There are more than 15 non-electrified stations  that IET^▸ (Intercity Express Train) call at between Paddington and Penzance. 10 in Cornwall, 9 in Devon, 2 in Somerset , 2 in Wilts , possibly more if you are pedantic. Where does the 15 come from?

Amongst the most important EU investments in Cornwall were to create the University in Falmouth, develop a series of skills and innovation centres, support major developments in agri-food and some serious redevelopment in Camborne-Redruth, not to forget the Mainline Resignalling and capacity enhancements which has given a half hourly service on the GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) mainline, and associated growth on the branch lines. Sadly the Brexiteers failed to recognise how much transformation of the Cornish economy occured as a result of European investment.

Am I right in thinking there is also an issue of an existing cycle  track on part the old trackbed?

No, not a requirement. Night Rivera always allowed single occupancy.

This is a matter where different people are going to have different acceptable  travel norms.
For my perspective a good deal of travel choices are influenced by available time, and what you personally set as an acceptable norm.
To give some personal examples. ..
1.Liskeard to St Austell. Easy to jump in the car and if that is your default thats what you tend t do. But set yourself a default of train unless impossible and driving is no longer the default.
2. Cornwall to London. Could fly by it can take longer than the train and then there is all the check in hassle. Default- train.Personally I am a fan of the sleeper. I get a good sleep provided you use earplugs.
3. Cornwall to South of France. Knee jerk -look for a cheap flight. But if you have the time train in a much less stressful and enjoyable option - did it back in October and it was great. If your default is train then thats what you will consider first. Seat 61 gives you all the options. Future trips to France will be by train.
4. Cornwall to Fez ( Morocco). Did this by train, including the incomparable Paris-Madrid sleeper and it was one of the family's great holiday adventures. The travel was part of the holiday .
5. Overland to Japan. Not so easy but Seat 61 tells you how to do it!

Platform 2 was the home of the Okehampton train in the olden days. That was also the platform for the erstwhile Paddington-Exeter sleeper coach. Oh dear I am showing my age!

Encouraging news about Okehampton. In the "olden days" ( 1960's) Okehampton was very much the railhead for most of North Cornwall and given the awful traffic congestion experienced by anyone wanting to drive in to Exeter St Davids these days, leaving the car at Okehampton will be a very sensible option.

I'm not disputing the potential passenger flows, what I am saying is the bus is currently faster because the branch is so slow. Get a faster Newquay service preferably running straight in to St Austell and passenger numbers would rise.

Good to see a better service but I am not sure there is much regular commuter trafffic. The line is painfully slow and the bus service from Newquay to St Austell is quicker. This is why the re-routing of the service via Burngullow makes so much sense.

There is a business case for providing a headline service of under 3 hours to Plymouth. A lot of work has gone on over any years by the business community and local government in Plymouth and in Cornwall who are acutely aware that the perception of Plymouth and Cornwall being too far away is a significant factor in attracting ( or not) business investment. A fast service of less than 3 hours is therefore important for attracting new business to Plymouth and Cornwall.

In four week I would have thought they could relay a great deal. Although I have to say when I went down a few weeks ago there was very little sign of rough riding. But there are a lot of rather ancient looking wood sleepers in places

Interesting!
There is another "childrens railway" in Budapest. This was set up Hunarian Railways as `sort of training railway for youngsters aspiring to work on the railway. I visited it a few years ago. it was staffed by children but the drivers were adults. I think it was "One engine in Steam" so the chances of a collision were very low! A very enjoyable afternoon trundling through the Hungarian countryside as I recall.

Contact transmission is negligable if you wash your hands and dont touch your face.

There is also a derogation for travelling back to your home base. So yes you can use the sleeper.

I recognise this thread is in danger of turning into a "Members in Cornwall" debate, may I add a couple of points?

i) The people of Cornwall have THREE  major hospitals, Treliske, for people in the mid and west, Derriford (Plymouth) for us in the East, and Barnstaple for the folks of Bude and North Cornwall.

ii) Long distance rail travel is not going to happen over the next month. You can travel, but only for work and access to exercise, so I don't think there will be many people travelling down here from Liverpool just for the hell of it. And if they choose to get here they cant stay with friends, in hotels or in their second homes.

iii) If the rest of the country had the same Covid stats as Cornwall tjere would be no question of a lockdown.

For my part I shall be on the Looe branch next week to get some fish from Mrs Pengelly ( a permitted journey from Liskeard) and might well do a short trip down to St Keyne to walk back for my exercise!