Great Western Coffee Shop

Allegedly a Tweet late this evening from Cherilyn Mackrory MP indicates that the 'go ahead' has been announced - Nothing on DfT site yet.

https://www.cherilynmackrory.org.uk/news/mid-cornwall-metro-project-track-levelling-plans-win-government-approval

EDIT FOUND IT

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/landmark-levelling-up-fund-to-spark-transformational-change-across-the-uk

A £50 million grant will help create a new direct train service, linking 4 of Cornwall’s largest urban areas: Newquay, St Austell, Truro, and Falmouth/Penryn.

Wondering about the implications of 'Direct'...

[Edit] Ah, 'Direct' as in 'Through trains Falmouth-Newquay'.

Mark

However, two units on the Falmouth branch and one on Newquay, so maybe an additional unit required?
In addition to additional unit(s) for the Portishead/Avonmouth/Bristol line.
With the HST's going, more units required - splitting the 800's in 5 car for long distances will cause serious overcrowding.  So where will these additional units come from?
There's several 769's going spare..................(NO, not a serious suggestion).

How is timing on the release of some units by TfW ... 150s, 153s, 158s should become available at some point. Depends on the timescale for the loop at St Dennis to up the service to hourly, I suspect.  Will the loop at Goonbarrow remain?

Interview on Radio Cornwall by Andy Bowes-Roden, deputy editor of Modern Railways, dealing with the announcement. Mention that BR closed the wrong Newquay line fir this to have much effect.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0dxckgn

Having the St Dennis line in would have helped greatly but still plenty of positives. Lots of news outlets are choosing to focus on the Newquay-Falmouth direct element of it, but for me, the bigger benefits lie within:

• Hourly services to/from Newquay = better connectivity and attractiveness
• Earlier/later services than currently
• Direct St Austell-Newquay journeys
• Direct St Austell-Falmouth journeys
• More capacity on the Newquay branch for special events
• Direct London-Newquay services to supplement the hourly timetable
  

It will be interesting to see how the clay traffic fits around this timetable.

Yes, Goonbarrow Junction loop will remain, Graham. 

BBC spotlight(south west of England local news) at 18:30pm on thursday had a good item on the above story.

Play again facilty available for TWENTY FOURS ONLY.

Thanks for that clarification.  It makes sense, with the clock face / hourly Newquay to Falmouth trains crossing at St Dennis, and other services such as the train from London passing the regular service at Goonbarrow and getting into Newquay just before the next service to Falmouth (the one that was ahead of it) leaves.  An intermediate signal to let two trains follow on the single line into Newquay may be needed, but I'm getting down to fine detail.  On this scenario, the long distance train has an appropriate longer turn around time at Newquay than the Falmouth train - neat!

As I understand it (and RichardB undertands it far better than I do), with the two loops the line's capacity is an hourly clock face service PLUS one extra train per 2 hours each way all the way to Newquay; that path could also be used for the clay trains to Goonbarrow / I would need to do further work to understand London express (and could we have Cross Country to Manchester or Leeds?) interaction with the clay.

On another note, I concur that through traffic end to end (Newquay to Falmouth Dock) will be only a small part of the business the train does - the vast majority being intermediate traffic, but lots of that traffic being "across" Par and "across" Truro giving lots of people on the various segments of the route.   There's a parallel here with the number of passengers on trains leaving Cardiff Central who are destined for Portsmouth Harbour being pretty small, though the trains are so busy that they consistently should be 5 carriages long.

I suspect the two main improved passenger flows will be Truro -St Austell, which should have a very good, and genuinely walk-up service when you add in n the current half hourly service, and more long-distance connections through to Newquay at Par. The infrequency of the current Newquay -Par  deters a fair few from travelling on up country. I still think rerouting the Newquay brach via Burngullow  has to be the longer term preference.

The siding at St Austell could be used to reverse trains.
One of the stock moves of a 150 is the train operating the Looe branch stables overnight at Par then does the Newquay service the following day as it doesn't need refuelling. A 150 has quite a complicated week starting at Exeter on the Devon Metro on to Gunnislake, into Cornwall on to the branches being serviced at Penzance before heading back to Exeter. Don't know how long the cycle take.

Interesting interview with Steve Double MP about Mid Cornwall Metro on Radio Cornwall from last week.  Starts at 18 min 30s.  As you'll see, we have a bit of work to do to promote the benefits of the project.....      https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0dssr45

Indeed you have, Richard.  I'm comforted by hearing an MP very much more knowledgable than some I have come across, and no objections that are from "left field".  Misunderstanding that its prime role is for passengers getting on at Newquay and travelling all the way to Falmouth, and the usual NIMBY or reverse NIMBY - "why is the money not all being spent in MY town".   (( I have described this here so we have a historic recording after the radio show has been overwritten ))

Given how much Newquay has grown, and in keeping with the "metro" concept of this project, I wonder if a halt halfway between Quintrell Downs and Newquay, somewhere in the vicinity of Treloggan Industrial Estate-Tretherras-Trencreek, providing a fast connection between the housing/industrial estates inland and the town centre/beaches, across the valley spanned by Trenance viaduct, might be something worth exploring. Also, a park-and-ride facility at St Columb Road just off the A30 could generate custom and reduce congestion in the summer months.

