We caught the 10.31 TPE train from Manchester Airport to Windermere at Staveley - quaintly still a “request stop” - to  walk back along the DalesWay (about 6 miles…highly recommended).

We expected it to be empty but there was standing room only. In fact, said a fellow passenger who had travelled to Manchester Picadilly to catch the train, it had been full there.

Just a reminder, really, how important Manchester Airport is to the North of England. These were Cumbrians returning from a holiday abroad, foreigners arriving for a holiday, British tourists….all proving the need for longer - or more -trains!