The CrossCountry NE–SW route is a long-distance rail route in England. It runs from to via , , and or . It facilitates some of the longest passenger journeys in the UK such as to . The line is classed as a high-speed line because its sections from Birmingham to and from Leeds to York have a speed limit of , though the section from Birmingham to Bristol is limited to because of numerous level crossings, especially half-barrier level crossings, and the section from Wakefield to Leeds has the same limit because of a number of curves. History The Birmingham–Bristol section was built as the Birmingham and Gloucester and Bristol and Gloucester Railways before joining the Midland Railway, the southern forerunner to the cross-country route. From Birmingham to the north-northeast, the line had three separately owned sections, namely the: Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway to Derby, thence the North Midland Railway to Leeds, thence the York and North Midland Railway. From the Labour Government's nationalisation in 1948 until privatisation in 1990, the route ran through all six regions of British Rail but had timetabling priority in none of them. Therefore the services were poorly promoted and thus not always well-patronised. Most Derby–Nottingham local passenger trains were taken over by diesel units from 14 April 1958, taking about 34 minutes between the two cities. In the 1990s most services were operated by British Rail's InterCity business unit. As part of the privatisation of British Rail, these were taken over by Virgin CrossCountry in 1997, with the Class 47 hauled Mark 2 and High Speed Train sets replaced by Class 220 and Class 221 diesel multiple units in the early 2000s. The use of the route for freight has decreased, because of the bulk of haulage switching to roads and the building of the M5, M6 and M1 motorways. Abortive British Rail proposals for complete electrification In the 1960s the route was considered for electrification. In the early 1980s, electrification was again discussed at length and documentation for various proposals was produced in 1981. This would have been particularly beneficial for climbing the Lickey Incline between Cheltenham and Birmingham, as many of the early diesels were under-powered. In 1977 the Parliamentary Select Committee on Nationalised Industries recommended considering electrification of more of Britain's rail network, and by 1979 BR presented a range of options that included electrifying the cross-country route by 2000.