Class 180 and '717' to be used in next East Coast Main Line in-cab signalling tests

High-speed tests of in-cab signalling on the East Coast Main Line are due to take place at the end of November.

A Class 180 belonging to Grand Central and a Great Northern Class 717 will be used between Welwyn Garden City and Hitchin over the weekend of November 30 and December 1.

The tests are the latest stage of the £1.4 billion East Coast Digital Programme (ECDP) that will lead to lineside signals being replaced with displays inside drivers’ cabs.

Ricky Barsby, Network Rail’s head of access integration, ECDP, said: “The testing work is a further step towards the introduction of digital, in-cab signalling on the East Coast Main Line, which will improve services for passengers and create a more reliable and greener railway.

During tests, LNER services will not run south of St Neots, with replacement buses taking passengers to Bedford for services to the capital. Hull Trains will run two trains into St Pancras while Lumo will have a coach running between King’s Cross and Peterborough. There will be no Grand Central services.

Thameslink and Great Northern will not be running trains between Potters Bar and St Neots, Potters Bar and Royston or Hertford North and Peterborough.

Further tests and proving runs will continue between Welwyn and Hitchin over the coming months.