Link doesn't work for me but there's an older interview, including a rebuttal of the Mayor of Falmouth saying that it is a complete waste of money. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0dxq0xq (https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0dxq0xq)

Maybe looking a bit dodgy....
https://www.cornwalllive.com/news/cornwall-news/grave-concerns-financial-risk-57m-8923372

Unfortunately, there remains a vocal minority cohort, down here who wouldn't be happy with a daily gold plated pasty, wrapped in a winning lottery ticket.  I suspect most of them work for Cornwall Live. 

I still miss the free crayons for use in the comments....

This Wednesday is the key Cornwall Council Cabinet meeting where the decision will be taken whether the Council wishes to proceed with the Mid Cornwall Metro project or not.  As has been seen in the report of the Scrutiny Committee, if they go ahead, the Council will be the Accountable Body, responsible for picking up any overspends.

The papers for the meeting are now online and make for a fascinating read  https://democracy.cornwall.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=577&MId=13001&Ver=4 (https://democracy.cornwall.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=577&MId=13001&Ver=4)

Looks like its been approved

https://www.cornwall.gov.uk/council-news/transport-streets-and-waste/green-light-for-mid-cornwall-metro-initiative-to-transform-transport-links-in-cornwall/?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=Orlo (https://www.cornwall.gov.uk/council-news/transport-streets-and-waste/green-light-for-mid-cornwall-metro-initiative-to-transform-transport-links-in-cornwall/?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=Orlo)

Certainly has.  Great news.

https://www.cornwalllive.com/news/cornwall-news/once-generation-mid-cornwall-metro-8972641 (https://www.cornwalllive.com/news/cornwall-news/once-generation-mid-cornwall-metro-8972641)

  ::)

https://www.cornwalllive.com/news/cornwall-news/cornwall-public-transport-call-extra-8970904?fbclid=IwAR3XOaTqejGmWY3H5oa82DZ_Kd15Xc8EsPM1IhsnzyLLdtgnnHOId4mp6E8

Bert Biscoe, who is a great guy, has been calling for this for years.  It's not going to happen.

If a new halt is built on the MCM route, it should be near Trencreek in Newquay, in my opinion. The town is spreading inland quite rapidly and a rail link connecting the newly developed areas across Trenance valley viaduct to the town centre would be far quicker than any car/bus. St Columb Road would make a good park and ride site for traffic off the A30/A39 into Newquay, too.

The MCM now has it's own website -

https://midcornwallmetro.com

The local publicity drive started today.

It looks good, but will they have the stock. 150s might be available from Wales because 2 car trains between Truro/Par and Newquay might not be enough.

Will they make the loop as long as possible so it becomes dynamic and the trains do not have to stop?

We been told TFW to start sending class 150s off lease from August but it will be as units come up for major examples.

 This will depend though znd how the rollout of the class 756s on the valley lines goes and further introduction of the class 197s

Is it possible to access platform 3 from the up main line, or can the line to Newquay be accessed from platform 2? It has been a while since I've visited Par station despite having been born in St. Austell. Is it possible to access the down main line from platform 2 or platform 3?

From what I can tell, the Newquay branch (plat 3) connects to the up main (plat 2) and then there is a crossover to the down main

I would agree

(http://www.wellho.net/pix/partop.jpg)

The extra crossover being out of shot.

correct, and at both ends as well.

FROM PERSONAL contacts, the apathy and antagonism to this plan from my acquaintances and on Facebook leads me to think that it won't progress to a conclusion. I note already apparent cutbacks, no mention is made on the website of the proposed platform extension at Falmouth Town and the enhancement of Falmouth Docks. I also fear that the reversal time at Par will be detrimental to the overall experience. The question of new rolling stock has to be raised too, using 20+ year old equipment on a 'flagship' scheme really isn't on. I note the discussion elsewhere on replacement rolling stock for local services might have relevance. 

Actually 37-40 year old stock, but your point is well made.

I had previously thought about posting that perhaps this should be promoted as a heritage diesel experience........

Might this change soon in the light of recent posts about tendering for new stock for the GW network?

Tfws 150279 is due to eave Landore depot soon to go to sims for scrap

My first reaction was horror - but this is a unit that's been OOU due to fire damage since May 2022
http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/26386

You've got to start somewhere with any kind of rail improvements and for most punters a train is a train - so long as it's on-time, clean, a nice temperature, well lit and doesn't break down they will be happy.

That gets the early-adopters on, people change their behaviour, even move house to take advantage in some cases, and as ridership builds, so does the business case for longer and more frequent trains, infrastructure enhancements etc.

The way that Network Rail works these days is that little gets announced until it's costed, planned & agreed with all concerned. The Falmouth station improvements are likely still in the planning stages.

Using older stock doesn't seem to have done the Okehampton line much harm.

Melksham started off with single car 153s, as did the new service via Kenilworth.  The latter then went to 2-car Class 172s and now Class 196s - all in the space of five years.

Get it in and established, and then you can develop it.

I hope the digger owner's insurers have paid for replacement DMUs.