Furness line

A predominantly passenger line, it serves various towns along the Furness coast, including Barrow-in-Furness, Ulverston and Grange-over-Sands.

It was originally intended to be used solely as a mineral railway, however provisions were made for a branch to Barrow and a link to Ulverston, the largest local town at the time.

A passenger station had been opened at Ramsden Dock a year before to connect with the new Isle of Man and later Belfast steamer services.

[3] As a result, an effort was made to modernise the line as a tourist railway, linking the country to the Lake District.

The Roa Island branch was closed in 1936, however the rest of the network remained open until the formation of British Railways.

Following a recasting of rail franchises in the North of England by the Department for Transport, all services on the line are now operated by Northern.

The new timetable was criticised by local schools due to some services between Barrow and Ulverston being moved earlier.

[9] Following a recasting of rail franchises in the North of England by the Department for Transport, all services on the line were transferred to Northern in April 2015.

The enhanced service will use new, air-conditioned Class 195 'Civity' units[11] and offer free onboard WiFi and faster journey times.

On Sundays, an enhanced service is planned with up to 5-8 extra trains per day in each direction to both Lancaster and Manchester Airport.

Arnside Viaduct crossing the mouth of the River Kent