Another option would be to use a 221 unit & couple it with a Chester service & split/divide at Crewe. would allow say 2 Windermere services per day. The existing Lancaster pendolinos can extend to Glasgow (as is happening this summer) and can have a reduced stopping pattern for those hours as the Windermere services will fill in the gaps. Would also give MK a couple of direct daytime Warrington/Wigan/Preston/Lancaster services that are not currently provided.
The main problem with the buses at Windermere is that the buses run to an hourly timetable. The current train timetable is not a clockface hourly pattern so the connections vary from hour to hour (& the same with the mainline services at Oxenholme/Lancaster)
It would be much better if a passing loop allowed a clockface half hourly Windermere-Oxenholme service which connected properly with the clockface WCML timetable even if it meant the majority of trains only shuttled up and down the loop.
The evening buses are less frequent and do not seem to run to a regular time with some long gaps in the buses to Ambleside or Grasmere.
The main problem with the buses at Windermere is that the buses run to an hourly timetable. The current train timetable is not a clockface hourly pattern so the connections vary from hour to hour (& the same with the mainline services at Oxenholme/Lancaster)
It would be much better if a passing loop allowed a clockface half hourly Windermere-Oxenholme service which connected properly with the clockface WCML timetable even if it meant the majority of trains only shuttled up and down the loop.
The evening buses are less frequent and do not seem to run to a regular time with some long gaps in the buses to Ambleside or Grasmere.