Links
Northern (most services in the north of England including the Tyne Valley line to Newcastle and the Settle and Carlisle railway to Leeds) – part of the Arriva group http://www.northernrailway.co.uk – if you want a quick check on how the service is running go to https://www.journeycheck.com/northernrail/ where you can set the page to give you information about your local station (or another). To claim compensation for delays of over 15 minutes go to https://northernrailway.co.uk/corporate/compensation-information (or equivalents on the website of the operator which caused the delay).
If you want to make comments directly to Northern rather than through CRUG then use the Contact page on their website https://www.northernrailway.co.uk/help/contact but it can take many weeks to get a reply – Twitter can be better
Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway (Ratty) http://www.ravenglass-railway.co.uk Online booking for the Ratty and Muncaster is available at https://sales.webticketmanager.com//default.aspx?companyid=211&eventid=7684
Cumbria Community Rail Partnership http://communityrailcumbria.co.uk/
Cumbria County Council http://www.cumbria.gov.uk
Other train operating companies serving Carlisle or Lancaster:
Caledonian Sleeper (London-Scotland stopping in Carlisle) http://www.sleeper.scot
Scotrail (South west Scotland line from Carlisle to Glasgow via Dumfries and to Newcastle) http://www.scotrail.co.uk
TransPennine Express (Lancaster and Carlisle to Glasgow, Edinburgh and Manchester Airport) http://www.tpexpress.co.uk
Virgin Trains (West coast services from Carlisle and Lancaster to Glasgow, Edinburgh, Birmingham and London) http://www.virgintrains.co.uk
As well as the train operating companies these sites give train times:
National rail enquiries (train times with links to train operating companies to buy tickets and also details of stations, ticket types and disruption) http://www.nationalrail.co.uk
Complete train timetable for the whole of Britain http://www.networkrail.co.uk/aspx/3828.aspx
Live departure boards http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/times_fares/ldb.aspx
Real time trains (expected and actual times) http://www.realtimetrains.co.uk
Other useful ticket and fares sites:
Advance ticket release dates (most advance tickets are released around 12 weeks before journeys but it does vary particularly at weekends and holidays and most Virgin tickets are available 24 weeks ahead) http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/times_fares/ticket_types/44703.aspx
Train fares (lists all available fares – may not be available for all trains) http://www.brfares.com
Ticket restriction codes (shows limits on routes and breaking journeys) http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/times_fares/ticket_types/TicketAndValidityFinder.aspx
Railrover guide (for multi-day rovers and one day rangers, local ones also listed by Northern Rail) http://www.railrover.org
Railcards (a third off fares for younger, older or disabled people, families, forces and two people travelling together) http://www.railcard.co.uk
Split ticketing (one of several sites that show how it can be cheaper to buy more than one ticket for a journey) http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/split-cheap-train-tickets Other sites include splityourticket.co.uk
Scenic rail journeys gives ideas for days out on all the community lines in Cumbria and elsewhere including preserved lines.
The Rail Ombudsman judges on complaints which passengers have been unable to resolve with a train operator.
Connecting bus and coach services
Most buses in Cumbria are run by Stagecoach including the hourly X4 and X5 link between Penrith station, Keswick, Cockermouth and Workington with through train tickets available to Keswick and Cockermouth. There are also earlier and later services than trains from Whitehaven, Workington, Maryport and Wigton to and from Carlisle on services 300 and 301 http://www.stagecoachbus.com
A full list of bus services and maps are available at http://www.cumbria.gov.uk/roads-transport/public-transport-road-safety/transport/publictransport/busserv/timetables
National Express coaches serve all the main towns in Cumbria with links throughout England and Scotland http://www.nationalexpress.com/home.aspx
Other local rail user groups (full list on Railfuture.org.uk):
Furness line (Barrow-Lancaster) email [email protected]
Lakes line (Windermere-Oxenholme) http://www.llrug.co.uk
Bentham line (Lancaster-Skipton) http://www.lasrug.btck.co.uk
Settle and Carlisle line (Carlisle-Leeds) http://www.foscl.org.uk
Tyne Valley line (Carlisle-Newcastle) http://www.tvrug.org.uk
History
Cumbrian Railways Association http://www.cumbrianrailways.org.uk
West Cumberland Railway Museum at 24 Main Street, St Bees is generally open 1000-1600 for a week a month (details on the West Cumberland Railway Museum Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/West-Cumberland-Railway-Museum-1082018475225883. Contact Peter Rooke for more details.
