Hopes joint ticket will boost car-free tourism

[Image from here is not available to guests]
The joint bus and train ticket links Penrith with Keswick in the Lake District

It is hoped a joint train and bus ticket will boost the number of tourists visiting the Lake District without a car.

Those travelling to Penrith by train and then onwards to Keswick by bus will able to get a single, integrated ticket for the journey year-round as part of the Let's Go Car Free campaign. It follows a trial over the past two summers which saw a boost in passenger numbers, operators involved said.

However, frequent traveller Amy D'Agorne, 33, was sceptical and said it was no replacement for the actual train that ran to Keswick in the 1960s, adding: "It doesn't seem any different to what it has been previously. It's just an extra button."

Keswick was added as a destination in rail journey planners for both Avanti West Coast and TransPennine Express passengers.

As part of the rollout, Stagecoach doubled the frequency of its bus services connecting Keswick and Penrith to every half an hour.

Managing director Tom Waterhouse said the ticket, officially launched last week, helped create "easy, seamless travel".

President of Cumbria Tourism Jim Walker claimed it would make "low-carbon journeys even easier, more accessible and appealing for both visitors and local residents".

D'Agorne frequently travels between York and Keswick and has used public transport for the past few months while her car is repaired. "I don't know if this is a bit of a cop-out or an excuse for not having an actual train station in Keswick, which is kind of crazy because it's such a big tourist destination," she said.

She does not believe the ticketing will encourage her to stay using public transport because it was "still such a nightmare" to do the route. It takes just over two hours to drive, but about four hours on public transport, not including delays.

But in 2025, the second year the integrated ticket was in place, Avanti West Coast said it saw a 48% increase in travellers to and from Penrith over the summer months compared to 2019, prior to Covid.

TransPennine Express said it saw a 58% jump over the same period.

Stagecoach said it recorded "similarly strong growth after the trial" with nearly 442,000 trips over the summer season (April - November), which was 14% more than in 2023.