Editing West Coast Main Line (section)

===British Rail, 1948–1997 ===
In 1948, following [[nationalisation]], the line came under the control of [[British Railways]]' [[London Midland Region|London Midland]] and [[Scottish Region]]s, when the term "West Coast Main Line" came into use officially,{{Citation needed|date=November 2010}} although it had been used informally since at least 1912.<ref>{{cite news |title=Auction Announcements of Messrs. Knight, Frank, and Rutley |newspaper=The Times |location=London |date=27 April 1912 |page=22 |quote="The Abington and Crawford Estates&nbsp;... extending as they do for some 12 miles either side of the main road and the West Coast Main Line to the North, with Abington and Crawford Stations on the Estate.}}</ref>

==== Modernisation by British Rail ====
[[File:Electric hauled train at Euston, 1966, geograph 6436599 by Alan Murray Rust.jpg|thumb|A train headed by a {{brc|85}} electric locomotive at Euston in 1966, shortly after the introduction of electric train services on the WCML]]
As part of the [[1955 modernisation plan]], British Rail carried out a large programme of modernisation of the WCML in stages between 1959 and 1974; the modernisation involved upgrading the track and signaling to allow higher speeds, rebuilding a number of stations, and [[Railway electrification in Great Britain|electrification]] of the route with overhead line equipment. The first stretch to be upgraded and electrified was Crewe to Manchester, completed on 12 September 1960. This was followed by Crewe to Liverpool, completed on 1 January 1962. Electrification was then extended south to London. The first electric trains from London ran on 12 November 1965, with a full public service to Manchester and Liverpool launched on 18 April 1966. Electrification of both the [[Rugby–Birmingham–Stafford Line|Birmingham branch]], and the routes to Manchester via {{rws|Stoke-on-Trent}} was completed on 6 March 1967, allowing electric services to commence to those destinations. In March 1970 the government approved electrification of the northern half of the WCML, between [[Weaver Junction]] (where the [[Crewe–Liverpool line|branch to Liverpool]] diverges) and Glasgow, and this was completed on 6 May 1974.<ref name="Electric All The Way" /><ref>{{cite book |title=The Guinness Book Of Rail Facts & Feats |last=Marshall |first=John |year=1979 |isbn=0-900424-56-7 |publisher=Guinness Superlatives |location=Enfield}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Christiansen |first1=Rex |title=A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain, Volume 7 The West Midlands |date=1983 |publisher=David St John Thomas David and Charles|pages=45, 209 |isbn=0946537-00-3}}</ref> The announcement, after five years of uncertainty, was made 48{{nbsp}}hours before the writ was issued for a [[1970 South Ayrshire by-election|by-election in South Ayrshire]].<ref name=Observer>{{cite news |title=£25 million railway scheme shocks economists |newspaper=[[The Observer]] |pages=1 |date=1 March 1970 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/257798361/ |access-date=27 February 2019 |last1=Beloff |first1=Nora |author-link=Nora Beloff |last2=Eglin |first2=Roger |last3=Haworth |first3=David |url-access=subscription |via=newspapers.com}}</ref> ''[[The Observer]]'' commented that, if the £25&nbsp;million decision was politically rather than financially motivated, it would have the makings of a major political scandal.<ref name=Observer />

A new set of high-speed long-distance services was introduced in 1966, launching British Rail's highly successful "[[InterCity (British Rail)|Inter-City]]" brand<ref>{{cite book |title=Fire and Steam, A New History of the Railways in Britain |last=Wolmar |first=Christian |author-link=Christian Wolmar |year=2007 |isbn=978-1-84354-629-0 |location=London |publisher=Atlantic}}</ref> (the hyphen was later dropped) and offering journey times as London to Birmingham in 1 hour 35 minutes, and London to Manchester or Liverpool in 2{{nbsp}}hours 40{{nbsp}}minutes (and even 2{{nbsp}}hours 30{{nbsp}}minutes for the twice-daily [[Manchester Pullman]]).<ref>{{cite book |title=Passenger Timetable 1 May 1972 to 6 May 1973 |publisher=British Railways Board, London Midland Region |pages=83, 06}}</ref> This represented a big improvement on the 3{{nbsp}}hours 30{{nbsp}}minutes to Manchester and Liverpool of the fastest steam service. A new feature was that these fast trains were offered on a regular-interval service throughout the day: initially hourly to Birmingham, two-hourly to Manchester, and so on.<ref>{{cite web |publisher=British Railways Board |date=April 1966 |url=http://www.railwaysarchive.co.uk/documents/BRB_YNR001.pdf |title=Your New Railway: London Midland Electrification - Information booklet}}</ref> The service proved to be so popular that in 1972 these InterCity service frequencies were doubled to deal with increased demand.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Christiansen |first1=Rex |title=A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain, Volume 7 The West Midlands |date=1983 |publisher=David St John Thomas David and Charles|page=246 |isbn=0946537-00-3}}</ref> With the completion of the northern electrification in 1974, London to Glasgow journey times were reduced from 6{{nbsp}}hours to 5.<ref name="Electric All The Way" /> Along with electrification came modern coaches such as the [[British Rail Mark 2|Mark 2]] and from 1974 the [[Monocoque|fully integral]], air-conditioned [[British Rail Mark 3|Mark 3]] design. These remained the mainstay of express services until the early 2000s. Line speeds were raised to a maximum {{cvt|110|mph|km/h}}, and these trains, hauled by {{brc|86}} and {{brc|87}} electric locomotives, came to be seen as BR's flagship passenger service. Passenger traffic on the WCML doubled between 1962 and 1975.<ref name="S.Potter and R. Roy">{{cite book |first1=Stephen |last1=Potter |first2=Robin |last2=Roy |series=Design and Innovation, Block 3 |title=Research and development: British Rail's fast trains |location=Milton Keynes |publisher=Open University Press |year=1986 |page=12 |isbn=978-0-335-17273-3}}</ref>

