Could Electric Trains Run Between St. Pancras International and Sheffield Stations With No More Electrification?
A reader suggested, that I look at this, so here goes!
- A couple of weeks ago, I took a Class 222 diesel train back from Sheffield to St. Pancras International and it seemed a few minutes quicker.
- Looking at the timetable today, at least one service on the route is now just under two hours and some others are just over.
So the new Class 810 trains may not be fully in service yet, but the trains have already had an affect on the timetable.
How Far North Is The Midland Main Line Being Electrified?
I asked Google AI this question and received this answer.
As of early 2026, the Midland Main Line (MML) is electrified as far north as Wigston, just south of Leicester.
- Northern Limit: The section from Kettering up to Wigston South Junction was energised in July 2024, representing the current northern limit of 25kV overhead line equipment (OLE).
- Pause in Further Electrification: Following a UK government spending review, the further, planned northward extension of electrification to Leicester, Derby, Nottingham, and Sheffield was indefinitely paused in July 2025.
- Current Operations: While electrification has stopped at Wigston, the line is served by new bi-mode (electro-diesel) trains, allowing for electric running from London St Pancras to Wigston before switching to diesel power.
- Previous Work: The line is also fully electrified from London St Pancras to Bedford, including the route to Corby.
Note.
- South Wigston Junction and Sheffield are 69.4 miles apart.
- The Hitachi trains can raise and lower pantographs on the move.
Distances without wires from London St. Pancras International to various destinations are as follows.
- Sheffield – 69.4 miles
- Leicester – 3.7 miles
- Derby – 36.4 miles
- Nottingham – 31.1 miles
As trains will have to go out and back to these destinations distances travelled will be doubled.
- Sheffield – 138.8 miles
- Leicester – 7.4 miles
- Derby – 72.8 miles
- Nottingham – 62.2 miles
It looks to me, that if the new Class 810 trains, can travel 138.8 miles on batteries and diesel engines as a tri-mode train, then the Midland Main Line is electrified.
Could The Sheffield Services Turn Round At Doncaster And Charge Their Batteries There?
Note.
- South Wigston Junction and Doncaster are 79.5 miles apart.
- Doncaster is a fully-electrified station.
- Sheffield and Doncaster would get two extra connecting trains per hour.
- The two services could also call at Meadowhall and/or Rotherham Central.
The Class 810 trains could charge their batteries, whilst passengers to and from Doncaster left and entered the trains.
Could A Simple Cross-Platform Change Be Arranged Between East Coast And Midland Main Line Services?
Doncaster station has two long island platforms, one of which is generally used for Northbound services and one for Southbound services.
Note.
- All electrified tracks are shown in red.
- The two wide island platforms, with Northbound on the West side and Southbound on the East side.
- Each island platform has an electrified platform face on both sides.
- The four platforms faces on the island platforms can hold pairs of five-car Hitachi trains.
- There are two through tracks or avoiding lines between the two island platforms for trains that aren’t stopping.
- There are bay platforms at the ends of the station for local trains.
- The station is fully step-free with a wide pedestrian underpass.
I know the station well and it looks to me, that East Midland Railway’s five-car services for St. Pancras could charge up in the Southern ends of the four faces of the island platforms and the two South-facing bay platforms.
I also believe that a pair of five-car Class 810 trains could be handled and charged, should it become necessary.
It looks to me, that the engineers updating the East Coast Main Line, know that they were caught out badly by High Speed Two, so the redesign for the next fifty or a hundred years will be completely future-proofed.
Doncaster and London could almost be considered to be twin main lines, with two pairs of high speed lines taking different routes, that serve different towns and cities.
The Anonymous Widower 