Loco hauled services operated by WCRC on the Windermere branch

[cuccir]

It is being reported in local press as a 'free' service.

'Tremendous victory' hailed as Lakes Line services return
West Coast Railways will run free daily services during the Northern suspension
A "TREMENDOUS victory" has seen rail services return to the troubled Lakes Line after weeks of delays.

West Coast Railways, based in Carnforth, will run six free temporary services from 9.25am until 7pm daily after pressure from local campaign groups and MPs.

The line had been suspended for the past two weeks between Oxenholme and Windermere after delays and disruption following the timetable changes on May 20.

Westmorland and Lonsdale MP Tim Farron, who led a protest walk along the line earlier this month, hailed the news.

He 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.

"It should not have taken the efforts of local rail groups and my office staff to get a train up and running.

"This is obviously only a short-term solution and it is 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."

The temporary services will run alongside the rail replacement buses Northern are currently offering.

 

[DarloRich]

It is clearly a great PR coup for Tim Farron.

 

[underbank]

Ultimately this is a short term "stunt" designed to counter some of the political criticism about performance of the Lakes Line.

Stunt or not, I'm sure all the small businesses reliant upon tourism in the Lake District will be delighted. Windermere and the lake district don't have huge public sector office blocks, factories, nor head offices, call centres, etc. As far as the local economy and employment goes, it's heavy reliant on the tourism industry, and unlike cities, most employers are very small private businesses. The lack of the railway could well have put off many tourists and could have caused many small businesses to go under. Tim Farron is absolutely right to make a big deal of the withdrawal of the train service and all credit to him for getting something reinstated. In actual fact, the publicity and use of loco hauled stock could well improve the number of visitors!

 

[rg177]

Well I was a bit of a fool buying my £4.10 return today but oh well....

Had a run from Oxenholme to Windermere to Kendal. Not too busy with bashers, more tourists than anything and seemed like a well run operation. Top marks to all.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Picture of the first regular WCR train arriving at Windermere on Nigel Harris's twitter feed:
https://twitter.com/RAIL
It's even carrying a nameboard.

Is this really any different from DRS running Cumbrian coast services for Northern under contract?
Except it looks like the DfT has stepped in to fund it, rather than Northern doing it with DfT's blessing.
Maybe Tim Farron campaigning for Arriva to lose its Northern franchise had something to do with their lack of action!

 

[pdeaves]

It is being reported in local press as a 'free' service.

Linked article contains the potentially concerning line "Westmorland and Lonsdale MP Tim Farron, who led a protest walk along the line earlier this month, hailed the news." I hope that was a walk in the general vicinity of the railway, not straight along the tracks. Does anyone know what actually happened?

 

[notlob.divad]

]In actual fact, the publicity and use of loco hauled stock could well improve the number of visitors!

I had been wondering to myself if that Steam Train they used on the Settle - Carlisle the other year (was it Tornado?) would be good on one end of this. Not sure about the Water / Coal Situation though.

 

[pemma]

Linked article contains the potentially concerning line "Westmorland and Lonsdale MP Tim Farron, who led a protest walk along the line earlier this month, hailed the news." I hope that was a walk in the general vicinity of the railway, not straight along the tracks. Does anyone know what actually happened?

It was shown on the TV, he lead a protest along the roads taking in the railway stations.

 

[rg177]

I had been wondering to myself if that Steam Train they used on the Settle - Carlisle the other year (was it Tornado?) would be good on one end of this. Not sure about the Water / Coal Situation though.

There were conversations among staff today about sticking a steam train on it. Not sure how serious they were however.

 

[Crossover]

Is this one of the lines whereby progress of the service trains is done by GPS or similar (after all, it is a single signalling block) - if so, this could be why the progress isn't reported in the data feeds.

Certainly a good effort by all involved and a big coup for Tim Farron - it is good to see the various bodies working together to get something running. I was only discussing with friends yesterday (non-enthusiasts) about how much of a disaster things have been of late (not just the Lakes, but other things too) so this is certainly a step in the right direction and hopefully one that will restore some confidence in the railways in the public eye, given it has been severely tarnished

 

[Fisherman80]

I could not understand in the first place why the service along this line was suspended.

Out of all the lines which have been disrupted this one was a puzzle as it's a 10 mile single track route only requiring one unit shuttling back and forth between Oxenholme and Windermere.

Anyway onwards and upwards and well done to all those people involved!

 

[daikilo]

Showing on NRE LDB as a WCRC service which suggests it is not a Northern hire-in.

 

[Crossover]

Progress now shown - I read elsewhere too that there has been a problem such that RTT was missing data earlier on

 

[pdeaves]

It was shown on the TV, he lead a protest along the roads taking in the railway stations.

That's OK then, thanks.

 

[td97]

Our friend Nodrog on youtube managed to accidentally get a trip on yesterday's passenger service. He also got a good scoop with an interview with Tim Farron. Nice one!

At 6 minutes, in the interview with the driver, he claims to have an 'assistant'. Who/what is this assistant likely to be?

 

[30907]

I could not understand in the first place why the service along this line was suspended.

Out of all the lines which have been disrupted this one was a puzzle as it's a 10 mile single track route only requiring one unit shuttling back and forth between Oxenholme and Windermere.

Anyway onwards and upwards and well done to all those people involved!

As has been said several times (not by me) on the Northern thread, it requires a lot of unprofitable travel between Lancaster and Oxenholme to keep it going.

 

[alexl92]

There were conversations among staff today about sticking a steam train on it. Not sure how serious they were however.

I imagine that it would be massively unpopular to do on a regular basis but if they could overcome any coal and water issues, running a kettle on certain days through the summer could be a fantastic publicity stunt. What’s the max line speed? I know acceleration might be an issue, but could they manage it with something like 48151 which is less suited to mainline runs due to having a lower speed restriction? A 4MT or Black 4 would probably be the most logical.