The modernisation also saw the demolition and redevelopment of several of the key stations on the line: BR was keen to symbolise the coming of the "electric age" by replacing the Victorian-era buildings with new structures built from glass and concrete. Notable examples were {{rws|Birmingham New Street}}, {{rws|Manchester Piccadilly}}, {{rws|Stafford}}, {{rws|Coventry}} and {{rws|London Euston}}. To enable the latter, the famous [[Euston Arch|Doric Arch portal]] into the original [[Philip Hardwick]]-designed terminus was demolished in 1962 amid much public outcry.<ref>{{cite news |first=Gavin |last=Stamp |author-link=Gavin Stamp |title=Steam ahead: the proposed rebuilding of London's Euston station is an opportunity to atone for a great architectural crime |date=1 October 2007 |url=http://www.apollo-magazine.com/189416/steam-ahead.thtml |work=Apollo: the international magazine of art and antiques |access-date=9 November 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071101082227/http://www.apollo-magazine.com/189416/steam-ahead.thtml |archive-date=1 November 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Electrification of the [[Glasgow to Edinburgh via Carstairs Line|Edinburgh branch]] was carried out in the late 1980s as part of the [[East Coast Main Line]] electrification project in order to allow [[InterCity 225]] sets to access Glasgow via Carstairs Junction.<ref>{{cite book |last=Semmens |first=Peter |year=1991 |title=Electrifying the East Coast Route |publisher=Patrick Stephens |isbn=0-85059-929-6}}</ref>

[[File:APT at Crewe.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Advanced Passenger Train]], British Rail's ill-fated [[tilting train]], seen here next to the WCML at [[Crewe Heritage Centre]]]]
Modernisation brought great improvements in speed and frequency. However some locations and lines were no longer served by through trains or through coaches from London, such as: {{rws|Windermere}}; {{rws|Barrow-in-Furness}}, {{rws|Whitehaven}} and {{rws|Workington}}; {{rws|Huddersfield}}, {{rws|Bradford Interchange}}, {{rws|Leeds}} and {{rws|Halifax|England}} (via Stockport); {{rws|Blackpool South}}; {{rws|Colne}} (via Stockport); {{rws|Morecambe}} and {{rws|Heysham}}; {{rws|Southport}} (via {{rws|Edge Hill}}); {{rws|Blackburn}} and {{rws|Stranraer Harbour}}. Notable also is the loss of through services between Liverpool and Scotland; however these were restored by [[TransPennine Express]] in 2019.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Houghton |first1=Tom |edition=Updated |date=20 December 2019 |title=Direct trains launched between Liverpool Lime Street and Glasgow |url=https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/transpennine-express-launches-direct-trains-17452626 |access-date=4 June 2022 |website=Liverpool Echo}}</ref>

British Rail introduced the [[Advanced Passenger Train]] APT project, which proved that London–Glasgow WCML journey times of less than 4{{nbsp}}hours were achievable and paved the way for the later tilting Virgin ''[[Pendolino]]'' trains.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.apt-p.com/BenGoodwinDissertation.pdf |title='Queasy Rider:' The Failure of the Advanced Passenger Train.}}</ref> In the late 1980s, British Rail put forward a track realignment scheme to raise speeds on the WCML; a proposed project called [[InterCity 250]], which entailed realigning parts of the line in order to increase curve radii and smooth gradients in order to facilitate higher-speed running. The scheme, which would have seen the introduction of new rolling stock derived from that developed for the East Coast electrification, was scrapped in 1992.