01/09/2026
HUGE PROGRESS MADE! 📈🚆
We are extremely delighted to announce that digital in-cab signalling has been used by passenger trains on the East Coast Main Line for the first time.
The 08.05 Great Northern service to Moorgate yesterday was the first passenger train to use the new system on the main line as it was signalled out of Welwyn Garden City station.
It’s the latest milestone for the £1.4 billion Government-funded East Coast Digital Programme (ECDP), which will see traditional lineside signals replaced with a system that tells train drivers on a computer screen in the train cab how far and how fast they can travel.
Over the long term, digital signalling will deliver more efficient, more reliable and greener services.
This first stage in the use of the European Train Control System (ETCS) on the East Coast Main Line now sees our modern Class 717 fleet transition in and out of the system when entering and leaving the Welwyn to Hitchin area.
The next time you step foot on a Great Northern Class 717 train, you’ll be stepping into the future of UK rail! 😎