North Lakes Railway

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Presuming that a re-opened Penrith-Keswick line wouldn't be electrified (at least initially) would we seriously want to run a diesel service under the wires from Manchester to Penrith and then reverse? Bi-modes wouldn't come cheap and you would need quite a few for a regular service over such a distance. For such a radically new option journey times are hard to estimate.

If one accepted connections at Penrith (even out of the suggested Carlisle through service above) then the journey time could be whatever the TPE Manchester-Scotland service takes once it is running via Bolton after electrification plus about half an hour for the Keswick branch, plus up to an hour's wait in the buffet given the random spread of stopping patterns at Penrith overall.

Exactly. Speaking about just one type of journey, I would say that day trips from Manchester to Windermere are eminently feasible, with my good lady wife and I having made that particular visit by rail on numerous occasions with no stress of M6 driving in the Range Rover there and back and the direct rail journey allows time for a sail on the lake as well as time to take in all the tourist potential such as the Beatrix Potter establishment there with the option of a quick bus ride to Ambleside and back

A day trip from Manchester to Keswick would be longer in time and effectively gives less time at Keswick with a later arrival time and an earlier departure time.

 

[lejog]

Rob the thing is day trippers don't tend to have too much baggage to cart around. On the other hand if you are planning a weekend fell walking in the Lakes you need a fair bit of baggage.

Sorry to wander off topic, but I've seen enough incredible generalisations about campers/hikers, when you appear to be talking about "comfy" car campers/B&Bers who take the kitchen sink. My "fair bit of luggage for a weekend in the Lakes" is a 30l rucksack, total weight 7.5kg (includes food, tent,sleeping bag etc).

You are also then reliant on local bus services whilst hoping that they run to a half decent timetable. If you're up there in June and the weather is kind you could easily be out walking until gone 18.00, in which case you've got to hope that there is a bus to take you back to your accommodation.

Finish by 6pm, when there's another 4hours of walking time? Accommodation? Buses to accommodation? Why aren't you camping out in the hills?

Really, there's a rather more varied market and wider potential than you suggest.

 

[deltic08]

You'd need to find a new alignment for much of the route from Keswick to the coast line, as the A66 is now in the way.

Not difficult. Just follow and parallel the A66 where it has used the old railway formation. No problem except through Cockermouth where a big bulldozer would be helpful,

 

[backontrack]

Not difficult. Just follow and parallel the A66 where it has used the old railway formation. No problem except through Cockermouth where a big bulldozer would be helpful,

There's really not much room.

 

[quantinghome]

Not difficult. Just follow and parallel the A66 where it has used the old railway formation. No problem except through Cockermouth where a big bulldozer would be helpful,

Well it's all relative I suppose. Less difficult than building the channel tunnel, but it's certainly more difficult than if the old alignment was available. Deciding on a route is not the tricky bit.

 

[deltic08]

There's really not much room.

I am sorry but there is plenty of room even along the shore line of Bassenthwaite. I walked a route many years ago on the north side of the A66 to check for myself.

 

[furnessvale]

I am sorry but there is plenty of room even along the shore line of Bassenthwaite. I walked a route many years ago on the north side of the A66 to check for myself.

Ah! Bassenthwaite, the only lake in the Lake District!

 

[deltic08]

Well it's all relative I suppose. Less difficult than building the channel tunnel, but it's certainly more difficult than if the old alignment was available. Deciding on a route is not the tricky bit.

If you look at what was done on Borders rail, only the route was followed. Much of it was rebuilt as if a new railway because the old Victorian formation was not good enough by to-days standards. The new bit as far as the Southern Bypass was built just as quickly as the old bit for a similar cost per mile.
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Ah! Bassenthwaite, the only lake in the Lake District!

Yes, we know as all the others are Meres or Waters

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Not difficult. Just follow and parallel the A66 where it has used the old railway formation. No problem except through Cockermouth where a big bulldozer would be helpful,

Is that big bulldozer also to be used to help to provide the necessary infrastructural works for a good flood defence system for Cockermouth, noting the events of 2009?

