Nottingham direct line of the Midland Railway

rdf:langString Nottingham direct line of the Midland Railway

rdf:langString The Nottingham direct line of the Midland Railway was a new route created in 1879 to relieve congestion on the established routes of the Midland Railway, in England. It consisted of two connecting lines that, together with part of an existing route, formed a new route from Nottingham to near Kettering. The line was used for Nottingham to London express passenger trains, and for heavy mineral and goods trains heading south. As well as shortening the transit a little, the new line had the effect of relieving congestion on the original main line through Leicester, that had become excessively congested. The new sections of route were from Nottingham to Melton Mowbray, and from Manton to Rushton, a short distance north of Kettering. The Trowell to Radford railway line and parts of the main line south of Kettering were widened to quadruple track as part of the same project. The Nottingham to Melton and Manton to Rushton route sections were closed in 1967, but the intermediate section between Melton Mowbray and Manton, part of the Syston and Peterborough Railway remained in use. A section of the line north of Melton was used for some years as the Old Dalby Test Track. The town of Corby had developed greatly, and a train service between Corby and Kettering was run from 1987 to 1990. The entire Kettering to Manton section was re-opened in 2009, and has been electrified from Kettering to Corby.