Great Western Coffee Shop

Passengers in the Lake District can look forward to faster, greener and more reliable train journeys as Transport Minister Baroness Kramer confirms ^16 million of government funding to electrify the Windermere branch line in Cumbria today (28 November 2014).

The 10 mile line, which runs between Oxenholme Lake District station on the West Coast Main Line and Windermere station in the National Park, will be upgraded to allow electric trains to run on the route. Once completed, the line will form part of a direct electrified route between key destinations in the region, including Kendal, Burneside and Staveley, and Manchester.

Now, hopefully Portzed by the Severn Riviera is next on the list ! ::)

I imagine that this is more about reducing demand for DMU diagrams in the North West and freeing up the extra paths on the WCML that they require, than any passion to enhance the Lake District service. It's taken since 1974 to get round to it.

OTC

Also creates a precedent for the mooted Wolvercote to Hanborough/Charlbury electrification.

Not really - Windermere is a branch line....and a dead-end

What it does show I think is that electrification is all about rolling stock provision. 

To an extent but I'm still puzzled as to why Marks Tay to Sudbury has never been electrified. Maybe it was hoped to close it before it needed wiring so has been left.


With the rumours that the electrification TV branches is being delayed I wonder if they'll be left as diesel enclaves. Which will reduce the nukber of Turbos available for cascade.

Where have you heard that?

He's just started it!

A reasonably reliable source

Well, the CP5 Enhancement Delivery Plan always had this caveat under all the timetables for GW electrification:

The September 2014 update replaces the GRIP 6 milestones by Entry Into Service and First Electric Train (i.e. timetable change). For the first two stages the dates reflect the previous target dates but now EIS is a regulated Output: MAI to BWP (EIS in June for December 2016) and CPM to BRI (EIS and FET May 2017). The dates post GRIP 3 for Filton Bank are still indicative. The TV branches are in another project, to which Southcote to Basingstoke has been added - all dates post GRIP 3 indicative, and for Basingstoke they are TBA.

So completing the branches later has always been foreseen as planning wiggle room, and might not even count as a delay.

I was just trying to work out what this meant in terms of how soon I could book a FOS from TBA to FET...  ;) Then I spotted BWP, and realised you were just making it all up. Unless you meant BPW... ::)