WCR steps up
West Coast Railways runs Government-funded shuttles in the Lakes after Northern suspends trains.
NORTHERN should be stripped of its franchise and replaced by “an operator who actually wants to run trains”, claims South Lakes MP Tim Farron.
This follows the move by West Coast Railway Company to step in and operate Government-funded shuttles on the Oxenholme-Windermere branch from June 18, for a period of two weeks. DfT is paying £5,500 per day for the trains.
Northern had suspended trains on the branch for the previous two weeks, and had cancelled trains before the start of June, following the chaos caused by the introduction of the new May 20 timetable ( RAIL 854).
WCR’s trains operated as an open access operation, running on the company’s charter licence. In the first week, more than 7,000 passengers used them. There were no fares, and six round trips operated off-peak.
In the meantime, Northern continued to operate its scheduled rail replacement bus service between Windermere and Oxenholme Lake District, with 30 buses running in each direction. The first left Windermere at 0615, and the last at 2245.
WCR Managing Director Pat Marshall told RAIL: “West Coast are very pleased to be able to provide the resources of locomotives, coaches and train crew to enable train services to run again, following the upheavals of recent weeks. The reception from passengers has been tremendous and providing a service to them is what matters.”
The company is based in nearby Carnforth. Marshall told RAIL that while 632 passengers used the train on the first day (June 18), that figure rose to 1,694 by June 23.
Farron had been campaigning for better services on the Lakes Line, and attended the trials that WCR ran on June 17, having been involved in negotiations with Network Rail and the Department for Transport regarding running the trains.
“This is a tremendous victory for local people. There has been a big community effort to get this off the ground and I’m so pleased that we finally have a reliable service back on the Lakes Line,” he said.
“But it shouldn’t have taken the efforts of local rail groups and my office staff to get a train up and running - it’s the responsibility of the Department for Transport and Northern, and both have failed miserably.
“This is obviously only a shortterm solution. It’s absolutely vital that Northern either get their act together or are stripped of both this line and the Furness Line, so that an operator who actually wants to run trains can be put in charge of our local railways.”
On June 19, Farron called for a separate operator for Cumbria’s trains. Speaking in the House of Commons, he said: “For far too long now, Cumbria has been seen as the end of the line by rail bosses
“The reception from passengers has been tremendous and providing a service to them is what matters.” WCR Managing Director Pat Marshall. “This is a tremendous victory for local people.” South Lakes MP Tim Farron. “The decision that we took was to provide a high-quality coach and bus service to give people certainty.” David Brown, Northern Managing Director.
in Manchester and Government ministers in London.
“Rail franchises have become too big and as a result do nothing to serve communities away from major population centres. It’s high time now for Cumbria to have its own franchise, run by a provider that actually wants to run trains on a train line.”
Appearing before the House of Commons Transport Select Committee on June 18, Northern Managing Director David Brown said of the Lakes Line situation that the temporary withdrawal of trains was to provide stability across the entire Northern operation.
He said the suspension was “partly because we need to get the drivers from Barrow and Blackpool trained on that network. That was one of our outstanding training requirements.
“Secondly, the level of service we were providing there was not fit for purpose for customers. The decision that we took was to provide a high-quality coach and bus service to give people certainty. It was something we put in place, and we have now agreed with the Department for Transport and Transport for the North that we will reintroduce train services on that branch line on July 2.
“That is when we will be confident of providing a higher quality of train service.”