On Monday (3 June), Matt Smallwood (Head of Connected Mobility) and Paul Collinge (Project Manager) were pleased to meet with partners in Penrith to advance the ‘Connecting Penrith’ project.
TfN has been busy supporting this innovative and collaborative project, which is developing evidence-based interventions for how a leisure-orientated rail station can be integrated with local destinations.
This collaboration will help passengers at Penrith (North Lakes) Station access local leisure destinations through more integrated and convenient journeys, with the development of exciting new ticket options.
Present were colleagues from Avanti West Coast, Network Rail, Stagecoach Bus, Westmorland & Furness Council, Visit Cumbria and Center Parcs UK. We discussed proposed approaches to connecting Penrith station to Keswick, the wider Lakes and a large tourism destination.
TfN has supported the project through providing multi-modal demand modelling for Penrith Station, to provide evidence for local business case development. TfN has also provided integrated transport expertise, advice and challenge to the project to develop case-studies, thought leadership and best practice for other areas.
Matt commented on the visit and said: “It was great to meet with so many stakeholders in-person in the sunny setting of Penrith. The collaborative working on show is a great example of a diverse range of partners coming together, with objective evidential support from TfN, to realise practical benefits for passengers in a key destination in the North; proper place-based and user-centric delivery in action!
“Together, we’ve been exploring interventions from integrated ticketing to Keswick, meet & greet cycle hire and getting to grips with the very real logistical challenge of moving luggage in the context of leisure journeys. These aren’t abstract thought experiments but evidenced and in progress plans that we can scale, share and develop into common approaches in similar localities across the North.”
