Track bash January 2026

Introduction

Last updated 2026-01-03

In November I read an article in Modern Railways that described how the WCML would be blocked between Preston and Carlisle in the new year. Instead of running replacement coaches for a long distance, Avanti West Coast had decided to train drivers on an alternative route from Wigan via Clitheroe and the Settle and Carlisle line.

Having agreed it with my wife, I booked advance tickets on a round route via Birmingham New Street, Wigan North Western, Carlisle, and Edinburgh. The journey took place on 2nd January.

This page contains two tables: a "trains" table and a "route" table. The trains table lists the trains used, giving sequence number, headcode, train number, and start and end points of my journey on that train. Each location gives CRS code (now RARS2 code), station name, and three times: public timetable, working timetable, and actual time. The route table gives, for each route segment, the train, ELR code, start and end chainages, length of the segment, total distance travelled so far, distance travelled on "new" segments so far, and whether it is a "new" segment (track I haven't travelled on before). For the purposes of this table, I started a new segment when:

• I caught a new train;
• the ELR changed;
• I changed from "old" track to "new" track or vice-versa;
• I reversed direction.

Based on bad experiences in previous track bashes, I decided to travel an hour earlier than necessary as far as Wigan; the bottleneck here is the hourly service from Peterborough to Birmingham. This way I could cope with any one cancelled or badly delayed train without missing the planned Wigan to Carlisle service.

The original plan was to catch 9J10, the 08:22 from Huntingdon, giving me 15 minutes at Peterborough. But the night before I decided to get up a bit earlier and aim for 9J08, the 07:50 train, to give me a further backup. Despite having to cope with car parking apps and buying a ticket at Huntingdon, I caught it with plenty of time to spare.

Between Coleshill Parkway and Water Orton there's a great view of the HS2 flyovers under construction. I wasn't expecting it and so didn't take a photo. I did catch a shot of a bridge arch framework somewhere around Duddeston Junction.

Excitement started at Wigan. The train to Carlisle pulled into platform 6, having reversed somewhere to the south, with two 5-car units. The doors were kept closed and the platform staff didn't seem to know what was going on. None of the letters on the front unit matched my seat booking (they were something like K L M N P whereas I'm booked in J). At the join between the two there was someone leaning out of the rear unit's cab. There was various discussion going on and eventually it was agreed to uncouple the units (I never found out why). The rear driver was worried about reversing past the signal at the south end of the station, so one of the platform staff walked down to that end, checked, and gave a thumbs up. The train uncoupled in well under a minute (the total movement is under a metre). Meanwhile somebody sitting on a platform bench, looking cross, signalled for me to come over. I dawdled over to him, not sure why he was doing so. When I got to him: "I'm booked in coach J but there isn't one."
"So am I."
(more forcefully) I'm booked in coach J. I don't know where to sit."
"Mine's the same."
At which point he appeared to realize that I wasn't staff and apologized.

Just after this, they unlocked the doors and a mass of people boarded through all the doors. Two people were occupying a group of four seats, including seat 6 (I had J6 booked). Before I could find a good seat (window on a group of four), a woman in the carriage started calling out something like "First class only. If you don't have a first class ticket, there's plenty of room further forward." A number of people got up and disappeared through the connection to the next carriage, leaving me with an entire table of four to myself. A little later the carriage identity changed from K to J and the reservations all lit up. In the end we had a total of 8 passengers in 25 seats.

There was an announcement that we were waiting for the driver because their taxi was stuck in traffic on the M6, owing to a road accident. They eventually arrived and we departed 22½ minutes late.

The view itself was nice and scenic, but we ended up 28¼ minutes late, meaning that I missed the Carlisle to Newcastle train by a couple of minutes. This resulted in 44 minutes late to Newcastle and, I expected, a much later arrival at Peterborough and a whole hour delay to Huntingdon. But when I got to Newcastle, the departure displays showed a delayed train to King's Cross at platform 2 once the Aberdeen train in that platform departed. I was able to walk leisurely over the footbridge and round to the platform edge with the Aberdeen train still there. And when it left and the announcements started for this other train, it turned out it was stopping at Peterborough. Great! I've made up some of the delay.

It was only when the train was in motion and I pulled out the ticket for that segment that I realized that I was on my original planned train! Perhaps I can catch up and get home as originally planned.
(Ha!)

All the way to Peterborough the announcements on the train claimed that the delay was due to following a slow train between Edinburgh and Newcastle. There's a certain amount of truth in this: it left Edinburgh 5¼ late, lost another 6¾ between Grantshouse and Tweedmouth, and another 3 approaching Alnmouth, ending up 16¼ late on arrival at Newcastle. (I haven't attempted to find out whether there was another train.) But I would have expected it to at least keep at that delay after Newcastle; instead it's losing another minute or so at each station stop, ending up 20¾ late at Peterborough. And so it's 7 minutes too late for me to make a cross-platform connection. Sigh.

Overall result: almost 589 miles on 7 trains, for about 24¾ miles of new track, so just over 4.198%.

Today's trains table

Today's route table

New lines

• Farington Old Curve
• Blackburn to Hellifield

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