Work to electrify railway lines between Harborough and Wigston begins

Work has begun to electrify the Midland Main Line between Harborough and Wigston.

It is part of a multi-million pound programme to electrify the line between London and Sheffield, via Nottingham and Derby.

The first part of the route between London and Corby was completed last year, with this next phase seeing the 12-mile section improved to electrify the entire route.

A Network Rail spokesman said: “As part of the Midland Main Line electrification, Network Rail will start to drive steel columns as deep as seven metres into the ground to lay the foundations for the overhead line equipment needed to power electric and bi-mode trains in the future.

“Most of the work will be done overnight while there are no trains running to keep railway workers safe and to keep disruption to a minimum.”