terminus at nearby Euston Road in 1886 as part of an improvement scheme that also saw the construction of a west-to-south curve from Bare Lane to join the WCML at Morecambe South Junction (opened in 1888), which permitted through running to without the need for a reversal, and hence gave access for longer-distance trains to places such as Manchester, Liverpool and London. The branch was also doubled (apart from the Hest Bank to Bare Lane curve) and a regular local service introduced between Euston Road and Lancaster Castle to complement that to/from Hest Bank. Despite these improvements and a journey time similar to the older route, the Midland line continued to carry most of the traffic to and from the town, especially after it was electrified in 1908 (see below). The branch became more important after the 1923 Grouping, with a London Euston to Heysham boat train commencing in 1928 – this ran to Promenade station, where it reversed for its journey to Heysham to meet the Belfast boat. Euston Road remained much quieter than Promenade for most of the year, though it did come into its own in the summer months when the regular local trains to Lancaster, and were supplemented by a large number of seasonal through trains to destinations such as , , Birmingham New Street, Manchester Victoria and London Euston. Electrification The Midland line was used for an early trial of electrification, opened between 13 April and 14 September 1908 using 6600 V AC at 25 Hz. In 1953, it was converted to 50 Hz as a trial, and this experiment led to the 25 kV, 50 Hz system becoming standard for new electrification. Latterly, former LNWR Euston to Watford EMU's ran on the Morecambe and Heysham line, converted to AC overhead operation. The branch remained electrified until it closed in 1966. Decline Though Morecambe remained a popular resort after the nationalisation of the railway system in 1948, post-war road competition began to take its toll on traffic levels and by the late 1950s British Railways decided to concentrate services at the former Midland station. Scheduled trains were diverted to Promenade from 15 September 1958, but Euston Road remained in seasonal use (summer months only) for several more years – the 1959 Saturday timetable from there listed no fewer than 26 arrivals and 23 departures, including trains to Glasgow, Birmingham New Street, Preston, , , and