Great Western Coffee Shop

Monday 6 to Sunday 13 March replacement buses will run between Truro and Penzance as well as on the St Ives branch.

Where the main line remains open, amended train services will operate through Cornwall towards Plymouth with roughly one train per hour in each direction.

GWR is asking those intending to travel during this period to plan ahead and check journey times before travelling.

GWR Regional Station Manager, West, Mark Chorley, said:

“We have been working hard to make sure that people can be confident to travel safely, and that includes running as many trains and carriages as we can to make extra room, and replacement buses where trains cannot operate.

“This work is important to ensure we can continue to improve the service we offer to passengers. The platform extensions will enable us to run longer trains in the future on the St Ives line, providing more capacity for busy summer days.”

from

https://news.gwr.com/news/rail-improvement-and-platform-extension-work-to-take-place-in-west-cornwall

Questions have to be (i) Which Station Platforms? and (ii) Are GWR planning longer than 4 car services on the line?

Presumably Lelant Saltings won't need doing, or St Ives itself. That only lives Lelant and Carbis Bay (which are both shorter IIRC)?

3 coach 158959 worked St Ives Mon/Tues last week. The work is probably for when the 150s are phased out.

When the 150s are phased out what will replace them?
When are GWR planning on phasing the 150s out?

Don't know

Not in the short term - short term plans are to replace some of the Castle sets with IETs

Which is no time soon and the 150s certainly won't be replaced by 158s.  158s are too slow for people to get off and on hence you'll rarely see one on an Exmouth - Paignton, St Ives, Falmouth  etc when it is at all busy.   A failure yes, no failure another kettle of fish altogether.

I think the 150s will be with us in Devon & Cornwall for a bit  yet.

It all depends on the 19 769s which seems to be having a lot of failures.
Exeter has 7 3 car 158s.
Yesterday was a good day for Exeter.
17 out of the 20  150s were in service. 10 doubled up on Paignton-Exmouth plus 2 166s for the seven diagrams.
7 were on the branches. 8 will be required from May with Okehampton.
Barnstaple had three 3 car 158s in service. Might need an extra one for the extended Axminster in May.

If the 19 769s do come into service it will displace the 165s at Reading and from what I read a couple of years ago they will replace the 150s. 166s will remain at Bristol.
15 165s could replace the 20 150s and GWR can claim more seats, less maintenance.
Exeter depot has been reconfigured to service 3 car trains and can exchange bogies in the lifting road although I don't think that has been done yet.

Looking at todays allocation;
Still 10 150s doing Paignton- Exmouth but a 166 is replaced by 158.


The Cornwall trains seem to be stabled at Long Rock or Laira although there seems to be trips in the week to get back to Exeter

Do we know for certain which platform(s) are being extended during the current blockade? Is it just St Erth?

A Network Rail tweet says it’s St Erth and Lelant to allow “five car 150s”.

There are only 6 (out of more that 130?) 3 car sets - the rest are 2 cars ...

St Erth bay is 108m  and Lelant 82m. 4 car 150 about 92m, 3 car 165 about 72m as is 158 which was down there for two days the other week.

A new station like Marsh Barton is 124m.

No more 150s are likely to come down here especially the 150001-06 having got rid of the two GWR had.

Ps 2 car 158762 operating Falmouth today

Just seen twitter and Lelant being extended 6m at each end.

Network Rail press release: https://www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk/news/thousands-of-extra-seats-to-st-ives-following-west-cornwall-rail-upgrades (https://www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk/news/thousands-of-extra-seats-to-st-ives-following-west-cornwall-rail-upgrades)

GWR looking at possibly splitting a 2 car set to make 2 x 3 car sets (as was done with some 158s). 

Saw the modest extension to the bay platform at St Erth on Friday.

(http://www.mbob.co.uk/rforum/serplat.jpg)

Have now caught up with the works at Lelant.

The platform has been extended by 13 metres - unusually by carrying out work at both ends.

(http://www.mbob.co.uk/rforum/lel3.jpg)

(http://www.mbob.co.uk/rforum/lel5.jpg)

However, and perhaps not surprisingly given the cost, the opportunity wasn't taken to raise the platform height.

(http://www.mbob.co.uk/rforum/lel4.jpg)

As a result of the extension the foot crossing has been moved slightly closer to St Ives

(http://www.mbob.co.uk/rforum/lel2.jpg)

...but possibly only for use at low tide!

(http://www.mbob.co.uk/rforum/lel1.jpg)

Um, it used to descend onto a slipway or pier there. I can't recall if stairs were involved.

Mark

How thoughtful of Network Rail - a special exit for all those smugglers you keep being told about when you visit Cornwall! ;D

A bit of a riff on St Erth station, in its new role as park and ride.

'Reasons' yesterday gave me the opportunity to change from the branch onto the 18:00 London train at St Erth at the end of yesterday afternoon, and the junction station's new role as park and ride certainly needs quite a lot of admin, even with the modest sized ( and moderately rammed) 2 carriage St Ives train.

The overall impression was that the branch is thoroughly capacity constrained - not sure how this is working for long distance rail passengers as they'll be at risk of being displaced by the park and ride people.

First up, St Ives... there wasn't much opportunity to buy a ticket *from* St Ives as the ticket machine was flakey, a queue attempting to purchase, and in any case the machine didn't seem to know about railcards. Once on the train, there was no space for the train crew to come through and check tickets.

Once at St Erth, the accesses between the bay platform and the up main platform being for the most part closed off with tape, either single use or barrier tape, the returning park and ride people were channeled through the station building and, for the people heading for the down-side car park, back on to the platform and over the bridge - at the entrance to which there was a sign that said hopefully "No queueing on the bridge" - not sure how that was meant to work.

The very few people heading for the long distance connecting train were able to head in the same direction and discover the remaining exit(s?) to the up line platform of their own acccord. When the park and ride people had passed, the entire end of the station behind the buffer stops was taped off to send any one else up the ramp. (The cafe there appears to have been a victim of covid, which is a pity as it would now have far more passing trade perhaps with their landlord requiring a greatly increased rent)

All this needed the prescence of I think at least 2 staff to manage things.

The levels may well favour a step-free underpass, someone has probably considered one and then baulked at the cost of such structures in the UK.

A notice states that for anyone unable to use the overbridge, GWR will provide a complimentary taxi, presumably between up and down platforms.

So, St Erth is much busier - though possibly, the fare box has suffered a hit as a result, and also, two carriages on the branch in July doesn't match the numbers presenting.

After the ride on the branch, I do now know the words to the following nursery rhyme:

"Row, row, row your boat, gently down the stream. If you see a crocodile, don't forget to scream.'

Mark

It's surprising GWR cannot make up a four coach train although they have yesterday and today.
For the last week or so 4 166s have been operating Paignton Exmouth and only 6 150s to do the rest of the service. 9 150s do Gunnislake and the Cornwall branches leaving 5 spare.

As for tickets maybe the staff on the platform could issue tickets. They supplement Paignton's ticket windows with a ticket seller in the booking hall on Saturdays.