Editing Midland Main Line (section)

===Under British Railways and privatisation===

Most Leicester-Nottingham local passenger trains were taken over by diesel units from 14 April 1958, taking about 51 minutes between the two cities.<ref>{{cite magazine |title= | magazine = [[The Railway Magazine]] | issue=  |  date= June 1958| pages=432}}</ref>{{Full citation needed|date=May 2023}}
When the [[Great Central Main Line]] closed in 1966, the Midland Main Line became the only direct main-line rail link between London and the East Midlands and parts of [[South Yorkshire]].

The [[Beeching cuts]] and electrification of the [[West Coast Main Line]] brought an end to the marginally longer London–Manchester service [[Hope Valley line|via Sheffield]].

In 1977, the Parliamentary Select Committee on Nationalised Industries recommended considering [[Railway electrification in Great Britain|electrification of more of Britain's rail network]], and by 1979 BR presented a range of options that included electrifying the Midland Main Line from London to Yorkshire by 2000.<ref>{{cite book |title= Railway Electrification |date=Winter 1979 |publisher= [[British Railways Board]] (Central Publicity Unit) |pages=0–2, 8}}</ref> By 1983, the line had been [[Railway electrification in Great Britain|electrified]] from Moorgate to Bedford, but proposals to continue electrification to Nottingham and Sheffield were not implemented.

[[File:MML43083 at Nottingham 2005-10-14 03.jpg|thumb|right|A Midland Mainline [[InterCity 125|High Speed Train]], introduced in 1983 by [[British Rail]], at {{rws|Nottingham}} in 2005]]

The introduction of the High Speed Train ([[InterCity 125|HST]]) in May 1983, following the Leicester area resignalling, brought about an increase of the ruling line speed on the fast lines from {{convert|90|mph|4=0}} to {{convert|110|mph|4=0}}.

Between 2001 and 2003, the line between Derby and Sheffield was upgraded from {{convert|100|mph|4=0}} to {{convert|110|mph|4=0}} as part of Operation Princess, the Network Rail funded CrossCountry route upgrade.

In January 2009, a new station, [[East Midlands Parkway railway station|East Midlands Parkway]], was opened between Loughborough and Trent Junction, to act as a [[park-and-ride]] station for suburban travellers from [[East Midlands]] cities and to serve nearby [[East Midlands Airport]].<ref>{{cite press release |url= http://www.eastmidlandstrains.co.uk/EMTrains/AboutUs/News/_EASTMIDLANDS'GREENESTSTATIONTOOPENON26JANUARY_.htm |title=East Midlands Parkway – Our greenest station to open on 26 January |date=14 January 2009 |publisher= East Midlands Trains}}{{dead link|date=July 2021}}<!-- the EMR station information page will not be a substitute --></ref>

Since then, {{convert|125|mph}} running has been introduced on extended stretches. Improved signalling, increased number of tracks, and the revival of proposals to extend electrification from Bedford to Sheffield are underway. Much of this £70&nbsp;million upgrade, including some line-speed increases, came online on 9 December 2013 (see below).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.railnews.co.uk/news/2013/12/09-midland-main-line-celebrates-at.html|title=Midland Main Line celebrates at 125mph |newspaper=Rail News|access-date=20 July 2017}}</ref>