 

[furnessvale]

Yes, we know as all the others are Meres or Waters

Now that you have explained it, I am sure WE all now know, but I would wager that some were not aware of that little trivia question.

 

[deltic08]

Now that you have explained it, I am sure WE all now know, but I would wager that some were not aware of that little trivia question.

As I have already said, my mother was from Workington. Unlike many others my father had a car from 1928 and once a year travelled from the West Country by road, long before the Preston bypass that became the M6 motorway was built, instead of by rail. North of Kendal we passed Windermere, Grasmere, Rydal Water, Thirlmere, Derwentwater and Bassenthwaite. My mother educated me about this almost as soon as I could read and every time we went by road.

I did this with my children when we travelled from Ripon in North Yorkshire to Workington passing Derwentwater and Bassenthwaite.

There are 13 lakes in the Lake District but the Lakes Express only saw 3, Windermere (only just) on one portion and Derwentwater and Bassenthwaite on the Keswick/Workington portion although if you know where to look passing over Shap, the valley containing Haweswater, not to be confused with Wet Sleddale Reservoir which is very visible, can just be glimpsed.

This forum is very educational and informative isn't it?

 

[RichmondCommu]

Sorry to wander off topic, but I've seen enough incredible generalisations about campers/hikers, when you appear to be talking about "comfy" car campers/B&Bers who take the kitchen sink. My "fair bit of luggage for a weekend in the Lakes" is a 30l rucksack, total weight 7.5kg (includes food, tent,sleeping bag etc).

I make no apology for my wife and I being "comfy" car campers / B&Bers who allegedly take the "kitchen sink". Many of our trips to the Lakes are pretty much last minute decisions based on the weather / time off from work and finally availability of accommodation. Based on that it's much easier to sling everything in the car and we can take all the towels etc that we want. After a long day in the fells we like to have a shower in the evening before heading off for something to eat. Not only that but having the car allows us to make plans once we are up in the Lakes; we often stay in Elterwater or Langdale but because we have the car we are not restricted to staying there for the whole weekend. Judging by the number of cars in the Lakes at weekends we are not alone in doing this.
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Finish by 6pm, when there's another 4hours of walking time? Accommodation? Buses to accommodation? Why aren't you camping out in the hills?

Really, there's a rather more varied market and wider potential than you suggest.

It clearly escaped your notice that I was careful to say "gone 18.00". Indeed I concur that in parts of May, June and July it is indeed light until around 22.00. However if you are walking in the Fells much after 18.00 and you have an accident / fall ill it limits the chances of the Mountain Rescue finding you (depending on where you are located if indeed you actually know where you are) before darkness falls. Once it gets dark the task of the Mountain Rescue teams becomes much harder.

When I was in my late teens / early 20's I did a fair bit of wild camping, including in the Lakes on top of Great End. Doing that in June with a couple of mates was a right laugh but in my late 40's I'm looking for something a little more comfortable. Many young families enjoy holidays and I don't see many, if indeed any wild camping.

In fact I would suggest that wild campers are indeed few and far between which suggests that the majority of visitors to the Lakes have the same ideas as my wife and I.
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We're both regular train travellers in the Dales so we've both seen the wide range of leisure travellers, many with lots of luggage and walking gear on Leeds - Carlisle and Morecambe services. I don't see why this should be different for the North Lakes.

Rob, if you base yourself at for instance Horton you are ideally placed for both Ingleborough and of course Penyghent. Travel up to Ribblehead and Whernside is there waiting for you. Much easier to have a weekend in the Dales by train that it is in the Lakes.

The same would also of course also apply to those travelling to Clapham with the intention of the climbing Ingleborough or even Garsdale if you're planning to Climb Wild Boar Fell etc.

