View source for Windermere branch line

{{Short description|Railway line in Cumbria, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox rail line
| name                            = Windermere branch line
| color                           = 
| logo                            = 
| logo_width                      = 
| image                           = 195102 Burneside.jpg
| image_width                     = 290px
| caption                         = A diesel multiple unit passing [[Burneside railway station|Burneside]]
| type                            = 
| system                          = [[National Rail]]
| status                          = Operational
| locale                          = [[Cumbria]],<br />[[North West England]]
| start                           = {{rws|Windermere}}, 
| end                             = {{rws|Oxenholme Lake District}}
| connectinglines                 = [[West Coast Main Line]]
| stations                        = 5
| routes                          = 
| open                            = 1847
| close                           = 
| owner                           = [[Network Rail]]
| operator                        = [[Northern Trains]]
| character                       = 
| depot                           = 
| stock                           = {{brc|195}}
| linelength                      = {{convert|10|mi|15|ch|km|2|abbr=on}}
| tracklength                     = 
| tracks                          = 1
| gauge                           = {{RailGauge|sg|allk=on}}
| load_gauge                      = W6
| speed                           = {{convert|60|mph|km/h|abbr=on}} maximum
| elevation                       = 
| map                             = [[File:Windermere branch line.png|290px]]<br />([[:commons:File:Windermere branch line.png|Click to expand]])
| map_state                       = expanded
}}
{{Windermere Branch Line}}

The '''Windermere branch line''', also called the '''Lakes line''', is a [[branch line|railway line]] in the county of [[Cumbria]], [[North West England]]. It runs between {{rws|Oxenholme}} (on the [[West Coast Main Line]]), {{rws|Kendal}} and {{rws|Windermere}}. The line has a [[loading gauge]] of W6.<ref>{{Cite web |title = Network Specification 2015 - London North Western|url = http://www.networkrail.co.uk/Network-Specification-2015-London-North-Western.pdf |website=www.networkrail.co.uk |access-date=2015-04-24}}</ref>

==History==
{{main|Kendal and Windermere Railway}}
The ten mile (16&nbsp;km) long line, which opened on 20 April 1847,<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Opening of the Kendal and Windermere Railway |url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000399/18470424/012/0003 |newspaper=Westmorland Gazette |location=England |date=24 April 1847 |access-date=10 April 2016 |via=British Newspaper Archive |url-access=subscription }}</ref> was 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]]. On [[Privatisation of British Rail|privatisation]] in 1994, it was initially operated by [[First North Western]], then [[First TransPennine Express]] from 2005 and by [[Northern (train operating company)|Northern]] from April 2016.

The line was built originally as a [[double-tracked]] [[main line (railway)|main line]], with through links to destinations including {{rws|Morecambe Euston Road}}, {{rws|Preston}}, {{rws|Manchester Exchange}} and {{rws|London Euston}}. It was reduced to a [[single track (rail)|single line]] branch in May 1973, when the [[West Coast Main Line]], which it joins at Oxenholme, was resignalled and electrified.<ref>[http://www.lakeslinerailusers.org.uk/?Line_History Lakes Line Rail User Group – Line History] Retrieved 12 March 2014  {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130715203204/http://www.lakeslinerailusers.org.uk/?Line_History |date=15 July 2013 }}</ref>  Freight traffic to the last active depot at {{rws|Kendal}} had previously ceased in 1972.

There are no [[passing loop]]s or sidings on the route, which is operated under ''One Train Working with Train [[Token (railway signalling)|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 {{rws|Carlisle}}; before a service can proceed beyond the branch platform at [[Oxenholme Lake District railway station|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.

Due to the lack of a run round loop at the Windermere terminus, all services need to be operated by [[diesel multiple units]] or locomotive-hauled trains operating in [[top and tail]] mode. In [[British Rail]] days, the service was operated as a self-contained shuttle and passengers were required to change at {{rws|Oxenholme}} but, since [[privatisation]], some through trains to {{rws|Lancaster}}, {{rws|Preston}} and {{rws|Manchester Airport}} have been operated.

On 4 June 2018, [[Arriva Rail North]] announced that all trains on the line would be suspended and replaced by a [[bus]] service to allow for driver training. The service suspension was initially to be for 2 weeks until 18 June 2018, but this was later extended until 2 July 2018.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cumbria-44406974 |title=Lakes Line trains suspension extended by two weeks |work=BBC News |date=8 June 2018}}</ref> However, on 17 June 2018, charter train operator [[West Coast Railways]] introduced its own services on the line, which attracted substantially more passengers than the regular Arriva Rail North services.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.railadvent.co.uk/2018/06/train-services-return-to-the-lake-district-thanks-to-tim-farron-and-west-coast-railways.html |title=Train services return to the Lake District thanks to Tim Farron and West Coast Railways |date=17 June 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Passengers back on track as Lakes Line replacement booms |url=http://www.newsandstar.co.uk/news/Passengers-back-on-track-as-Lakes-Line-replacement-booms-2e1b629a-e510-4a46-8525-e590c86be173-ds |access-date=25 June 2018 |work=News & Star |publisher=CN Group |date=25 June 2018}}</ref> The reason for this may be that no fares were charged to passengers. The £5,500 per day reported cost, with a total of approximately £80,000 over two weeks of operation, is said to have been paid for by the Department for Transport.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/jun/18/lake-district-line-northern-rail-windermere-oxenholme |title=Vintage train company steps in to reopen Lake District line|newspaper=The Guardian |date=18 June 2018 |last1=Perraudin |first1=Frances}}</ref>

