Under the governments that succeeded the 1976–79 Labour government, the proposal was not implemented. Route The route is well connected, and aside from its own alignment it uses parts of the South Wales Main Line, Midland Main Line, Swinton–Doncaster line, and the East Coast Main Line. Major cities and towns served along the route include: Bristol Cheltenham Birmingham Tamworth Derby Sheffield Leeds York Nominal start-point at Derby Milepost zero for the main predecessor Derby to Bristol route has always been Derby, hence a train travelling the whole route starts out going "up" then becomes "down". The Birmingham to Derby section of the route has a line speed of , while Birmingham to Bristol is restricted to because of a number of half-barrier level crossings. Electrification The line is not fully electrified, but some sections are overhead electrified at 25 kV AC such as Bromsgrove to Grand Junction, with further electrified sections around and the East Coast Main Line near . Network Rail stated in 2014 that the line between and would be electrified as part of the Midland Main Line upgrade. However, the electrification programme was severely cut back in July 2017. , Network Rail is working on the section between York and Church Fenton. The rest of the section between Leeds and York has electrification planned as part of the Transpennine Route Upgrade, which itself is part of the Integrated Rail Plan for the North and Midlands. This plan includes full Midland Main Line electrification and upgrades. Electrification between Westerleigh Junction (near Yate, Gloucestershire) and was planned as part of the 21st-century modernisation of the Great Western Main Line, but work has not continued. is electrified though. Services Most long-distance services on the route are operated by Class 220/221 Voyagers, although a few services operate using High Speed Trains. These trains are capable of achieving , compared to the previous Class 47s and Mk 2 coaching stock, which had a top speed of . See also Rail services in the West of England Transport in Wales Virgin CrossCountry CrossCountry Tees–Exe line Notes References Railway lines in the East Midlands Railway lines in South West England Railway lines in Yorkshire and the Humber Railway lines in the West Midlands (region) Main inter-regional railway lines in Great Britain