More delays..
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-54538258

It is not that difficult to engineer a gentle slope into the sea in front of the wall to ensure a sandy beach is still present. Sadly few people in the general public have much understanding of soft sediment coastal engineering!

Makes sense to me. My only grumble is the near impossibility to get my Senior Railcard linked to Oyster^▸ (Smartcard system used by passengers on Transport for London services), meaning I have to pay a significant supplement on any London area train/tube travel.

Still getting some good advance fares from Paddington to Cornwall particularly on the evening  (1704,1804,1904)trains

Many years ago we travelled from Liskeard TO Sheffield. Couldnt understand why the ticket was less expensive than usual. Discovered we have a single from Liskeard to SHENFIELD

Really interesting ideas here. Cornwall signalling upgrades probably does now make additional capacity a possibility. Pre Covid data in Cornwall has shown a very significant increase on most lines across Cornwall and my feeling as a local would be that if you increase service frequency then customers follow. Newquay branch is awfully slow  but a Falmouth- Truro- Newquay service via Burngullow could be a game changer. Cornwall Council is very pro-rail, so thats an added plus.

Im sorry I don't agree with you. Demand for the Night Riviera is high. Often you cant get a berth. Cornish people with business in London find it a much cheaper alternative than either peak early morning trains or going up the night before and spending ?100 plus on a London hotel room. Business demand is high too. Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Local Enterprise Partnership have invested heavily in the sleeper  revamp and in new lounges and have done this because it is what businesses want. A few years ago when FGW^▸ (First Great Western) suggested scrapping the sleeper there was a huge response in favour of keeping it.

I don't think there would be much demand from Night Riviera passengers. You can already get a shower at Paddington.

If there is a custard stain on the arm then its mine!

Most Cornish travellers just go to the station near to departure time. Bigger hassle is the down sleeper arrivals for folk in east Cornwall. When I come down from Paddington I don't get out a Liskeard at 6.30 I  have a decent sleep and stay on to PZ then have breakfast and get the 8.50 back up!

The Australians run this sort of "sleeper". Seat 61 has the details https://www.seat61.com/Australia.htm#Brisbane-Townsville-Cairns.
I cant see the Cornish liking that sort of thing. Cornwall and Isles of Scilly LEP^» (Local Enterprise Partnership - about) will continue to give strong support for the status quo.

27 Looe

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!

Breaking all the rules of statistics and logic in a most horrid way, I have added up all the journeys in Cornwall from Main Line stations and imagined the Royal Albert Bridge on the right of this diagram.  My point is that actually only a tiny proportion of traffic going in to Cornwall is going to the far end.  I expect RichardB could give us far better figures - of 100 people on an average train, how many are going to ... Truro, West thereof, etc.



Absolutely correct. This is why London trains stop at nearly every station in Cornwall and why the feeder branch lines are important. Penzance is not the main destination!

FGW^▸ (First Great Western) tried dodgy surveys once and got a big slap from Cornwall Council, Cornwall LEP^» (Local Enterprise Partnership - about) ,  Visit Cornwall, the Bishop of Truro and the rail travelling Cornish public. Don't mess with Kernow!

I doubt if the Launcston Lydford-Tavistock- Plymouth branch would  have been an option - that was never a Double Red  route, never took more than a 2-6-2 tank.