Shuttle Train To Run On Lakes Line

18 June 2018, 09:04 | Updated: 18 June 2018, 10:29

A train service has returned on the Lakes Line, and it's not run by Northern.

West Coast Railways - based in Carnforth - have stepped in to run a vintage diesel engine between Windermere and Oxenholme.

The shuttle's making six return services a day.

It comes after work from the Lakes Line User Group, as well as South Lakes MP Tim Farron.

The usual operator's suspended its trains until July as it struggles to cope after the introduction of a new timetable across the North.

Northern Rail bosses were due to face MPs late on Monday afternoon to explain the chaos.

Some have called for them to be stripped of their franchise.

Mr. Farron said: “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.

“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 short-term solution and 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.”