Last updated 14:04, Monday, 15 September 2008

STEAM trains carrying tourists could soon be regularly travelling up and down the Furness coast for many years to come.

POPULAR: Steam trips, involving locomotives such as the Leander, pictured, could soon be running along the coast each summer SUBMITTED

A company which ran Saturday steam train services between Carnforth and Ravenglass this summer plans to put them on annually.

Kingfisher Railtours trains took thousands of people via Grange and Ulverston to Ravenglass.

The trippers visited Muncaster Hall or the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway.

Kingfisher, based at Helifield in the Pennines, has been running steam excursions on the Settle and Carlisle line for years.

On August 30, it ran the last of six trains on the Furness line, hauled by a Jubilee class express locomotive, Leander.

It had hoped to run a seventh trip on September 6 but there was no suitable steam engine available, according to managing director Roger Hardingham.

The engines and coaches were supplied by Carnforth-based West Coast Railway Company.

One of its engines, a class 8F, misperformed on a windy May trip and started a series of lineside fires, including one which damaged the Eskmeals Viaduct.

Mr Hardingham said: “It was very unfortunate but we got over that.

“People realised it was just one of those unfortunate things.”

Each train carried between 300 and 400 passengers, most of them tourists and families, rather than dedicated steam enthusiasts.

More people than expected boarded the trains at Grange, which was the only stop after Carnforth.

Mr Hardingham said: “We are trying to build up the idea of having regular running in the holiday season. It takes a while for the word to get round.”

Kingfisher believes its trains were popular because they were steam rides with an interesting destination.

It wants to work with other tourist outlet owners in the area who might feature in a programme.

Mr Hardingham said: “I think the Ravenglass railway and Muncaster Hall were very pleased with the trains which brought them a lot of visitors.”

Richard Jenner, station manager of the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway, said they fully backed the plan for annual summer steam trains.

He said they were meeting Kingfisher as well as representatives from Northern Rail and Cumbria County Council to discuss plans for next year. Mr Jenner said: “Cumbria County Council is very keen because of the green aspect of it.

“It is getting people out of their cars and coming into Cumbria by public transport.”

The Furness Line Action Group said the regular steam trains would show the delights of the Furness coastline to more people.