 

[Cowley]

I read on wnxx earlier that this may only run until 2/7/2018 before Northern Rail resume the operation. Does anyone know if this is correct?
I’d love to have a run on this but no chance unfortunately.

 

[Shaw S Hunter]

Is this really any different from DRS running Cumbrian coast services for Northern under contract?
Except it looks like the DfT has stepped in to fund it, rather than Northern doing it with DfT's blessing.
Maybe Tim Farron campaigning for Arriva to lose its Northern franchise had something to do with their lack of action!

What it most closely resembles is the emergency service operated by DRS between Workington and Maryport following the disastrous floods a few years ago. Again that was funded by the DfT as a free service without having to involve the local TOC.

Is this one of the lines whereby progress of the service trains is done by GPS or similar (after all, it is a single signalling block) - if so, this could be why the progress isn't reported in the data feeds.

Genuine query: I thought that only applied to the Whitby line, and then only to drive the station PIS on the line?

Certainly a good effort by all involved and a big coup for Tim Farron - it is good to see the various bodies working together to get something running. I was only discussing with friends yesterday (non-enthusiasts) about how much of a disaster things have been of late (not just the Lakes, but other things too) so this is certainly a step in the right direction and hopefully one that will restore some confidence in the railways in the public eye, given it has been severely tarnished

I suspect Windermere is sufficiently far away from Westminster for Grayling to swallow his pride and let Farron have his little win. But the talk of passing local routes to another operator is totally unrealistic. The problems associated with operating them would be just the same; it all stems from DfT inspired franchise re-mapping leading to revised route knowledge requirements at various depots which has been handled poorly by the TOCs (especially Northern).

 

[Bornin1980s]

Since both this and the flood relief service relied on ancient slam-door stock, would such emergency operations be illegal after 2020, no matter how desperately needed?

 

[Starmill]

Well I was a bit of a fool buying my £4.10 return today but oh well....

You still provided your support for the line. That does matter!

 

[Crossover]

Genuine query: I thought that only applied to the Whitby line, and then only to drive the station PIS on the line?

I’m really not sure to be honest. You may be correct. I think the primary issues earlier were the data feed was a bit goosed, as it transpires

 

[Starmill]

Genuine query: I thought that only applied to the Whitby line, and then only to drive the station PIS on the line?

My understanding is that you will get the live tracking at stations even in token block areas if the unit is GPS fitted? E.g. The South Fylde line with a 156 should track at all stations, but probably won't with a 142. I believe the majority of the fleet at Northern is GPS fitted.

I'm not certain though.

 

[Mutant Lemming]

Our friend Nodrog on youtube managed to accidentally get a trip on yesterday's passenger service. He also got a good scoop with an interview with Tim Farron. Nice one!

Someone who plays at politics supporting people who play at trains - great. No wonder they will NEVER hold power. Leave the real job to the professionals please (Rail and Politics).

 

[beavercreek]

It’s not down to the drivers learning the route, 43 sign this at both Blackpool and Barrow.
The problem is a 158 is to be used and they’ve struggled to release drivers to do the training.
Now a RDW agreement is in place the drivers can be released from their job.
As for for the route itself it’s not really complicated.
As for this outfit from Carnforth nobody knows how these keep their competency over routes and rules.They seem to be the North Korea of the railways.

 

[djpontrack]

Not many passengers on this at the moment.
If anyone wants to know the stock it’s

57316
6103
6000
9493
37669

I’m sat in the BSO if anyone is about .

 

[geoffk]

Someone who plays at politics supporting people who play at trains - great. No wonder they will NEVER hold power. Leave the real job to the professionals please (Rail and Politics).

I suggest you may be one of the Corbynistas backing brexit. The LibDems are at least trying to put the country first, unlike the Tories and their Labour backers. But that's for another thread. As for WCRC, yes they went through a bad patch but they must have satisfied the ORR that they are fit to operate.

 

[E759]

Stunt or not, I'm sure all the small businesses reliant upon tourism in the Lake District will be delighted. Windermere and the lake district don't have huge public sector office blocks, factories, nor head offices, call centres, etc. As far as the local economy and employment goes, it's heavy reliant on the tourism industry, and unlike cities, most employers are very small private businesses. The lack of the railway could well have put off many tourists and could have caused many small businesses to go under. Tim Farron is absolutely right to make a big deal of the withdrawal of the train service and all credit to him for getting something reinstated. In actual fact, the publicity and use of loco hauled stock could well improve the number of visitors!

I'm interested in helping the local economy - trip on the lake - and using the WCRC on a non-strike day. It's a long and expensive journey for me though. What tool should I use to determine if the WCRC is running? I'm currently targeting 25-29 June (already have trips planned for 23 & 30 June). Many thanks in anticipation.

 

[Bikeman78]

It’s not down to the drivers learning the route, 43 sign this at both Blackpool and Barrow.
The problem is a 158 is to be used and they’ve struggled to release drivers to do the training.
Now a RDW agreement is in place the drivers can be released from their job.
As for for the route itself it’s not really complicated.
As for this outfit from Carnforth nobody knows how these keep their competency over routes and rules.They seem to be the North Korea of the railways.

So why not run the service with a 156 and use the 158 on routes where the drivers do sign them?

 

[ainsworth74]

Whether or not West Coast running this services constitutes strike breaking is worthy of discussion but is a bit off-topic in this thread as we're focused on the service itself. As such I've moved a number of posts into a new thread dedicated to discussing the question of strike breaking. The new thread can be found here so can we please keep the discussion in the relevant thread.

Many thanks,
ainsworth74