SOUTH Lakes MP Tim Farron has celebrated the return of trains back on the Lakes Line after a long campaign.

The line, which runs from Oxenholme to Windermere, had been suspended by Northern Rail for the past two weeks.

But after days of negotiating between Tim, Network Rail and the Department for Transport, trains are now back running on the line as of today.

The service, which will be running from 9.25am to 7pm every day, will be operated by Carnforth-based West Coast Railways and will run alongside the rail replacement buses that Northern are currently already operating.

Mr Farron said: “This is a tremendous victory for local people.

“There has been a big community effort to get this off the ground and I’m so pleased that we finally have a reliable service back on the Lakes Line.

“But it shouldn’t have taken the efforts of local rail groups and my office staff to get a train up and running – it’s the responsibility of the Department for Transport and Northern and both have failed miserably.

“This is obviously only a short-term solution and it’s absolutely vital that Northern either get their act together or are stripped of both this line and the Furness Line so that an operator who actually wants to run trains can be put in charge of our local railways.”