A new year brings fresh travel opportunities. Top of my list is the benign consequence of engineering work on the West Coast Main Line. The intercity rail link between London and Glasgow has slammed shut in Cumbria to enable Network Rail to replace an ageing bridge over the M6 motorway. So big and complex is the operation that the line will not reopen until 15 January. For the next two weekends, starting at 8pm tonight, the M6 itself will close to motorists (reopening at 5am on Monday, with the same pattern of closure from 9 to 12 January). How, you may wonder, will those rail-replacement buses get through?The happy new year news is that Avanti West Coast is providing a glorious workaround: a scenic train diversion along England’s most beautiful line, the Settle-Carlisle Railway.

Passengers on today’s northbound 9.18am from Crewe will view the usual lineside scenery as far north as Wigan. But shortly after entering Lancashire, the express eases eastward and heads for the hills. The line shadows the River Ribble through Blackburn and Clitheroe, then clambers into North Yorkshire to reach the magnificent Ribblehead Viaduct. Twenty-four stone arches hoist the railway above a highland wilderness: nature and humanity combining to create beauty from mobility. The train climbs further over the moorland to England’s highest railway station, Dent. It’s all downhill from here to Carlisle, trundling beside the gardens of the Eden Valley.

“It will certainly be a different and memorable view out of the window for customers who choose to travel with us,” Avanti West Coast managing director Andy Mellors told me. “It’s the first time this century we’ve seen a diversion of this nature. This has been a huge collaborative effort across operators, not just Avanti West Coast, working closely with Network Rail to do the right thing for our customers. A joined-up railway.” Want to try it? A ticket for next Friday morning’s Crewe to Carlisle run is currently just £20.50 – bestowing a priceless reminder of the joy of train travel.

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Pretty intercity: Network Rail photo of an Avanti West Coast express crossing the Ribblehead Viaduct in North Yorkshire

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