DalesRail

DalesRail

A British Rail Class 158 and a British Rail Class 153 heading south at Long Preston (the type of traction used on DalesRail services)
Overview
Service type	Seasonal Tourist
Locale	Northern/North West England
First service	1974
Current operator(s)	Northern Trains
Former operator(s)	British Rail Provincial, 1974–1982 Regional Railways, 1982–1997 First North Western, 1997–2004 Northern Rail, 2004–2016 Arriva Rail North, 2016–2020
Website	Community Rail webpage
Route
Termini	Blackpool North Carlisle
Stops	21
Service frequency	Twice-daily (Summer only)
Line(s) used	Blackpool line East Lancashire line Ribble Valley line Settle & Carlisle line
Technical
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)

v t e DalesRail
Legend
Blackpool North Poulton-le-Fylde Kirkham and Wesham West Coast Main Line Preston West Coast Main Line Lostock Hall Bamber Bridge Ribble Valley line Blackburn East Lancashire line Ramsgreave and Wilpshire Langho Whalley Clitheroe Freight only section Leeds–Morecambe line Hellifield Leeds–Morecambe line Settle Horton-in-Ribblesdale Ribblehead Dent Garsdale Kirkby Stephen Appleby Langwathby Lazonby and Kirkoswald Armathwaite Tyne Valley line West Coast Main Line Cumbrian Coast line Carlisle

DalesRail is a railway passenger service operated for tourism in the summer months across Cumbria, Lancashire and North Yorkshire, England. The service routinely uses the current freight-only line between Clitheroe and Hellifield, offering the opportunity to travel on a line rarely used by passenger trains. The trains then also traverse the full length of the Settle & Carlisle line. The DalesRail brand has also been used on the Wensleydale Line in the 1970s and 1980s, before that line reopened as a heritage railway.

DalesRail customers were part of the campaign to save the Settle–Carlisle line from closure, and initially used stations that were closed to passengers in 1970. With the re-opening of most stations on that line, the DalesRail brand continues with services from Blackpool and Preston to Carlisle via Clitheroe and Hellifield.