Why does that look so much more 'at home' on a cornish branch than the 150 ?

Having noted the wide variety of opinion here on the benefits, or otherwise, of various different classes of rolling stock that are trundling around the UK^▸ (United Kingdom), I was wondering what this forum's opinion would be on the best suited rolling stock for the Cornish Mainline, Branch lines, and Intercity routes against the following criteria.

1.  All stations Penzance to Plymouth and return, with options for direct services from Plymouth to Newquay and Falmouth

2.  All stations Penzance to Plymouth, then fast to Reading and Paddington.

3.  Branch Line services.

But surely, that isn't Swindon.
Can it be the third platform at Bodmin Parkway?

Aye yes it is.  Trees, passing loop, platform curvature, and land contour in the back right all tick the Bodmin Road boxes.

Well spotted

Any mileage in people submitting a photo of their local station for inclusion on the website.  Maybe a competition sponsored by FGW^▸ (First Great Western)

Great idea, but there is a risk of significantly discriminating against passengers who board at stations with only a platform, a long closed ticket office, no PTT^▸ (Public Time-Table) machine, and no hope of ever seeing a TVM^▸ (Ticket Vending Machine).

We for example only one paypoint machine in walking distance, and that is the wrong side of the level crossing for catching a down train - we have no footbridge anymore either !

That's rather good.  Added to my bookmarks bar in place of the NRE^‡(resolve) link !

Well done that man.

My brother has just decided to bring his two year old to Cornwall for Easter, by train from Kings Lynn, tomorrow - brave chap - hence the question !

Obviously no chance of a reservation, so this might put him in a good starting place for the battle for Coach E.

Many thanks for the answer

And any means of getting advance notice of which platform each train will run from, in an attempt to outwit the wildebeasts ?

We remained on the train as we were going further west, (and what good value that Devon and Cornwall Railcard is), but everyone detraining in Par, went straight out of the gate, past the TVM^▸ (Ticket Vending Machine), and away.  Of course it was a different thing when the entrance and ticket office were one and the same at Par but..... 

While the revenue is important, it is the lack of registration of station use that I find more concerning.  Presumably if only 70% of those people actually using Lostwithiel Station (for example) are recorded as doing so because they are sold a ticket, then the usage statistics that the new franchise document is based on is fundamentally flawed before it is launched ?

There is a consistent reporting of a lack of ticket checking across our network, so if we extrapolate that assumed 70% from Lostwithiel, then is the entire passenger demand assumption out by that same 70% (for example)

 

From an observation made on Saturday at Lostwithiel, somewhere in the region of 24 people boarded a westbound train, of which 15 or so alighted at Par minutes later.  Tickets were sold on board for any remaining boarders.

The are no ticket facilities at Lostwithiel, and with only 7 minutes until the TM^‡(resolve) crew change at Par little opportunity for ticket sales on the train.

Surely if tickets are not made available for sale, then the usage statistics for Lostwithiel do not truly reflect how many people are actually using the station, and hence the actual demand is not properly represented.

Any way round this ?

BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page)  online article, for interest

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17218553

That would be paradise...

While the concept of loosing some of our Hst's or/ HST^▸ (High Speed Train) stops is instantly worrying, having thought it through more, then if this allows a decent clockface service for ALL stations in Cornwall that is timed to meet expresses at Plymouth with only a short wait for the onward service then so be it.  But it should not be seen as an excuse to downgrade the service.  As made clear by Cornwall Council, better stock with greater capacity and comfort would have to follow for it to be popularly accepted.

I would want to see the retention of 4 through London Trains each way daily including the NR^» (Network Rail - home page), predominantly aimed at the Plymouth and Cornwall long distance traveller - fast from PLY^» (Plymouth - next trains), but with perhaps 1 routing through Bristol for onward connections to the North.

Fascinating document, thank you.  A lot of time and effort has gone into it. 

Re the ambition, I suppose there is a "if you don't ask, you don't get" attitude very similar to the wish list the Plymouth is submitting - probably in the full knowledge that if DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) even respond positively to 1/4 of those requests then us in Cornwall shall feel slightly more involved, and somewhat higher up the pecking order than we do at the moment.

Struck by the similarity of the last response to 8F, and the responses generated by the Cornwall Council survey, http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=10064.0 . 

It is an unfortunate legacy of the historical development of our system, that the Network is effectively London-centric, with a majority of service provisions being built around that.  While obviously carrying less passengers, the railway in the regions is no less an important part of the local transport plan.  It would be refreshing for the peripheries of the GW^▸ (Great Western) network to be given more consideration in terms of rail service provision.