Part of the line, between Lancaster and Morecambe, was used in the early twentieth century for pioneering overhead electrification.

c. clxxxiv) on 16 July 1846 to build a harbour on Morecambe Bay, close to the village of Poulton-le-Sands, and 3 miles (5 km) of railway to a new station at Lancaster Green Ayre.

The single-track line opened on Whit Monday 12 June 1848, a temporary station having been constructed at Morecambe which, it was reported, afforded "every possible accommodation"[2] to passengers.

However, due to economic recession, work on the Ingleton-to-Low Gill section was suspended, so the NWR was forced to concentrate on the branch to Lancaster.

[9] Later, on 1 January 1859, both the NWR and the MH&R were leased to the MR, and on 30 July 1874 the NWR was absorbed by the MR.[6] After considerable manoeuvring between rival companies, in 1857 it was the Lancaster and Carlisle Railway, worked by the London and North Western Railway (LNWR), that was authorised to take over construction of the abandoned Ingleton-to-Low Gill line.

[12] The Lancaster and Carlisle Railway also built a branch from Hest Bank on its main line to meet the NWR just before Morecambe station, opening on 13 August 1864.

[13] The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway extended its line through Clitheroe to a junction with the NWR at Hellifield on 1 June 1880.

The system used 6.6 kV at 25 Hz, with the electricity provided by a power station at Heysham,[16] supplied via cables suspended from overhead steel archways.

Full electric service resumed on 17 August 1953, with power supplied from a new substation at Green Ayre.

[17] The Ingleton Branch closed to passengers on 30 January 1954, but was still used for goods and occasional excursions until closure on 26 July 1966, after which the tracks were lifted.

[24] Goods traffic via the Lune Valley line ceased on 4 June 1967, except for a short single-track spur from the Heysham line towards Lancaster which closed on 31 January 1970, and another single-track spur from Lancaster Castle to a power station which closed on 16 March 1976.

[25] Almost all of the route of the dismantled line between Caton and Morecambe has been preserved as a combined cyclepath and footpath, except for a short section near Lancaster city centre.