 

[deltic08]

I make no apology for my wife and I being "comfy" car campers / B&Bers who allegedly take the "kitchen sink". Many of our trips to the Lakes are pretty much last minute decisions based on the weather / time off from work and finally availability of accommodation. Based on that it's much easier to sling everything in the car and we can take all the towels etc that we want. After a long day in the fells we like to have a shower in the evening before heading off for something to eat. Not only that but having the car allows us to make plans once we are up in the Lakes; we often stay in Elterwater or Langdale but because we have the car we are not restricted to staying there for the whole weekend. Judging by the number of cars in the Lakes at weekends we are not alone in doing this.
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It clearly escaped your notice that I was careful to say "gone 18.00". Indeed I concur that in parts of May, June and July it is indeed light until around 22.00. However if you are walking in the Fells much after 18.00 and you have an accident / fall ill it limits the chances of the Mountain Rescue finding you (depending on where you are located if indeed you actually know where you are) before darkness falls. Once it gets dark the task of the Mountain Rescue teams becomes much harder.

When I was in my late teens / early 20's I did a fair bit of wild camping, including in the Lakes on top of Great End. Doing that in June with a couple of mates was a right laugh but in my late 40's I'm looking for something a little more comfortable. Many young families enjoy holidays and I don't see many, if indeed any wild camping.

You may have become a wimp since your 20s but don't assume everybody is the same.

We don't know how many visit the Keswick area without a car currently and what we also don't know is how many would travel by rail instead of car if the railway was there.

I have also reached the age of a wimp and would be very happy to stay in Keswick for long weekends without my car if the railway was there. If I didn't have a car then I wouldn't use a bus or coach as there isn't a convenient one from where I live without many changes. Changing at Penrith from train to bus and vice versa doesn't thrill me either so I wouldn't travel to Keswick but would choose somewhere rail connected instead. Keswick would lose my business.

 

[Bald Rick]

You may have become a wimp since your 20s but don't assume everybody is the same.

We don't know how many visit the Keswick area without a car currently and what we also don't know is how many would travel by rail instead of car if the railway was there.

I have also reached the age of a wimp and would be very happy to stay in Keswick for long weekends without my car if the railway was there. If I didn't have a car then I wouldn't use a bus or coach as there isn't a convenient one from where I live without many changes. Changing at Penrith from train to bus and vice versa doesn't thrill me either so I wouldn't travel to Keswick but would choose somewhere rail connected instead. Keswick would lose my business.

Who's the wimp?

Someone who prefers to use a car to get to various parts of a relatively remote part of the country, or someone who is frightened of changing on to a bus?

 

[MarkRedon]

You may have become a wimp since your 20s but don't assume everybody is the same.

We don't know how many visit the Keswick area without a car currently and what we also don't know is how many would travel by rail instead of car if the railway was there.

I have also reached the age of a wimp and would be very happy to stay in Keswick for long weekends without my car if the railway was there. If I didn't have a car then I wouldn't use a bus or coach as there isn't a convenient one from where I live without many changes. Changing at Penrith from train to bus and vice versa doesn't thrill me either so I wouldn't travel to Keswick but would choose somewhere rail connected instead. Keswick would lose my business.

I think it is worthwhile here to point up the very positive example of the wonderful walking opportunities directly available from the Settle and Carlisle local stations, which were reopened because of the Dales Rail initiative which dates back to the 1980s. That included and includes organised walks and initially chartered connecting bus services. One of the early visionaries was Colin Speakman, recently honoured for his work [QUOTE http://www.cnp.org.uk/news/transpor...heila-mckechnie-award-dales-rail-bus-network] in developing the Dalesbus network of services, linking urban centres with the Yorkshire Dales
[/QUOTE].

Heavy rail as we currently manage it in this country is almost certainly just too expensive for a reopened Keswick line – but surely there are ways to drive down the cost? Far from ideal, but good as a starting point: D78 stock Keswick to a bay platform at Penrith, maybe running on salvaged rail and sleepers? Perhaps recruiting as a route manager someone with experience of – whisper it quietly – a heritage railway? Incidentally, how difficult would it be to reopen the line without level crossings?

