We have reintroduced our integrated ticket so visitors to the Lake District can travel seamlessly across rail and bus, and to further help ensure service reliability, we have undertaken record levels of recruitment and training.
Return of Keswick's virtual railway station to support sustainable journeys in the Lakes
Last week we announced the return of our integrated ticket covering entire journeys to the Lake District across train and bus, in partnership with Stagecoach, following a successful trial as part of Cumbria Tourism’s award-winning ‘Go Car Free’ campaign.
The return of the fully integrated ticket follows a successful trial last year as part of the award-winning ‘Go Car Free’ campaign by Local Visitor Economy Partnership, Cumbria Tourism, supported by Avanti West Coast and Stagecoach. The improved connectivity and seamless journey experience across public transport makes it even easier to visit the Lake District without a car, enabling sustainable trips.
The ticket can be used on Avanti West Coast’s services to Penrith (gateway to the North Lakes) and Stagecoach’s connecting X4 and X5 bus service to Keswick – without the need for multiple transactions.
Over the five-month trial, 750 journeys were made to and from Keswick using the joint ticket.
Markus Campbell-Savours, MP for Penrith and Solway, attended the launch of the new ticket and said: “I fully support this initiative that won’t only make it easier for those without cars to travel to the heart of the Lake District but will also reduce congestion on the roads in towns and villages across Cumbria. As a local politician, I’m acutely aware of the congestion we experience in the summer holidays and anything that helps people travel to Cumbria in a joined up and sustainable way, is a good thing.”
Record levels of recruitment and training
In addition to having 18% more drivers and 10% more train managers than at the start of the franchise, we are also undertaking signicifant levels of training of existing drivers on our new Evero trains as well as on additional routes. We also opened a new driver depot at Crewe in December 2024 which has helped to improve the resilience of our North Wales operation.
We are particularly pleased with the response to our marketing campaign to attract more women to the driver grade, with women making up a third of new trainee recruits, an increase from one in five.
The campaign was launched on the back of the unveiling of a mural at London Euston station of Karen Harrison, one of the UK's first female train drivers. We launched the rail industry’s first ever recruitment chatbot, which was designed to be a light-hearted way of engaging with potential applicants about what it takes to be a train driver. We also used HR insights which highlights that on average women will take a couple of weeks to apply for a new job. As a result, job applications were opened a month after the Karen Harrison campaign launched, and they were kept open for a week rather than the standard 24 to 48 hours – which was another industry first.
We’re on track to hit our target of 50% female trainee driver recruits by 2030 and we are really proud that this campaign played a huge part.
