Great Western Coffee Shop

And at 11:00 and 12:00
Back at 16:00, 17:00 and 18:00.

Good - I sort of think.   Good on the railways / public transport provider to have added capacity.   But, really, is Looe going to be able to handle the numbers arriving, and should people be looking for quieter places to be going?  Is the provision of extra capacity over distance-normal sending the wrong signal?

It may also be to better dovetail with the revised service on the mainline.

The first through train from Paddington arrives at Liskeard at 11:40 and the bus at 12:00 saves nearly an hour’s wait.

I was down there on Thursday last week which was a lovely sunny day.  It was busy, but not overly so.  The branch trains were decently well used but again not overly so - I counted 61 on 11 36 LSK - LOO, for example.   I went to St Ives the following day - drizzly and overcast - and that was busier still.  I saw the 15 03 ex St Ives arrive at St Erth and travelled on the 15 18 out and back (so 15 33 ex St Ives) - easily 100 off at St Erth from both trains and the 15 33 had 30-40 off at Carbis Bay too.  Trains are running at their usual 4 coaches for this time of year so not too packed. 

Bob's point about connections is a good one.  We're missing the additional PLY-PNZ trains so some connections at Liskeard are longer than anyone would like so the buses will help there but, of course, it's not the same, far from it.

Thinking more about it, I'm guessing the buses are "belt and braces" to make sure the trains don't get too busy given the very hot weather forecast for today. 

Social distancing duplicate

Looe, Newquay, Falmouth, St Ives, and coastal towns in Cornwall without a train are are all very busy. Quite possibly the Looe branch was overcrowded. A lot of Plymouth folk use the train to go there for a day out. I will ask my friends at Liskeard Station for the back story!

I went from Perranwell to Looe today and all the trains seemed fairly busy compared with the other week. The Looe train was very well patronised with plenty of suitcases in evidence and there were extra buses running from Liskeard. The 255 on the way back was well used especially at Bodmin, Par and Truro.