RAIL services across Westmorland were back on track this week following disruption caused when an upgrading project near London ran out of time, reports Beth Broomby.

West Coast Main Line services suffered when problems with the re-signalling project at Willesden, north London, caused a substantial number of lines into London to be temporarily closed.

However, engineering work to re-lay track across the North West, including stretches at Lambrigg and Southwaite, was completed on schedule.

Railtrack spokesman Keith Lumley said only two lines remained closed at Willesden and the effect on West Coast services was now "negligible."

He added the majority of speed restrictions, imposed in the wake of the Hatfield derailment, had now been lifted and that services could be back to normal by the middle or the end of February.

Mr Lumley said: "Of the original 90 speed restrictions in the North West, only 21 are left and only a handful of those are in Cumbria."

Many remaining restrictions have been lifted from 20mph to 40 or 60mph.

However, local railway pressure groups say that months of passenger inconvenience has taken its toll.

Bill Cameron, chairman of pressure group West Coast 250, said: "Over the Christmas period a lot of people have refused to travel, I believe this is a sign that we have a long way to go to recover the confidence of the travelling public."

Jim Rowe of Virgin Trains said services through Westmorland were now relatively stable with a two-hourly service now operating on the West Coast Main Line.

"We are still running to a special time table because of the speed restrictions which have been in place since last October.

However, we are talking to Railtrack and expect to see some improvements by the end of the month," he said.

Steve Dunstain, for First North Western, said the repair programme had not affected its services and the company was operating a normal timetable.