The Windermere branch has the extraordinary bad luck to have been authorised for electrification twice, only for the scheme to be subsequently cancelled. Thirty years ago I was British Rail’s ‘Provincial Services Manager’ for the London Midland Region.
We developed a scheme to electrify Oxenholme to Windermere on a cheap and cost-effective basis, just stringing the wires up on the single line. The voltage drop at the Windermere end might have been quite significant, as I believe it is at the ends of other electrified branches, at places like Harwich Town and Lymington Pier – but in the old, pragmatic days before Technical Specifications for Interoperability, it would have worked fine.
The business case was based on journey time improvements, delivering more main line connections at Oxenholme; in those days, the pattern of InterCity calls was irregular, and fewer connections would be missed if the branch train dashed up and down more quickly.
The cost was extraordinarily low, around £950,000, and within the Region’s delegated authority, which was then £1 million. But the General Manager cannily said that as a courtesy, he would check with the Provincial Sector Director, and I was rung up the next day a…