==Services==
[[File:Oxenholme railway station, Cumbria. Platform 3. View north of the line to Windermere.jpg|thumb|right|260px|Platform 3 at Oxenholme, with view north of the line to Windermere]]

There is a generally hourly service between Windermere and Oxenholme Lake District, with some services extended to Manchester Airport.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Timetables and engineering information for travel with Northern |work=Northern Railway |date=18 May 2025 |access-date=27 May 2025 |url= https://www.northernrailway.co.uk/travel/timetables}}</ref>

Passenger services are operated by [[Northern Trains]] using [[British Rail Class 195|Class 195s]] and, more recently, by [[British Rail Class 153|Class 153]] and [[British Rail Class 156|Class 156]] [[diesel multiple units]]. [[British Rail Class 158|Class 158s]] can also occasionally be seen on the route as a replacement for booked units.{{citation needed|date=May 2025}}

==Electrification proposal==
In August 2013, the Department for Transport announced that the line was to be electrified as part of the wider scheme to wire many other routes in North West England, such as the [[Manchester–Preston line]].<ref>[http://www.railnews.co.uk/news/2013/08/09-dft-unveils-lakes-electrification-plan.html "DfT Unveils Lakes Electrification Plans"] ''Railnews'' news article 9 August 2013; Retrieved 13 March 2014</ref><ref name=railgazette>[http://www.railwaygazette.com/news/single-view/view/windermere-branch-electrification-funding-confirmed.html article] in the [[Railway Gazette]]</ref> The £16 million scheme would have allowed through trains from Lancaster and points south to use electric multiple units, rather than the current diesel operation, and also improve capacity on the route to allow new direct services to London Euston. Funding was approved in 2014 and electrification was planned to be undertaken in [[Network Rail Control Periods|CP6]], which covers 2019–2024.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.placenorthwest.co.uk/news/hendy-review-hits-north-west-projects/|title=Place North West &#124; Hendy review hits North West projects|date=15 December 2015}}</ref><ref name=railgazette/>

However, on 20 July 2017, it was announced that electrification of the Windermere branch had been cancelled.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.railwaygazette.com/news/policy/single-view/view/sheffield-swansea-and-windermere-electrification-cancelled.html |title=Sheffield, Swansea and Windermere electrification cancelled}}</ref> As an alternative, Northern originally planned to utilise {{BRC|769}} [[Electro-diesel multiple unit|bi-mode units]], which would operate under electric power between Manchester and Oxenholme, then under diesel power on the Windermere branch.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.railstaff.uk/2017/07/21/bi-mode-class-319s-lakes-line/ |title=Bi-mode Class 319s for Lakes Line|date=2017-07-21 |website=RailStaff |access-date=2017-08-02}}</ref> However, it was later announced that new [[British Rail Class 331|Class 331 ''Civity'']] units would be installed with batteries with trials starting from 2021.

Platform 3 at Oxenholme Lake District was electrified in 2018, despite the cancelled branch line electrification. In 2023, the former [[Cumbria County Council]], now [[Westmorland and Furness Council]]<ref>https://www.westmorlandandfurness.gov.uk/</ref> submitted a bid to the UK Government to create a dynamic passing loop. This would run to the west of Burneside station and include reinstating the missing platform. The whole project would include line speed improvements, as well as the much discussed electrification.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cumbria-64535958 |title=Cumbria Council submits bid for Lake Line improvements |work=BBC News |date=6 February 2023}}</ref>

== The line in fiction ==
The branch line appears in fiction in [[Arthur Ransome]]'s children's novel ''[[Pigeon Post]]''; two of the children releasing a pigeon at Strickland Junction before they go up "the little branch line that led into the hills" (and to the lake).{{citation needed|date=May 2025}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
{{commons category}}
* {{cite magazine|title=The Windermere branch challenge: Railways - 1, Wordsworth - 0|first=John|last=Hunt|magazine=[[RAIL (magazine)|RAIL]]|issue=308|publisher=EMAP Apex Publications|date=2–15 July 1997|pages=20–25|issn=0953-4563|oclc=49953699}}

{{Railway lines in North West England}}

[[Category:Rail transport in Cumbria]]
[[Category:Railway lines in North West England]]