked between Princes Risborough and Aynho Junction, which remained a flying junction, with a passing loop retained at Bicester (not normally used). Through lines were removed from most of those stations which had them, such as Beaconsfield and Denham, and the slow lines were lifted between Lapworth and Tyseley. Although a 2-hourly locomotive-hauled semi-fast service from Paddington to Birmingham continued to run via the route (serving High Wycombe, Princes Risborough, Bicester, Banbury, Leamington and Solihull), in the 1970s this was diverted to run via Reading and Oxford, and later via Coventry; by the 1980s only one locomotive hauled train in each direction ran to/from Paddington via the route. All other services were operated by DMUs, which were extended from High Wycombe to Banbury (for onward connection onto Birmingham), operating on a two-hourly frequency. Snow Hill station was also closed in the early 1970s, along with the line to Wolverhampton, with local services from Leamington and Stratford terminating at Moor Street, and long distance services from Paddington diverted into Birmingham New Street.
The route was eventually considered for partial closure in the 1980s, with all services returning to Paddington via the New North route, and Marylebone station and all lines leading to it being closed - services to and from Aylesbury would have run via Princes Risborough. Marylebone was formally reprieved in 1986, however, and the closure proposals were rescinded. With "Sectorisation" of British Rail in the mid 1980s, the operation of the section of the route south of Banbury fell under the control of Network SouthEast in 1986, under the Thames & Chiltern sub-sector, which was later split into the two constituent parts. The following year, a new station was opened at Haddenham & Thame Parkway. Birmingham Snow Hill station was also reopened in 1987 (albeit on a much smaller scale than the original, beneath a multi-storey car park), as was a new station on the through lines at Moor Street, where the terminus was taken out of use, with Leamington/Stratford services diverted to Snow Hill.
In the early 1990s, the New North route between Old Oak Common and Northolt Junction was singled between Old Oak Common and Park Royal and also between Greenford and Northolt Junction. The Total Route Modernisation performed by BR in the early 1990s removed most of the vestigial traces of main line heritage from the route, downgrading it purely to a commuter line with a minimum of available infrastructure; until that point, High Wycombe station alone had retained almost all of its original track layout, the other major stations on the line having already been downgraded with through lines removed. The route was resignalled between London and Aynho, and controlled from a new Integrated Control Centre at Marylebone. In 1992, the old signal box at Aynho Junction was closed and replaced with modern signalling controlled from Banbury South signal box; the structure stood until 2002, when it was demolished. As part of these renovations, BR also installed the advanced Automatic Train Protection (ATP) system mainly as a trial with a view to rolling it out nationwide. However, privatisation intervened, and the Great Western Main Line was the only other line to be equipped with ATP.
The opening of the extension of the parallel M40 motorway from Oxford to Birmingham in 1991 spawned development in towns along the northern section of the route, notably Bicester, Banbury, Leamington and Warwick. This generated additional patronage for train services in the corridor.
New Class 165 Turbo trains were introduced on the route in 1991, initially running only between Marylebone and Banbury. These improved passenger comfort and enabled journey times to be reduced; service frequencies were also increased with an hourly stopping service to/from High Wycombe and hourly semi-fast service to/from Banbury. In 1993, Marylebone-Banbury services were extended through to Snow Hill, calling at Leamington, Warwick, Solihull and Moor Street, initially on a two-hourly frequency, then increased to hourly the following year, when a Dorridge call was added. In 1995 the Jewellery Line was re-opened to allow Worcester line services to be diverted from New Street to Snow Hill; this allowed some of Chiltern's weekday peak period services to be extended beyond Snow Hill, first to Stourbridge Junction then Kidderminster.
Chiltern Railways era
Upon rail privatisation in 1996 the Chiltern Railways franchise was won by M40 Trains (a consortium of a management buyout; Laing Rail, a subisdiary of construction company and PFI specialist John Laing plc; and venture capitalist 3i), took over the operation route, and in 1998, the line between Princes Risborough and Bicester North was redoubled by the company. This included the total reconstruction of Haddenham and Thame Parkway station at platform level, with two side platforms instead of the single platform constructed in 1987, and a new down platform at Princes Risborough, together with the raising of the speed limit. Also in 1998 the first of the new 168 Clubman trains with a 100mph maximum speed were introduced to reduce journey times between London and Birmingham.
