So, a couple of milestones have been reached on this long awaited intention to electrify the line out of London Paddington to the West Country and Wales.  Last week, Network Rail commented:

“As part of Network Rail’s Railway Upgrade Plan to provide a bigger, better, more reliable railway for passengers, the company is electrifying the Great Western Main Line in preparation for the arrival of a new fleet of longer, faster, quieter and greener electric trains.”

The rest of the achievement – and it is an achievement is described here: “Great Western Electrification Programme hits two major milestones”.

In February 1984, British Rail produced a “Railway Electrification – Rail Manager Special” booklet, which advocated, not only the Western Main Line electrification, but also that of the “East Coast Main Line”, and the Glasgow-Edinburgh route.

This little booklet simplified the proposals from the 1981 “Review of Main Line Electrification” carried out by the British Railways Board & Department of Transport in 1981.

It has taken over 20 years to get the electrification out of London Paddington this far.