System National Rail Operator(s) Northern Owner Network Rail | Status Operational Rolling stock British Rail Class 185 | |
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Locale Cumbria
North West England Track gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge | ||
The Windermere branch line, also called the Lakes line is the railway line from Oxenholme to Kendal and Windermere in North West England.
Contents
The line has a loading gauge of W6.
History
The 10 mile (16 km) long line which opened on 20 April 1847 was originally built as the Kendal and Windermere Railway and at its southern end connected into the Lancaster and Carlisle Railway. In 1859 it became part of the London and North Western Railway, then the London, Midland and Scottish Railway at the 1923 Grouping. Upon nationalisation in 1948, it was managed by the London Midland Region of British Railways. Since 1994 and the privatisation of the British Rail network, it was operated by First North Western, then First TransPennine Express from 2005 and since April 2016 by Northern.
Originally built as a double-track main line, with through links to destinations as varied as Morecambe Euston Road, Preston, Manchester Exchange and London Euston, it was reduced to a single line branch in May 1973 when the West Coast Main Line (which it joins at Oxenholme) was re-signalled & electrified. Freight traffic to the last active depot at Kendal had previously ceased in 1972.
There are no passing loops or sidings anywhere on the route (all the stations bar Oxenholme have just one operational platform) and it is operated under "One Train Working with Train Staff" regulations with only one train allowed on the line at any time. Entry to and exit from the branch is controlled by the signalling centre at Carlisle and before a service can proceed beyond the branch platform at Oxenholme, the driver must collect the train staff from a cabinet on the platform, which is electrically released by the Carlisle signaller. Once the train has made its journey to the terminus and back again, the staff must be returned to the cabinet before the train can either leave for the south or make another return trip along the single line.
All services have to be operated by Diesel Multiple Units due to the lack of a run round loop at the Windermere terminus. In BR days, the service was operated as a self-contained shuttle and passengers were forced to change at Oxenholme onto the electric trains but, since privatisation, some through trains to Lancaster, Preston and Manchester Airport have been operated.
Train services
Passenger services are operated by Northern using Class 185s and more recently by Class 153 and Class 156 diesel multiple units. Previously Class 175 "Coradias" operated the services provided by First North Western and TPE until 2006.
In August 2013, the Department for Transport announced that the line is to be electrified as part of the wider scheme to wire many other routes in the North West of England (such as the Manchester–Preston line). The £16 million scheme will allow through trains from Lancaster and points south to use electric stock (such as the Class 350 "Desiro" units) rather than the current DMUs and also improve capacity on the route to allow new direct services to London Euston, though it is not yet clear whether the plans will include track and signalling upgrades to permit a more frequent service to operate. Funding was approved in 2014 and electrification will be completed at some point in CP6 (2019-24).
Services over the line are operated by the new Northern franchise, having taken over from First TransPennine Express in April 2016. Northern is continuing to use the old timetable, including through services to Manchester Airport, and electrification of the route will still go ahead.