Working together to make innovation happen
Friday 16th October 2026
Power Lines brings together Network Rail, SSEN and Mott MacDonald to explore a coordinated approach to developing Britain’s electricity and rail infrastructure.
Currently, these systems are planned independently, leading to duplicated construction, higher costs, and greater disruption. Power Lines will investigate the feasibility, technical requirements and regulatory landscape of combining three-phase power distribution with rail electrification along existing railway corridors.
This integrated model aims to accelerate network capacity, reduce environmental and community impacts, lower long‑term system costs, and support decarbonisation.
Power Lines introduces a coordinated approach that colocates three‑phase distribution infrastructure with railway electrification along shared corridors. By designing and delivering assets together rather than duplicating works, the model reduces construction effort, accelerates programme delivery, and lowers whole‑life system costs. If adopted as business‑as‑usual across GB, these efficiencies translate into long‑term value for consumers.
Using a single shared corridor removes the need for two separate infrastructure routes, reducing land use, civil works, and ongoing maintenance. The approach also removes the requirement for additional standalone transformer-based infrastructure, helping avoid long lead times and exposure to global supply constraints. Harmonised standards for clearances, earthing and asset design simplify delivery and reduce reinforcement costs. When scaled nationally, this limits trenching, reduces outages associated with major upgrades, and lowers the volume of assets requiring ongoing maintenance—delivering sustained savings to networks and consumers.
By reducing duplication, enabling more efficient grid access for traction loads, and supporting faster rail electrification, Power Lines helps reduce the overall cost base for regulated network charges. Better use of existing corridors avoids disruption, defers more expensive reinforcement options, lowers losses, and enables earlier, more economical connections. Together these factors put downward pressure on consumer bills over time.
Power Lines establishes a new cross-sector infrastructure planning process in which networks and rail jointly assess load, capacity, clearances, safety, commercial, and operational considerations. This produces a replicable framework for integrated energy corridors, coordinated power system development, and harmonised engineering standards—strengthening sector readiness for Alpha.
The shared-corridor model enables faster, lower‑impact rail electrification, reducing environmental disturbance by minimising construction activities. It also uses land more efficiently, protecting scarce urban land and reducing rural visual impacts. Improved, lower-cost connection pathways can also stimulate regional investment and support fairer access to network capacity.
Disscovery has been funded, with project due to start on 5th May 2026.
Total Discovery costs: £106,469
SIF Discovery funding requested: £95,822
Start Date – 05 May 2026
End Date – 05 August 2026
Gemma Ennis
