A very interesting trial of a ‘virtual railway station’ in Keswick, Cumbria, UK has shown some FANTASTIC results in the past two years that it has run during the summer seasons of 2024 and 2025, and now is being introduced from 27th April 2026 as a year-round service.
As part of the newly formed Northumberland Branch of NEPTUG, I believe this trial is a great demonstration of what could be achieved quickly and relatively easily on this side of the Cheviots by mirroring the success of a proven project over in Cumbria.
History of ‘Keswick Virtual Station’
Starting in 2024, a collaboration between Cumbria Tourism, Avanti West Coast, and Stagecoach offered an integrated bus and rail ticket as part of a ‘Go Car Free’ means of accessing the Lake District.
Keswick lost its ‘real’ railway station back on the 6th March 1972, when the then truncated branchline from Penrith finally closed, so the Stagecoach bus service is effectively providing a ‘rail replacement’ service for this long-lost branchline.
This virtual station called ‘Keswick Bus’ allowed for a direct sale of an integrated through ticket from a wide range of Avanti stations through to Keswick bus station, a simple concept but one that makes huge sense to make public transport simpler and more user friendly from a customer perspective.
Repeated in 2025, after a successful 2024 season with 750 integrated tickets sold during the first five months trial, the scheme was once again repeated, with Keswick again listed as a ‘virtual station’ by Avanti West Coast on their ticket sales platform.
I covered this a little over a year ago in April 2025 in a previous blog post.
Third time the charm, this highly successful scheme is now, from 27th April 2026, set to be retained as a year-round option to put Keswick back on the railway map, albeit connected by bus and not by trains.
The figures from the above Rail Advent article are astonishing, with it stating that ‘In 2025, Avanti West Coast recorded 205,000 journeys to or from Penrith between mid-June and mid-September, up 17% year-on-year and 48% on 2019. TransPennine Express saw 115,000 journeys, up 11% year-on-year and 58% on 2019.
Stagecoach carried nearly 442,000 passengers between April and November, a 14% increase on 2023.
Research from Cumbria Tourism shows rail’s share of visitors rose from 7% in 2022 to 12% in 2025.’
Clear success, but room to improve?
Whilst this is clearly a massive success and one to be lauded, there are a few simple but key elements that I feel would work to make this scheme even more successful.
- ‘Keswick Bus’ should be listed as a National Rail station: a ticket to this ‘station’ should be available from all train operators (for example LNER on the East Coast). This would allow for an ‘Alnmouth to Keswick Bus’ trip for example (my local station to Keswick) if I wished to purchase such a ticket.
- This scheme needs even more publicity than it has at present, as aside from the Rail Advent articles I happened to read, I have otherwise seen or heard very little about it.
- As this trial seems to be transitioning into a state permanance by being a year-round offering, then should Keswick Bus Station, as well as the Penrith – Keswick buses, be given rail branding such as the double arrow logo?
Just those two changes could make a HUGE improvement to the scheme as it stands today, and surely it wouldn’t take much to roll-out ‘Keswick Bus’ to other train operators and ticket vendors such as LNER or Trainline?
Keswick a model for elsewhere?
To me, this trial of integrated ticketing and co-ordination is clearly one that would have a lot of merit elsewhere, and a good example could be Alnwick, Northumberland, UK.
Similar to Keswick, Cumbria, Alnwick in Northumberland is a major tourism destination in its own right; the town being home to world famous attractions such as Alnwick Castle, The Alnwick Garden, itself home to the well-known The Poison Garden and Lilidorei, as well as Barter Books and many other attractions within the town which collectively draw hundreds of thousands of visitors each year.
Alnwick is also arguably also a gateway town to Northumberland more broadly, with other nearby attractions like Ad Gefrin in Wooler, or Cragside in Rothbury for example.
Like Keswick, Alnwick lost its rail link decades ago, with the station (now partially reused as Barter Books) closing to passengers on 29th January 1968, and finally to freight too in October that year.
Whilst Alnwick is seeing its branchline being rebuilt as the relatively fledging but excellent Aln Valley Railway (AVR), this line is a heritage line, not a mainline reopening like the Borders Railway or the Northumberland Line, so trains run just a handful of times per day mainly at weekends and during school holidays, and only over a short stretch of line from the edge of Alnwick to Eden Hill Bridge about halfway to Almmouth station.
Therefore, a more pragmatic solution could be to create a second ‘virtual railway station’ at Alnwick Bus Station; it has a very central location within the town of Alnwick (only a short distance from the ancient Marketplace in the town), unlike the current Lionheart terminus of the AVR which is some distance east of the original Alnwick station, limited by the construction in the early 1970’s of thd A1 Alnwick Bypass and the subsequent loss of trackbed into Alnwick itself such as the Alnwick Lidl supermarket on the station throat.
If a ‘virtual station’ concept like that at Keswick was copied in Alnwick, that could mean easily integrated tickets from operators such as LNER, meaning a single ticket could cover the trip from Kings Cross in London or Edinburgh Waverley station in Edinburgh through to the heart of Alnwick.
This would serve the large market for ‘Potter’ fans coming from far and wide to visit ‘Hogwarts Castle’ in the first few Harry Potter films, or for the multitude of other films recorded there over the years, or for keen visitors to Alnwick Garden; those curious about poisonous plants too, or those having an adventure in Lilidorei.
Better bus services AND easier ticketing
I have long campaigned for better buses to link Alnwick to Alnmouth Railway Station, and beyond to Amble (a rapidly growing town similarly now devoid of a rail connection it once enjoyed), but done in combination with a ‘virtual station’ in Alnwick, it could see sufficient passenger growth to make extra buses sustainable, and drive modal shift towards greater use of public transport; reducing the adverse impacts of heavy vehicle traffic in these quaint and picturesque Northumberland towns, while bringing more tourists in to enjoy them and benefit the local economy.
Lets hope that a ‘virtual station for Alnwick’, amongst other places may be considered strongly for the future, especially given the proposed upgrades to Alnwick Bus Station that is coming during 2026.
If you’d like to sign the petition, please do so here: https://www.change.org/p/start-a-dedicated-bus-meets-train-shuttle-bus-between-alnwick-alnmouth-station-amble
The Northumberland Coast Loop 