Yahoo News Major change announced for people visiting beautiful Lake District town
Visitors to a Lake District town without a train station will be able to travel there using a rail ticket. The scheme is to encourage more tourists to travel around the national park without using a car.
Passengers will be able to buy a single ticket with Avanti West Coast which covers travel by train and bus to and from Keswick, which means they won’t have to make multiple transactions. The tickets can be used for train travel to and from Penrith station, which is connected to Keswick by 30-minute bus services – which have doubled in frequency this summer – operated by Stagecoach.
The integrated single tickets cost an additional £2 on top of train fares. Avanti West Coast executive director of commercial Sarah Copley said: “Whether you’re visiting the Lakes for the day or a weekend away, the integrated ticket means you have everything you need for your journey before you board, so it’s even easier to make greener travel choices.
“We hope it will inspire more people to ditch the car and take the train and bus before exploring the region’s beautiful scenery on foot or public transport.” Cumbria Tourism managing director Gill Haigh said enabling visitors to Keswick to book tickets that “transfer them from their point of origin right into the heart of the town” will contribute to the effort to make Cumbria “Britain’s most sustainable rural destination”.
She added: “Providing easy car-free connections not only supports this vision but also facilitates even more relaxing, enjoyable, inclusive and welcoming ways to visit.”
Stagecoach Cumbria and North Lancashire managing director Tom Waterhouse described the scheme as “a real step change in helping people to visit this beautiful part of the world in a sustainable way”.
Keswick was previously connected with Penrith by rail but the former’s station was closed in 1972.