In 2002, after Chiltern won their 20-year franchise, the line between Bicester North and Aynho Junction was also redoubled. Chiltern Railways also took over the operation of the Hatton to Stratford line from the Thames Trains and Central Trains franchises, with direct services operating between Marylebone (rather than Paddington) and Stratford. Also at this time Chiltern took over the operation of Leamington, Warwick, Hatton and Lapworth stations from Central Trains as these (now operated by London Midland)no longer operate beyond Dorridge except during weekday peak periods.
John Laing plc acquired 84% ownership of M40 Trains in 1999, buying out 3i, and was itself bought out by Henderson Investments in 2006, resulting in the sale of Laing Rail to the German national railway operator Deutsche Bahn in 2007.
Further resignalling has taken place in the Cherwell Valley north of Banbury, resulting in the closure of Fenny Compton signal box together with the removal of its semaphore signals, and between Leamington and Birmingham. The section north of Banbury as far as Birmingham is now all controlled from the new West Midlands ICC at Saltley (taking over the old signalling centres at Leamington and Saltley) with new 4-aspect LED signals throughout. However, the manual signal boxes at Banbury North and South remain for now, along with some GWR lower quadrant signals, but it is proposed that the West Midlands ICC take over control as far south as Oxford.
Part of the old Great Western route from Birmingham Snow Hill to Wolverhampton is now used by the Midland Metro light rail system.
The route between Marylebone and Leamington is also now used by Wrexham & Shropshire services from London to Wrexham via Tame Bridge, Wolverhampton and Shrewsbury, which are comprised of 3 Mk3 coaches hauled by Class 67 locomotives.
The line from Northolt Junction to Paddington alone has not been improved, and only one Chiltern train a day from Princes Risborough, and back, uses it, and only during the week (except on Wednesdays). Freight trains carrying refuse from London use the line, however, and it has been used as a diversion when work is taking place on the line to Marylebone and Chiltern services are diverted into Paddington, or when the normal line into Paddington is closed. HSTs are often sent around the Greenford loop via Ealing Broadway and Park Royal to turn them around for operational reasons. On weekends during 2008 when major engineering works were taking place on the WCML it was also use by Virgin Trains' Euston-Birmingham International "Blockade Buster" service which ran via Willesden, Old Oak Common, Ealing Broadway, Greenford, High Wycombe, Banbury and Coventry using 2 5-car Voyager sets.
As of September 2006, Chiltern has completed their Evergreen 2 upgrade project. The project, which was carried out by Carillion, realigned the track through Beaconsfield to increase non-stop speeds from 40mph to 75mph, installed additional signals between High Wycombe and Bicester North (as well as between Princes Risborough and Aylesbury), and added two new platforms (nos 5 and 6) at Marylebone. The new platforms are on the site of the old daytime carriage sidings, which were replaced with the new Wembley Light Maintenance Depot, just to the south and west of Wembley Stadium station. The new platforms and partial resignalling of the station throat now make it possible to run 20 trains per hour in and out of the station.
Future
There are several plans for this route; [1]
- The restoration of the quadruple track between South Ruislip and West Ruislip, allowing trains to call at both stations without blocking the line. Triple track currently exists at West Ruislip, with the up platform loop still in situ, and at South Ruislip, with the Down Main through line also in situ. This would involve the reconstruction of the down platform at West Ruislip, the reconstruction of the up platform at South Ruislip, and the demolition of West Ruislip signal box.
- The restoration of the fast tracks at Beaconsfield railway station allowing fast trains to overtake stopping trains.
- Building of the West Hampstead Interchange to allow easy interchange with the London Overground (North London Line), Jubilee line, Metropolitan Line and Thameslink line. This would give Chiltern Railways an interchange with the future Orbirail line.
- Reopening of the line between Oxford and Princes Risborough via Thame, this would then give Oxford an alternative to the Oxford-Paddington route. The Oxford to Banbury spur would then be handed over to the Chiltern mainline to create a diversionary loop from Princes Risborough to Banbury via Oxford. This option requires an expensive crossing of the M40 motorway and also reinstatement of a bridge over the dual carriageway A40 at Wheatley[1].
- Upgrading the line to a High Speed Main Line with speeds up to 186mph[2]
- Constructing a south east to south west spur connecting the Chiltern line with the Oxford-Bletchley-Bedford Varsity line at Bicester to enable Chiltern trains to run from Marylebone to Oxford.
- Provision of a facing crossover to the east of West Ruislip to enable a stopping shuttle service to operate between there and Marylebone, using the up platform loop as a turnback facility.
References
- ^ http://www.cwn.org.uk/business/a-z/c/chiltern-railways/images/train-route.gif
- ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7467203.stm
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