Mid Cornwall Metro - APPROVED

[whole diary]

[RailCornwall]

Allegedly a Tweet late this evening from Cherilyn Mackrory MP^▸ (Member of Parliament) indicates that the 'go ahead' has been announced - Nothing on DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) 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

[Mark A]

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

[GBM]

[Edit] Ah, 'Direct' as in 'Through trains Falmouth-Newquay' (Without having to change trains at Par it seems).

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^▸ (High Speed Train)'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).

[grahame]

So where will these additional units come from?

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?

[bradshaw]

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

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

[The Tall Controller]

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.

[RichardB]

So where will these additional units come from?

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?

Yes, Goonbarrow Junction loop will remain, Graham. 

[infoman]

BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) 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.

[grahame]

Yes, Goonbarrow Junction loop will remain, Graham. 

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.

[Jamsdad]

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.

[REVUpminster]

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.

[RichardB]

Interesting interview with Steve Double MP^▸ (Member of Parliament) 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

[grahame]

Interesting interview with Steve Double MP^▸ (Member of Parliament) 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 ))

[Andy]

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.

[Noggin]

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