Will the Penrith to Keswick railway be open next year? I heard about the plans to re-instate it a couple of years ago and am planning a rail tour of my favourite places in the UK with a railway mad friend from Kansas who will be visiting over here for the first time.
Hi Traveller
I'm afraid that there will be some years before the railway is re-opened - if it goes ahead that is. There is information about the project to re-instate the line on
http://www.glebecrescent.freeserve.co.uk/
Don't let that put you off bringing your American friends to the North Lakes. They can actually walk the part of the old railway line between Keswick and Threlkeld.
I have looked in the guide books for the Lake District that I found in our library and noticed that there is a railway along the coast, and a narrow gauge Ravenglass to Eskdale railway. Is that worth going to see?
I think we have decided on Keswick as a place to stay but will have to use bus from Penrith. Can we get to Ravenglass by bus and then on to the coastal railway? Although I found this site I am not very good at finding things on the internet. I am a retired history teacher so should be able to learn how to use it like students do nowadays, but I must have a mental block.
I do hope you can offer advice.
George Wilson
We plan to stay in a caravan in Braithwaite next summer but do not drive. Would anyone be able to tell us the fastest way to get ther from Penrith train station? 8O
There is a bus every 30 minutes from Penrith to Keswick (X4, X5 and X50), leaving at xx00 and xx30. The buses leave from directly outside Penrith railway station. A single is £3.80, but you can get through train tickets to Keswick at least, which works out cheaper.
Every two hours one of these, the X5, continues to Braithwaite (leaving Penrith at 930, 1130, ...). It is a 5 minute drive (traffic allowing) from Keswick to Braithwaite - if I was doing that journey I would get the first bus to Keswick and if it wasn't an X5 get a taxi from there to Braithwaite.
On Sundays only the X5 runs and is every 2 hours.
Timetables are at <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.stagecoachbus.com/cumbria/db/search_results">http://www.stagecoachbus.com/cumbria/db/search_results</a><!-- m -->
The other service to Braithwaite from Keswick is the Honister rambler, which runs to Braithwaite 4 times a day continuing over Whinlatter to Buttermere then back via Honister. There are 4 services in the opposite direction too. This is a really nice journey!
In the spring contact the tourist info and ask for a copy of lakeland explorer magazine which contains details of most bus services in the area.
My daughter just emailed me about this message thread and reminded me of the time when relatives of ours came up here to camp out at Braithwaite. They just missed the bus so took a taxi from the station. It took under half an hour to get them and their baggage to the camp site and cost less than £20 (probably a bit more now). They took the bus on the way back and it took an hour, they only just made their train, but said that in future it would be taxi every time.
Any development news on the railway? It would make it a lot easier for us to get to Keswick.
It seems we are no closer towards having the railway restored. There are planning issues now, where near Penrith planning applications have been made which include building on the existing railway route. If this happens then there will be additional large costs for changing the original route.
There is a Yahoo group where the railway can be discussed on a link from
http://www.ckpr.fsnet.co.uk/
The route of the old line still makes a damn good path for a gentle afternoon walk, though. Hate to think of walking there with trains thundering by. Unless they were steam pulled.
The Keswick railway will never reopen, there is simply no demand.
They cant even fill a bus never mind one train every hour.
The A66 is rarely busy between Penrith and Keswick even in high season.