At Keswick, provide connections with a minibus operation in the [QUOTE http://www.mountain-goat.co.uk/] MountainGoat [/QUOTE]style. I am old enough to be a wimp, but I am also a real man who is not afraid to take the bus (Margaret Thatcher, please note).

 

[deltic08]

Who's the wimp?

Someone who prefers to use a car to get to various parts of a relatively remote part of the country, or someone who is frightened of changing on to a bus?

I didn't say I was frightened to change to a bus. It is a case of rather crawling on my hands and knees than using a bus. One big deterrent for me when planning a journey without a car.

I have a bus pass but cannot remember when I last used it. 2012 I think.

 

[yorksrob]

Rob, if you base yourself at for instance Horton you are ideally placed for both Ingleborough and of course Penyghent. Travel up to Ribblehead and Whernside is there waiting for you. Much easier to have a weekend in the Dales by train that it is in the Lakes.

The same would also of course also apply to those travelling to Clapham with the intention of the climbing Ingleborough or even Garsdale if you're planning to Climb Wild Boar Fell etc.

I don't tend to walk that much in the area (unless you count between the local pubs) so I wouldn't know about individual mountains.

However, travelling to Kendal today, I couldn't help but notice the large number of people who got on at Oxenholme the Lake District (with quite a few staying on beyond Kendal), so it wouldn't surprise me if Keswick were to become a local railway and transport hub.
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I didn't say I was frightened to change to a bus.

Quite. I wouldn't want my disdain for bus transportation to be confused with 'fear' either

 

[RichmondCommu]

You may have become a wimp since your 20s but don't assume everybody is the same.

We don't know how many visit the Keswick area without a car currently and what we also don't know is how many would travel by rail instead of car if the railway was there.

I have also reached the age of a wimp and would be very happy to stay in Keswick for long weekends without my car if the railway was there. If I didn't have a car then I wouldn't use a bus or coach as there isn't a convenient one from where I live without many changes. Changing at Penrith from train to bus and vice versa doesn't thrill me either so I wouldn't travel to Keswick but would choose somewhere rail connected instead. Keswick would lose my business.

It's nothing to do with being a "wimp" and everything to do with looking out for my wife and children (who are now grown up) whilst enjoying family holidays / weekends away. Pitch your tent on Great End on a beautiful summers evening and the following morning don't be surprised if you wake up to a howling gale and side ways rain. Not problem when you're 20 and away with your mates but it's not fair to inflict that on your young family. Or a girlfriend who's just getting used to the Lakes experience. It's all about thinking of others before yourself.

Living in South West London our time in the Lakes is limited. However by using the family car (and assuming we can get the time off) we can arrive in Langdale on the Thursday night and climb Bow Fell, Coniston Old Man and Helvellyn with all the flexibility that a bus could never offer us before heading home on a Sunday night. The only way to take maximum advantage in the beautiful Lakes is to use our car. After all that's why we pay our car tax! Not to mention stocking up on Lake District goodies from Booths on the way home. What's not good about that?
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I don't tend to walk that much in the area (unless you count between the local pubs) so I wouldn't know about individual mountains.

Well the success of Dales Rail in the 1970's gives you all the evidence you need that the S & C is very useful for a day in the high fells / dales.

However, travelling to Kendal today, I couldn't help but notice the large number of people who got on at Oxenholme the Lake District (with quite a few staying on beyond Kendal), so it wouldn't surprise me if Keswick were to become a local railway and transport hub.

I'm curious about the "quite a few staying on beyond Kendal". Roughly how many is quite a few and were they kitted out for walking in the fells?

 

[DynamicSpirit]

It's nothing to do with being a "wimp" and everything to do with looking out for my wife and children (who are now grown up) whilst enjoying family holidays / weekends away. Pitch your tent on Great End on a beautiful summers evening and the following morning don't be surprised if you wake up to a howling gale and side ways rain. Not problem when you're 20 and away with your mates but it's not fair to inflict that on your young family. Or a girlfriend who's just getting used to the Lakes experience. It's all about thinking of others before yourself.

