Gerard Parker (Letters, June 9) makes several good points in his letter about Lakes Line rail services.

The Lakes Line Rail User Group (RUG) and Community Rail Partnership (CRP) have both been concerned about missed connections at Oxenholme. Pressure from the RUG and CRP helped persuade train operators Virgin Trains and TransPennine Express to set up, with Network Rail, a group to improve things. Mostly, if a northbound train arrives late at Oxenholme, the reason lies some way away, perhaps Manchester or Stafford. The situation is now better. It was dire in the autumn of 2015, but recently has been almost acceptable.

Connections at Oxenholme would be less important if we had more through trains between Manchester and Windermere. Both the CRP and RUG urged the Department for Transport, when it was specifying the new franchise, to reinstate the 5-a-day we used to have. The Department specified 2. Arriva Rail North, which won the new Northern franchise, has committed itself to run 4 weekday return services between Windermere and Manchester from December 2019, so will bring us back almost to the level of British Rail days.

Having all trains stop at Burneside and Staveley is something else the RUG and CRP have lobbied for. Sadly, we are getting older, slower trains for the next few years, so it will be even more difficult to find the extra minutes in the timetable to put more stops in, and still make connections at Oxenholme. But we shall keep on trying. Incidentally, Jim Trotman, the Community Rail Partnership Officer, has persuaded Northern to request permission from Network Rail for some extra stops at Staveley during the July Hawkshead Beer Festival. We await confirmation of this.

If you would like to support us in campaigning for improvements to Lakes Line services, individuals can join the RUG (www.llrug.co.uk) and businesses can link up with the CRP (www.lakesline.co.uk.).

Dick Smith

Rail User Group representative on the Community Rail Partnership