The strategically important West Coast Main Line between Manchester and London was the first route chosen for full-scale overhead 25KV electrification. Work started in the north with the lines around Manchester coming live in 1960. Electrification then proceeded south, with the shorter route to Euston through Tamworth due to commence operation in 1966 and the line through Birmingham New Street the following year. The northern half of the West Coast Main Line to Scotland was electrified later.

The decision to electrify this route had a number of effects on the Midland Main Lines. An executive Blue Pullman service was launched between Manchester and London via Trent in July 1960. Then from September 1962, eight Euston - Manchester trains were diverted onto the Midland lines to allow the electrification work to proceed unhindered. Closure also allowed the engineers to continuously weld the track and rebuild Euston station.

In the early 1960s British Railways decided to improve and centralise their research work, and chose the Research Laboratories built at Derby in the 1930s by the LMS. These were improved and enlarged to reopen in May 1964, with further buildings added later.

It may come as a surprise to some readers to know that the Nottingham & Melton Line was used as a high speed Test Track years before any APT testing commenced. The Blue Pullman introduced in July 1960 (see above) quickly developed riding problems. In November 1960, British Railways Research at Derby were asked to look at the problem and commenced a series of tests with the engineers adjusting the damper settings on the bogies.

Although only one set was needed to run the service, a second set was held as a spare at Reddish, with the sets swapping weekly. The research department made use of the spare set, and initially ran it on test between Manchester and St Pancras. However the Midland Main Line was still a busy place, and the engineers needed a more suitable location. The main line between Nottingham and Melton exactly fitted the bill - a reasonable section of 90 mph track, a modest amount of scheduled traffic, and Nottingham station was quiet enough to be used for adjustments. Tests included five different days between February 14th and March 17th 1961. A test was typically Derby - Old Dalby - Nottingham - Old Dalby - Nottingham - Old Dalby - Derby. There was nothing significant about Old Dalby, it was just a good turnround point.

By 1961 rail passenger traffic had gone into serious decline. Sir Brian Robertson, chairman of the British Transport Commission and a firm believer that "the railways were a public service", was replaced by Doctor Richard Beeching, previously Technical Director of ICI. Doctor Beeching had different ideas. He held a press conference where he stated, "Losses may even get worse before they get better. Doubts about the future of the railway system as a whole can only be resolved by a more thoroughgoing study of the present working and future prospects of the system than has been made so far." The aim of these studies was to identify unprofitable activities.

During the summer of 1962, the results of the Beeching traffic surveys were released, and these formed an integral part of the "Beeching Report". The research said that the Midland Main Line through Melton Mowbray was carrying between 50,000 and 100,000 passengers per week as well as a similar number of tons of freight per week.

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