The Anonymous Widower

Could A Feeder Network Of Local Trains Be Developed For HS2 At Lancaster Station?

Lancaster station is one of the least important stations that will be served by High Speed Two.

I visited in May 2025 and afterwards wrote Lancaster Station – 23rd May 2025.

This OpenRailwayMap shows the railway network around Lancaster.

Note.

1. The red track on the East side of the map is the electrified West Coast Main Line.
2. The location of Lancaster station is indicated by a blue arrow.
3. Morecambe, where the Eden Project North is being developed and the important port of Heysham are on the coast to the West of Lancaster.
4. Oxenholme station is towards the North-East corner of the map, on the main line.
5. The Windermere branch connects to the main line at Oxenholme station.
6. HS2 will use the West Coast Main Line and call at Lancaster and Oxenholme.

North of Oxenholme, HS2 calls at Penrith and Carlisle, before going on to Glasgow and Scotland.

West of the main line, the map is dominated by the waters of Morecambe Bay, which in recent decades has produced a lot of our gas, but is now transitioning to an area, that will produce a few gigawatts of wind power.

North of Morecambe Bay, there is the Lake District, with the shipbuilding at Barrow and the nuclear waste processing at Sellafield on the coast.

It is an important area of England, where there is a lot going on!

Tying it all together is the yellow ribbon of the Cumbrian Coast Line, which connects Carnforth and Carlisle on an hourly basis.

• The service calls at Grange-over-Sands, Barrow-in-Furness, Millom, Ravenglass, Drigg, Seascale, Sellafield, St Bees, Whitehaven, Workington, Maryport, Aspatria, Wigton and other places.
• Four services a day link Carlisle and Lancaster stations.
• Carlisle and Lancaster stations are 120.5 miles apart via the coast and according to Google AI, the journey takes between three and three-and-a-half hours.
• In  From Barrow-in-Furness To Ravenglass, From Ravenglass to Sellafield and From Sellafield To Carlisle, there are some images, that give a flavour of the route.

This is a route, that is worth decarbonising.

Consider.

• There is a couple of gigawatt of wind power in the bay to charge any batteries with green electricity or make green hydrogen.
• There is a project called BARROW GREEN HYDROGEN, which is located in Barrow-in-Furness.
• Both hydrogen and battery-powered trains could handle the hundred and twenty miles of the Cumbrian Coast Line.
• A zero-carbon train running silently round the Lake District could be a tourist attraction in its own right.
• Hydrogen-powered buses could provide the local transport.

Given the scenery and the closeness to the Lake District and High Speed Two, I suspect that major train manufacturers like Alstom, CAF and Siemens will be keen to bid.

April 20, 2026 - Posted by AnonW | Hydrogen, Transport/Travel | Alstom, Avanti West Coast, Barrow Green Hydrogen, Barrow-in-Furness Station, CAF, Carlisle Station, Cumbrian Coast Line, Hydrogen-Powered Trains, Lake District, Lancaster Station, Nuclear Power, Offshore Wind Power, Oxenholme Lake District Station, Sellafield, Shipbuilding, Siemens, Tourism, West Coast Main Line, Wind Power, Windermere Branch Line, Workington