Living in South West London our time in the Lakes is limited. However by using the family car (and assuming we can get the time off) we can arrive in Langdale on the Thursday night and climb Bow Fell, Coniston Old Man and Helvellyn with all the flexibility that a bus could never offer us before heading home on a Sunday night. The only way to take maximum advantage in the beautiful Lakes is to use our car. After all that's why we pay our car tax! Not to mention stocking up on Lake District goodies from Booths on the way home. What's not good about that?

I would suggest that what's 'not good about that' is the impact on other people: I go to the Lake District quite often, and my impression of much of it is beautiful landscape, and beautiful towns and villages that are basically being ruined by the amount of road traffic. Bowness, Windermere, and the entire road between Windermere and Ambleside are often in a state of near-permanent slow moving and queuing traffic. Keswick is not as bad, but still often very busy, and much of the area around the town centre is much less pleasant because of it. The lakeside in Bowness is lovely if you look out to the lake, but basically completely dominated all day by traffic noise. And of course each additional car slightly worsens the problem. That's the thing about cars - when you choose to drive instead of going by some other means, you're usually - in effect - choosing to make your own life a bit more convenient at the expense of inconveniencing and slightly harming lots of other people. Most people, sadly, don't think about this, which is one reason why driving is so popular.

Now I should stress I'm not trying to pick on you in particular - it's just that your question was rather begging for this reply I appreciate that for vast numbers of journeys, a car is the only reasonable means to make the journey, I have nothing against people who, after considering the alternatives, drive for that reason. And I have no reason to doubt from your explanation that your trips may well fall into that category.

Moving back towards the topic of this thread, it seems to me that there is a huge need to persuade more of the people who visit the Lake District to leave their cars behind (the alternative is either lots more congestion, or cutting more big dual carriageways through the landscape, and I doubt either of those would be very palatable). Re-opening the line to Keswick probably would help, but I doubt if on its own it would make a significant impact. It seems clear to me that even in Windermere, which has a reasonable and quite well-used train link and a pretty good bus network in the summer [*], the vast majority of visitors still choose to drive there, and I don't see that Keswick would be any different. I think what's really needed is a change in culture so that many more people start to understand the problems caused by cars, and become more prepare to make the effort to use public transport where practicable (which of course in turn would result in trains and buses becoming much more frequent to match demand. A virtuous circle ). And if there was some kind of transport authority for the Lake District (similar to TfL) that made sure trains and buses were integrated properly, and actively looked at ways to make it easier for tourists to leave their cars at home, that would help too. Without those things, I suspect those who doubt that reopening the line to Keswick would pay for itself or attract enough passengers to justify the cost may well be correct. But with those kinds of changes, reopening it would be a no-brainer.


[*] At least, when the buses aren't getting stuck in traffic jams caused by all the people driving, which in the summer seems to be quite often.

 

[johnnychips]

You mean: "reopening the line to Keswick".

 

[DynamicSpirit]

You mean: "reopening the line to Keswick".

Ah. Surprising what you can miss when proof-reading your own words Fixed, thanks!

 

[MarkRedon]

I would suggest that what's 'not good about that' is the impact on other people...

Without those things, I suspect those who doubt that reopening the line to Kendal would pay for itself or attract enough passengers to justify the cost may well be correct. But with those kinds of changes, reopening it would be a no-brainer.

Bravo, good Spirit. Upwards of 7 billion people on a small resource-limited green/blue planet doing what pleases them will leave all of us – or our children – stuffed .

So, to get back to the thread, what can be done to enable a minimum-cost, green-as-can-be fixed link back to Keswick? A battery-aided Parry People Mover charging up in the bay at Penrith, rushing along salvaged rails to Keswick and rushing back to Penrith before the battery goes flat?

