NEWS that the Lakes Line is likely to be electrified, possibly as soon as three years, is a significant 'win' for South Lakeland after much high-profile lobbying and a few false dawns over the decades.

Crucially, supporters say the investment will have a dual purpose in making both train services simpler, quicker and more reliable, as well as protecting services when it comes to timetable tinkering.

However, the champagne must be kept on ice.

Those who have campaigned for this investment must maintain the momentum and hold the politicians to their promises, particularly as we approach a General Election in May when a potentially new, incoming administration may have different ideas on where to commit public money.

We are, after all, in an era of austerity where Government spending us under constant review from the Treasury and major capital projects are by no means guaranteed until the first spade is in the ground.

And it should not be overlooked that for far too long, rural areas like ours have tended to miss out on headline infrastructure investments because of the sparsity of the population.

But at long last the Government seems to have heard and listened to the argument that a modern, high-quality standard of transport in a tourism-dependent area requires major investment.

Not only because of the millions of tourists making a pilgrimage to the area and putting pressure on the busy road network, but because it provides an alternative to the car for local people, be they retirees, students or low-paid workers.

It is also heartening to see campaigners from the Furness Line Community Rail Partnership ramping up their campaign with hard evidence from a specially-commissioned £30,000 study.

They say the Barrow to Carnforth route needs 'urgent' attention if the area is to adequately service a population growth in Barrow and Ulverston because of expansion plans at the Barrow shipyard and Glaxo in Ulverston.

It would be silly for the area to have world class facilities in the fields of defence and medicine, if its antiquated transport system belongs to another era.