Editing West Coast Main Line (section)

===Privatisation, 1997–present===
As part of the [[privatisation of British Rail]] in the 1990s, the infrastructure was taken over in 1994 by the private company [[Railtrack]], which later collapsed in 2002, and was replaced by the not-for-profit company [[Network Rail]]. WCML's InterCity services became part of the [[InterCity West Coast]] [[Passenger rail franchising in Great Britain|franchise]], which was won by [[Virgin Trains]] who took over in 1997.<ref name="HOCLWCML">{{cite web |title=Railways: West Coast Main Line |url=https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/SN00364/SN00364.pdf |publisher=House of Commons Library |access-date=19 May 2024}}</ref> In 2019, [[Avanti West Coast]] won the new [[West Coast Partnership]] franchise, taking over from Virgin Trains.

==== Modernisation by Railtrack and Network Rail ====
{{main|West Coast Main Line route modernisation}}
[[File:Pendolino and Freight train.jpg|thumb|A [[Virgin Trains|Virgin]] [[Pendolino]] and [[English Welsh and Scottish Railway|EWS]] {{brc|66}} freight train on the WCML]]

By the dawn of the 1990s, it was clear that further modernisation was required. Initially this took the form of the InterCity 250 project. The modernisation plan unveiled by Virgin and the new infrastructure owner Railtrack involved the upgrade and renewal of the line to allow the use of tilting ''Pendolino'' trains with a maximum line speed of {{convert|140|mph|km/h|0|abbr=on}}, in place of the previous maximum of {{convert|110|mph|km/h|0|abbr=on}}. Railtrack estimated that this upgrade would cost £2&nbsp;billion, be ready by 2005, and cut journey times to 1&nbsp;hour for London to Birmingham and 1&nbsp;hr 45&nbsp;mins for London to Manchester.

However, these plans proved too ambitious and were subsequently scaled back. The upgrade was described as "a classic example of disastrous project management".<ref name="BBCupgrade">{{cite web |title=West coast rail upgrade expected |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/2221904.stm |publisher=BBC News |access-date=19 May 2024 |date=28 August 2002}}</ref> Central to the implementation of the plan was the adoption of [[moving block signalling]], which had never been proven on anything more than simple [[rapid transit|metro lines]] and [[Light rail|light rail systems]] – not on a complex high-speed heavy-rail network such as the WCML. Despite this, Railtrack made what would prove to be the fatal mistake of not properly assessing the technical viability and cost of implementing moving block prior to promising the speed increase to Virgin and the government. By 1999, with little headway on the modernisation project made, it became apparent to engineers that the technology was not mature enough to be used on the line.<ref>{{cite news |first=James |last=Meek |url= https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/apr/01/transport.politics1 |title=The £10bn Rail Crash |location=London |newspaper=The Guardian |date=1 April 2004}}</ref> The bankruptcy of Railtrack in 2001 and its replacement by [[Network Rail]] following the [[Hatfield train crash|Hatfield crash]] brought a reappraisal of the plans, while the cost of the upgrade soared. Following fears that cost overruns on the project would push the final price tag to £13&nbsp;billion, the plans were scaled down, bringing the cost down to between £8&nbsp;billion and £10&nbsp;billion, to be ready by 2008, with a maximum speed for tilting trains of a more modest {{convert|125|mph|km/h|0|abbr=on}} – equalling the speeds available on the East Coast route, but some way short of the original target, and even further behind BR's original vision of {{convert|155|mph|km/h|-1|abbr=on}} speeds planned and achieved with the APT.<ref>{{cite web |title=West Coast Main Line |url=https://www.railway-technology.com/projects/virgin/?cf-view |publisher=Railway Technology |access-date=19 May 2024}}</ref>

The first phase of the upgrade, south of Manchester, opened on 27 September 2004 with journey times of 1{{nbsp}}hour 21{{nbsp}}minutes for London to Birmingham and 2{{nbsp}}hours 6{{nbsp}}minutes for London to Manchester. The final phase, introducing {{convert|125|mph|km/h|0|abbr=on}} running along most of the line, was announced as opening on 12 December 2005, bringing the fastest journey between London and Glasgow to 4{{nbsp}}hours 25{{nbsp}}mins (down from 5{{nbsp}}hours 10{{nbsp}}minutes).<ref name="High-speed tilting train on track">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/4518282.stm |title=High-speed tilting train on track |work=BBC News |date=12 December 2005}}</ref> However, considerable work remained, such as the quadrupling of the track in the Trent Valley, upgrading the slow lines, the second phase of remodelling Nuneaton, and the remodelling of Stafford, Rugby, Milton Keynes and Coventry stations, and these were completed in late 2008. The upgrading of the Crewe–Manchester line via Wilmslow was completed in summer 2006.

In September 2006, a new speed record was set on the WCML&nbsp;– a Pendolino train completed the {{convert|401|mi|km|0|adj=on}} Glasgow Central&nbsp;– London Euston run in a record 3{{nbsp}}hours 55{{nbsp}}minutes, beating the APT's record of 4{{nbsp}}hours 15{{nbsp}}minutes, although the APT still holds the overall record on the northbound run.
The decade-long modernisation project was finally completed in December 2008.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7782085.stm |title=West Coast rail works completed |work=BBC News |date=14 December 2008}}</ref> This allowed Virgin's VHF (very high frequency) timetable to be progressively introduced through early 2009, the highlights of which are a three-trains-per-hour service to both Birmingham and Manchester during off-peak periods, and nearly all London-Scottish timings brought under the 4{{nbsp}}hours 30{{nbsp}}minutes barrier&nbsp;– with one service (calling only at Preston) achieving a London–Glasgow time of 4{{nbsp}}hours 8{{nbsp}}minutes.

Some projects that were removed from the modernisation as a result of the de-scoping, such as a flyover at Norton Bridge station, were later restarted. A £250{{nbsp}}million project to grade-separate the tracks at Norton Bridge that allowed for increased service frequency as well as improved line-speeds was completed in spring 2016.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://alittlebitofstone.com/2016/03/29/norton-bridge-rail-flyover-opens/ |title=First trains use Norton Bridge rail flyover |date=29 March 2016 |website=A Little Bit of Stone}}</ref> Other projects such as the replacement of a weak bridge in Watford allowed line-speeds to be increased from {{convert|90|mph|km/h|0|abbr=on}} to {{convert|125|mph|km/h|0|abbr=on}}, decreasing journey times.<ref>{{Cite press release |url=https://www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk/news/orphanage-road-bridge-to-be-replaced-as-work-to-upgrade-railway-at-watford-continues |title=Orphanage Road bridge to be replaced as work to upgrade railway at Watford continues |publisher= Network Rail |date=28 January 2015}}</ref>