The Anonymous Widower

Rail Operator Crosses Line For First Time In Years

The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on the BBC.

This is the sub-heading.

An operator’s first passenger train has crossed a historical and scenic route for the first time in more than a decade.

These three paragraphs give more details about the reason for the trip.

Avanti West Coast’s 07:54 GMT from Wigan was the first to run on the Settle to Carlisle route earlier.

The 73-mile line is renowned for its picturesque views across the Yorkshire Dales and the North Pennines via the Ribblehead viaduct.

The route is usually only used by Northern trains operating between Leeds and Carlisle, but Avanti is using it as a diversion while work to replace the Clifton Bridge take place over the M6 near Penrith.

I’ve only ridden the Route once and that was on a day in 2014, when the weather wasn’t at its best.

Afterwards I wrote Long Live The Settle And Carlisle, so the trip couldn’t have been that bad!

These paragraphs give the reason for and details of the diversion.

The Settle to Carlisle line does not have overhead power lines, meaning Avanti is using bi-mode Class 805 Evero trains which operate on diesel.

Several timetable changes have been made during the engineering works, with disruption expected until 15 January.

Until 5 January, the railway will also be blocked south of Preston, meaning on these days the diverted services are running between Wigan North Western and Carlisle.

But if Great British Railways could get their act together and convert a sufficient number of their Hitachi diesel bi-modes to battery-electric bi-modes and do some testing and a few calculations, the problem would be solved.

In 2021, I wrote Through Settle And Carlisle Service Under Consideration, after Modern Railways wrote an article of the same name.

Could Lumo Run A Lincoln And Glasgow Service Via Doncaster, Leeds And Settle?

In South Yorkshire Now Has Better North-South Connections, I calculated that Doncaster station now has 173 express trains per day, that stop at the station.

So why not add five or six express trains per day to Doncaster, Lincoln, Leeds, Settle, Carlisle and Glasgow?

And why not ask Lumo to run it, as they’d know how to run such a service?

January 1, 2026 - Posted by AnonW | Transport/Travel | Battery-Electric Trains, Carlisle Station, Class 805 Train, Doncaster Station, Glasgow Central Station, Great British Railways, Hitachi Intercity Battery Train, Leeds Station, Lumo, Settle And Carlisle Line