All positive suggestions very welcome.

 

[RichmondCommu]

That's the thing about cars - when you choose to drive instead of going by some other means, you're usually - in effect - choosing to make your own life a bit more convenient at the expense of inconveniencing and slightly harming lots of other people. Most people, sadly, don't think about this, which is one reason why driving is so popular.

Now I should stress I'm not trying to pick on you in particular - it's just that your question was rather begging for this reply I appreciate that for vast numbers of journeys, a car is the only reasonable means to make the journey, I have nothing against people who, after considering the alternatives, drive for that reason. And I have no reason to doubt from your explanation that your trips may well fall into that category.

You are of course more than entitled to your opinion and indeed that's one of the best things about this forum However without our car some of the wonderful experiences that my family and I have enjoyed over the years would not have been possible. No matter how good the bus service is (or could be frequent and viable) moments of splendid isolation would not have been possible if we were dependent on catching "the last bus". And that's not just the Lakes, that's also the Yorkshire Dales and indeed the Peak District. In all fairness using the car in places such as the Lakes generally only inconveniences other car users, many of of whom are visitors to the area.

 

[MarkRedon]

... In all fairness using the car in places such as the Lakes generally only inconveniences other car users, many of of whom are visitors to the area.

That is not entirely true. Each mode shift of one car user to bus or train frees up more space for the remaining car users and – as long as the public transport is energy-efficient and well used – increases the viability of the public transport and the likelihood that it will be provided and enhanced. I have often benefited from the use of a car (never my own!) in both the Lakes and the Dales – but I still think we should try to prioritise public transport whenever we can. That said, when we have to take the kids and the cat and the kitchen sink the car is very useful… And please do not take my stance as criticism of yours!

 

[RichmondCommu]

That is not entirely true. Each mode shift of one car user to bus or train frees up more space for the remaining car users and – as long as the public transport is energy-efficient and well used – increases the viability of the public transport and the likelihood that it will be provided and enhanced. I have often benefited from the use of a car (never my own!) in both the Lakes and the Dales – but I still think we should try to prioritise public transport whenever we can. That said, when we have to take the kids and the cat and the kitchen sink the car is very useful… And please do not take my stance as criticism of yours!

OK in all fairness I should have perhaps said other road users! If there was a bus service every half hour covering all roads in the Lakes late into the evening, cheap last minute train fares from Richmond to Windermere and an easy way of crossing London with everything that my wife thinks we need then we would take the train every time. However that is unlikely to happen in the next 20 years. We're not 'Petrol Heads' and in fact we don't enjoy driving however there is currently no viable alternative for all the things that we like to do.

 

[johnnychips]

This is a difficult one for me. I love driving and I also love trains and public transport. So when I drive to the Lakes I expect to be stuck in traffic jams, but I also have the freedom to drive to places like Wasdale and Buttermere. I went by train to Windermere three weeks ago with the purpose of going to Bowness, and when I arrived the shuttle bus had broken down. Stagecoach employees were very friendly, but the only advice was, 'take a taxi'.

I've no doubt the reopening of Penrith to Keswick would be successful but there are probably more schemes that would be of greater benefit, and in these austere times etc.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Harking back to the matter of car use, my good lady wife and I have lost count of the number of small but interesting settlements we have visited where neither train nor bus served those places.

 

[MarkRedon]

Harking back to the matter of car use, my good lady wife and I have lost count of the number of small but interesting settlements we have visited where neither train nor bus served those places.

Absolutely, and I have often benefited from such discoveries as a passenger in someone else's car. Conversely, I have also made countless A-to-B (A2B?) walks, mostly from and along the Settle and Carlisle, sometimes including the Carnforth line. And I have sometimes taken a bike on the train and swooped down into Hawes at a stupid speed. Were the Keswick line to be reinstated, similar opportunities would be presented. Many of the best long-distance footpaths cross railways and each feeds the other.

