The electrification of the railway between Bedford and Corby is due to come into service with the new timetable on 15th May.  There has long been a desire to see the electrification of the whole Midland Main Line, and the first stage of that, from Kettering to Market Harborough, is now in the early stages of implementation.  Vegetation clearance along the lineside from Kettering is well under way, with trees being either felled or trimmed back where they are too close to the line and the future overhead wires.  Work on the new substation that will feed the electrification has also started.  This is near Braybrooke, where the National Grid high-voltage power line crosses the railway. The substation is due to be completed by autumn 2022, in time for the electrification itself to be installed.

The restoration of the two old platform trolleys for use by Market Harborough in Bloom has been completed.  Local retired engineer Phil Clark undertook the work, with the timber for the decks generously donated by Glenmere Timber on Gores Lane.  The trolleys are to be installed at the station as part of a decorative planting scheme by Market Harborough in Bloom, who are the 'adopters' of the station.  The aim is to provide a colourful 'Welcome to Market Harborough' feature at this important gateway to the town. 
The exact location for the trolleys is still to be decided, but the hope is to place them near the top of the ramp from the booking office to platform 1, on the site of the 1970s waiting room building once that has been demolished and replaced by new facilities.  Until that is done and the station is ready to receive them, the trolleys are now in secure storage.  The pictures below show the two trolleys in the workshop awaiting transfer to temporary storage, and in the proud possession of Market Harborough in Bloom.  To see the state the trolleys were in prior to restoration, scroll down to the item dated 23/10/2020 below.
​(Photos: Steve Jones)

As the InterCity 125 HSTs near the end of their long careers on the Midland Main Line, EMR have taken the pleasing step of repainting power car 43102 in the stylish British Rail InterCity ‘Swallow’ livery.  This power car, partnered with sister 43159, achieved the world speed record for a diesel train, on a test run between Northallerton and York on 1st November 1987.  The record, 148.5mph, still stands.
HSTs have been running on our line for 39 years but this comes to an end with the timetable change in May 2021.  The introduction of electric trains on the Corby services and a reshuffle of the Meridian fleet along with the recently introduced Class 180 trains means the HSTs can be retired.  With the current timetable reduced because of Covid, only two HSTs are currently in use each day.  It seems incredible now to think that they were built in the mid- to late-1970s as a temporary stop-gap pending development of the tilting Advanced Passenger Train (APT), and are still working with several train operators over 40 years later!  They transformed long-distance travel in Britain and they will be much missed.  43102, however, is destined for dignified retirement at the National Railway Museum in York.

On 29th January, Harborough Rail Users we invited consulting engineers JNP Group to take part in a public consultation on proposals to demolish the now-closed 1970s building at the south end of Platform 1 and construct a new building with toilets and a waiting room further along the platform.  The short connecting ramp between the original Victorian ramp up from the booking office and the platform is to be reconstructed with a shallower angle of slope.  A small canopy is proposed for the top of the ramp in place of the 1970s building. 
The timescale for the work is between July 2021 and March 2022 and it is long overdue.  HRU responded on 12th February, welcoming the project overall.  We feel the optimum location for the new building is immediately south of the footbridge.  We set out our views on the amenity and accessibility implications, especially as the new platforms are surprisingly narrow given the availability of land.  We asked whether the disabled-accessible toilet will be of the ‘changing places’ kind, and commented on the furnishing and finish of the waiting room; plus the weather-protection at the top of the ramp once the 1970s building has gone.  We also called for the new structures to have some ‘warmth’ in their design, including sympathetic architectural treatment of the area around the top of the Victorian ramp.
We now await further information about the project.  Once built, the temporary toilet cabin in the station forecourt can be removed, which allow the forecourt to be tidied up and the layout reviewed in terms of pedestrian and vehicle safety.

EMR have announced a revised timetable from Monday 18th January, with some service reductions.  The main reason is reduced availability of traincrew staff because of Covid-related absences.  EMR have understandably made the decision that it is better to have a reduced timetable than to have ad hoc cancellations day by day. 
For Market Harborough, the weekday timetable is little changed; the only changes are that the 19:40 runs only to Sheffield, not Leeds, and from 1st February the 20:55 from Nottingham to St Pancras, calling at Market Harborough at 21:42, no longer runs.  However, on Saturdays, numerous trains between Nottingham and St Pancras no longer run, and our 07:33 to York is also withdrawn.  Other trains that are still running may have reduced numbers of carriages.
EMR Regional services, none of which serve Market Harborough, see varying reductions from Monday 26th January.
EMR state that: "We will continue to keep these changes under review, alongside the impact of Covid on the availability of our staff.  As a minimum it is envisaged this timetable will run until the national lockdown is lifted and at which point, we will look to move towards reinstatement to today’s (pre-18th January) service level as soon as is possible."