Newquay Line Services

[whole diary]

[fatcontroller]

If Goonbarrow closes then the Summer Newquay service would be scaled back as XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) and FGW^▸ (First Great Western) pass at Goonbarrow.

[fatcontroller]

At Truro, the Falmouth unit could run into Platform 3, then run out over the viaduct and attach to the rear of the unit from Par. This move has been done before to run round defective cab equipment on 153's.

If the unit did run in from Par, as a passenger service, the Penzance crew off the Falmouth after the attachment would work the train forward, the Par crew returning to depot by taxi, as is currently the case.

The use of taxi's for crew's is a fairly common practise at most depots, where it isn't possible to roster crews on regular services.

Although by running the ECS^▸ (Empty Coaching Stock) Falmouth units to Penzance in service does provide an additional journey opportunity it also reduces operational flexibility.

I have on a couple of occasions had to run the unit from Truro to Par (or Plymouth) instead of down to Penzance, or had to couple the unit up to a failed unit from earlier in the day and tow it back to Penzance (with some faults that means neither train could run in service, resuting in the "new" Penzance having to be run by taxis) or a lack of Drivers meaning that the set has stayed in Truro all night to ensure that the following days branch services could run.

So potentially to run a service for "3 people" could inconvenience 100's more by not having the trains in the right place. There would be more complaints about the Branch not running for the sake of running a service that people don't know that they need.

[Cornubian]

Rumours have been circulating for sometime regarding the closure of Goonbarrow Jct Signalbox. It has been said that Goonbarrow would be controlled from St.Blazey. But then the issue of replacing the semaphores with new colour light signals etc and the subsequent cost would make this doubtful in the near future. Under ETRMS it would be possible.

Also my point originally raised was the timing of the 21.26 Newquay to Par, missing out on a west bound connection by 3 minutes at Par, therefore passengers would have to wait for over an hour for the last service for stations to Penzance.

It has been the poor timetabling of this service over the years which has led to the lack of passengers for stations westwards. With a little bit more thought, surely timings could have been amended so there was a connection at Par, thus perhaps encouraging passenger usage, or is that to much to expect.

Many thanks for all the comments though, there has been some interesting suggestions.

[Southern Stag]

If Goonbarrow closes then the Summer Newquay service would be scaled back as XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) and FGW^▸ (First Great Western) pass at Goonbarrow.

But with the new increased speed limits if the timetable was recast to take account of them they could probably retain a broadly similar service to now.

[vacman]

It has been the poor timetabling of this service over the years which has led to the lack of passengers for stations westwards. With a little bit more thought, surely timings could have been amended so there was a connection at Par, thus perhaps encouraging passenger usage, or is that to much to expect.

nobody uses the daytime services where they DO connect-to travel from/to the west!

[Cornubian]

In the summer there is a reasonable number of passengers travelling west on the 10.13 from Newquay, but the number has dwindled over the past few years. Having to wait at Par for half an hour for a connection for stations to Penzance doesn't help though, but we still get a few dedicated visitors who don't seem to mind the extended journey west, beats travelling by bus they say.

There are now utterings that Goonbarrow Jct Signalbox is going to close, maybe by next summer, subject to the necessary permissions. Line to Newquay will be under St.Blazey control, with groundframe at Rocks.

With no passing loop at Goonbarrow, it will be interesting to see what frequency summer timetabled services will run, or indeed is this the time that XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) will withdraw services to Newquay as has been rumoured for quite sometime so that GW^▸ (Great Western) services would be the only service provider.   

[Southern Stag]

The loadings aren't that great any more on the Cross Country services anyway. A two-hourly service should still be possible without the loop at Goonbarrow with the new speed limits. The problem will be matching the Newquay line timetable with the timetable from Plymouth to London/Birmingham.

[Cornubian]

The problem maintaining a regular service, particularly during the summer would be the turn round time for HST^▸ (High Speed Train)'s on the Padd's. Even with the slight increase in line speeds for HST's, what would be deemed as a reasonable turn round time at Newquay? Units would be able to maintain a two hourly timetable though.

[Southern Stag]

I reckon around 50 minute journey times are possible, which would allow around 20 minute turnaround times. Is the loop at St Blazey long enough to allow two HSTs^▸ (High Speed Train) to pass there. If it was you time the trains to pass there, which would allow a little extra turnaround time at Newquay compared to passing the other side of Par,

[slippy]

I reckon around 50 minute journey times are possible, which would allow around 20 minute turnaround times. Is the loop at St Blazey long enough to allow two HSTs^▸ (High Speed Train) to pass there. If it was you time the trains to pass there, which would allow a little extra turnaround time at Newquay compared to passing the other side of Par,

HSTs can pass at St.Blazey, so you could run a two hourly service with a 30 minute turn around at Newquay. I personally think its time to reduce the number of through Saturday trains as they have been getting quieter over the last few years almost to the stage of being pointless.... It would be better to have just a couple through trains with the service bolstered by units providing much better local oppurtunities, which on summer Saturday have been poor for many many years....

[old original]

I will say that I have caught the Newquay - Padd service a couple of times this year because it does offer one of the best services as it only stops at Par, Plymouth, Exeter & Reading. It's not a lot quicker on the actual timings but does feel that it is because of the lack of stops. (& Newquay is my nearest station!)

[slippy]

I will say that I have caught the Newquay - Padd service a couple of times this year because it does offer one of the best services as it only stops at Par, Plymouth, Exeter & Reading. It's not a lot quicker on the actual timings but does feel that it is because of the lack of stops. (& Newquay is my nearest station!)

Agreed, while full and standing ones from Penzance stop nearly everywhere......... I dare say when you travelled from Newquay the train was reasonably quiet???

[Southern Stag]

One of simplest changes would be making the Newquay services stop at more places, and in the hours the Newquay services run skipping stops on the Penzance trains. It's the Newquay trains nowadays which have the spare capacity, the Penzance trains usually being much busier.

[Umberleigh]

One of simplest changes would be making the Newquay services stop at more places, and in the hours the Newquay services run skipping stops on the Penzance trains. It's the Newquay trains nowadays which have the spare capacity, the Penzance trains usually being much busier.

Isn't Padd - Newquay the only FGW^▸ (First Great Western) service in the South West that is in direct competition with air? Surely the faster the better?

[Umberleigh]

The loadings aren't that great any more on the Cross Country services anyway. A two-hourly service should still be possible without the loop at Goonbarrow with the new speed limits. The problem will be matching the Newquay line timetable with the timetable from Plymouth to London/Birmingham.

When the signal box was closed at Eggesford, the passing loop was of course retained, with new points and token boxes (sorry to be non-technical). Anyway, would this not be possible at Goonbarrow?