Transport for the North (TfN) has given an update on progress with its ‘Connecting Penrith‘ project.
Matt Smallwood (Head of Connected Mobility) and Paul Collinge (Project Manager) met with representatives of organisations which will be involved in the project on Monday (3 June).
The meeting, which took place in the Cumbria town, was attended by colleagues from train operator Avanti West Coast, Network Rail, Stagecoach Bus, local authority Westmorland & Furness Council, tourism promoter Visit Cumbria and leisure provider Center Parcs UK.
Penrith North Lakes station – also known as simply Penrith – is also served by TransPennine Express, and received the Medium Station of the Year gong at the National Rail Awards four years ago.
The meeting discussed approaches to connecting Penrith station to Keswick, the wider Lake District and a large tourism destination.
The project – which TfN describes as “innovative and collaborative” – aims to improve connections with the Cumbria town. Its goal is to help passengers at Penrith (North Lakes) station to access local leisure destinations by providing more integrated and convenient journeys and new ticket options.
Details of what the project will involve in practice are not yet available, as it has so far concentrated on developing an evidence base to show how a leisure-orientated rail station can be integrated with local destinations.
TfN has provided multi-modal modelling showing projections for passenger demand at Penrith station, which offers evidence that can be including in a developing local business.
TfN has also offered expertise in integrated transport, together with advice on developing case studies, as well as what it calls “thought leadership” and best practice in other areas.
“It was great to meet with so many stakeholders in-person in the sunny setting of Penrith. The collaborative working on show is a great example of a diverse range of partners coming together, with objective evidential support from TfN, to realise practical benefits for passengers in a key destination in the North; proper place-based and user-centric delivery in action!
“Together, we’ve been exploring interventions from integrated ticketing to Keswick, meet & greet cycle hire and getting to grips with the very real logistical challenge of moving luggage in the context of leisure journeys. These aren’t abstract thought experiments but evidenced and in progress plans that we can scale, share and develop into common approaches in similar localities across the North.”
Matt Smallwood (Head of Connected Mobility)
Responses
The Penrith to Keswick section of the line from Penrith to Workington actually survived until 1972, so it actually survived the Beeching cuts.
If only it had survived a few more years it would now be a much-used leisure line taking tourists into the heart of the Lake District at Keswick, and taking pressure off the congested A66. The folly of some of these rail closures!
The prospect of re opening the (former) Cockermouth, Keswick and Penrith railway have been discussed for years and it is difficult to see it every been reopened or reinstated.This , particularly, because of the money spent and work done on the rail path between Thelkeld and Keswick.
The only solution for better and more integrated public transport, radiating from Penrith is buses and better integrated ticketing and joint Rover tickets.