A noted phenomenon of recent years has been that young people, often perforce, have delayed buying their first car in much the same way as they have had to delay buying their first house. Public transport gives them some access to the joys and the fitness they would otherwise miss.

All this of course pales in significance against the quotidian "I use the train to get to work or to go shopping" that is essential to the viability of any railway. And there I fear that Penrith to Keswick will not cut it. It will always be a "peaky" flow with a marked weekend and summer emphasis. Only pushing on towards Workington would perhaps slightly rebalance that peakiness.

This and similar crayonista schemes are stymied by the immense initial capital requirement and the fact that they would add to the overall subsidy requirement of the network. However, neither Beeching nor Serpell did or could actually reduce that subsidy requirement, which generates economic and social benefits that government finances. Cutting off the branches impoverishes the roots, and you may only succeed as a bonsai gardener.

Are there people on this forum or elsewhere with both the competence and the vision to persuade and pursue the development of schemes which may well be "profitable" only in the 60 year time horizon? People who can find ways to reduce the initial and ongoing costs, drive up the revenue and justify the necessary subsidy?

Next year, the Swanage Railway will begin to trial community service between Swanage and Wareham with its precious mainline connection. It isn't the only model that might succeed. But it does represent the triumph of hope and very hard work over a defeatist "this could never work" attitude. So, how do we drive down those costs? How do we make marginal reopenings happen?

 

[DynamicSpirit]

You are of course more than entitled to your opinion and indeed that's one of the best things about this forum However without our car some of the wonderful experiences that my family and I have enjoyed over the years would not have been possible. No matter how good the bus service is (or could be frequent and viable) moments of splendid isolation would not have been possible if we were dependent on catching "the last bus". And that's not just the Lakes, that's also the Yorkshire Dales and indeed the Peak District.

I'm really glad that you've been able to experience those times. I too have enjoyed times in places that would be impossible to get to without a car. As I remarked in my previous post, there are many journeys for which the car is the only reasonable mode of transport - although these days, before I choose to make a journey by car, I tend to consider carefully whether I really do need the car for that journey, so I tend to only drive if none of the alternatives are realistic.

In all fairness using the car in places such as the Lakes generally only inconveniences other car users, many of of whom are visitors to the area.

Even the briefest of walks around places like Bowness or Ambleside would show that that is not true. The constant noise from the traffic will primarily affect pedestrians, not motorists (since motorists in their cars are somewhat shielded from it). It'll also affect people who live along those roads. Car use means that relatively large amounts of land has to be given over to providing for the parked cars. That's land that's not available for other purposes for which the same amount of land could benefit larger numbers of people. In Bowness, as an example, the pavements are very narrow, causing a lot of congestion amongst pedestrians. If so many cars weren't parked along the main roads in the town, then you'd probably be able to make some of the pavements wider. Crossing the road can also become problematic for pedestrians. And of course, the parked cars are a particular hazard for cyclists. In the absence of bus lanes, congestion caused by all the cars disproportionately affects bus passengers - since buses are more restricted in their routes and less able to squeeze through gaps.

I realize some of those problems are, individually, relatively minor, but put together, they do add up to something significant. And that's all before you even start to mention the pollution being pumped out right in the middle of the towns, where most people are around to breathe it in (although I realize that public transport isn't free from that problem). So, no, cars don't only inconvenience other drivers, they can cause a lot of problems for almost everyone in the area.

 

[deltic08]

Some of the best times I had visiting places was before I was old enough to drive using train and bike.

Beeching stopped this by closing branches to the most interesting remote areas. Buses were unable to take bikes if there were replacement buses which in a lot of places there weren't any.

Don't blame the railway as a mode of transport. It is the politicians who killed the railways for us by abolishing affordable turn-up-and-go day and weekend returns to almost anywhere in the UK. Because of this I hardly use the train at short notice because I refuse to pay more for a rail journey than I can do by car apart from scenic routes in Scotland and Settle-Carlisle. I assume many million journeys annually are lost to rail for the same reason.