In the mid 21st century, what should a world class transport system look like for the Lake District?
We’re going to build ideas on this page over the next year – driven by the TfLD Principles, so watch this space as the ideas develop.
We are not starting from scratch. Below are some ideas and links that help set out what is already happening and we’re going to be building on these for the whole Lake District.
As we get to this phase of work, we’ll make sure you have opportunities to get involved.
European best practice – rural visitor transport
If we look at all of the parts of the whole visitor journey, what does it look like?
The 2023 Churchill Fellowship looked at rural destinations from the perspective of visitor travel and decarbonisation – because most transport-related stress in these areas and a significant proportions of the area’s overall carbon emissions is from visitor travel.
This pulled together best practice from across Europe and further afield to try to set out what best-in-class for all of these parts might look like. Whilst focussing on decarbonisation, what this revealed was best practice in rural destination transport. Details on all of these parts is available here
There isn’t anywhere that does all of these – so for the Lake District, we’ll need to work out what might work best and what would work together to deliver on the bigger ambitions of the Principles.
Three valleys project
Cumbria Tourism led a project (funded by Westmorland and Furness Council) focussing on the three valleys of Langdale, Ullswater and the Hawkshead (2024-25). This involved the development of transport visions and delivery plans for transport. Click here to read more about the CT work and the valley plans.
As part of this, Low Carbon Destinations applied the lessons of the 2023 Churchill Fellowship to the three valleys.
Read more at What might world-class visitor transport look like for popular Lake District valleys?
Sustainable and Integrated Transport for Ullswater
“SITU is run by a group of residents from the Ullswater parishes in the Lake District. The group wants to see a sustainable and integrated transport system for the Ullswater valley which will benefit residents, local businesses and visitors in keeping with the World Heritage status of the Lake District”
They take a vision-led approach for the future of transport and access for the Ullswater valley. This includes specific ambitions for 2037 coupled to actions. Key actions to date have included
Wasdale & Buttermere shuttles
New seasonal shuttle services for Wasdale and Buttermere valleys have been developed since the Covid disruptions.
The Wasdale Explorer emerged from the Wasdale Citizen’s Panel. Working with the clearway restrictions on the single-track road, the shuttle provides alternative access at busy times of the year, linking to the rail station at Ravenglass and other hubs and car parks along the route.
The Buttermere shuttle was developed to provide park-and-ride access into the Crummock and Buttermere valleys from Cockermouth at busy times. It complements and extends the 77 services to the valleys from Keswick.
CT worker travel
As part of Cumbria Tourism’s wider work to tackle recruitment and skills challenges, Cumbria Tourism is helping to shape the future of worker transport by coordinating smarter, sustainable transport solutions and lobbying for improved connectivity across the county.
Read more about this by clicking here, and a 2026 progress report here.
Mini Switzerland in the Peak District
Whilst not in Cumbria, the Mini Switzerland in the Peak District initiative is both inspirational and relevant.
It applies the service standards of world-renowned Swiss public transport to the busy Hope Valley in the middle of the Peak District National Park. This involves frequent early/late services at set “clockface” times, guaranteed interchange between buses & bus/rail and the information and marketing wrap-around. A key idea is to provide world-class public transport access via the rail from Manchester & Sheffield integrated with regular bus services to get around.
The idea emerged from a community initiative (Hope Valley Climate Action). This was developed by experts leading to a £6m investment by the Department for Transport to the East Midlands Combined Authority for its delivery, levering a further £6m from the EMCA to provide a total pot of £12 of capital and revenue funding.