Mid Cornwall Metro - Newquay, St Austell, Truro & Falmouth

[whole diary]

[Noggin]

Perhaps a word could be had with HRH The Duke to see if the Duchy might be inclined to contribute to the financing of a "Nansleden Platform/Nansleden Road/Gorsaf Nansleden".  

I think this has been discussed elsewhere, but Quintrell Downs station is about a mile away and given the short distance, there's little sense in adding an extra station between there and Newquay.

Of course what would really make a difference is trams - the airport alone gets 400k passengers/year and has 500 people working around it. If the Duchy could somehow kick that off, even with an electric bus "virtual tramway" - that would surely make a huge difference to the town. 
 

[old original]

I think this shows where a chunk of the money's going....

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c8j0vpyll03o

[Chris from Nailsea]

I have now expanded the heading of this topic, in the interests of clarity and ease of future reference.

CfN. 

[TonyK]

I think this shows where a chunk of the money's going....

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c8j0vpyll03o

The layman could be forgiven for thinking that an hourly service between Newquay and Falmouth is just a little underwhelming, but work like this keeps the whole thing working for the next century or so, and those extra services could be transformative for the whole network.

[GBM]

I think this shows where a chunk of the money's going....

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c8j0vpyll03o

The layman could be forgiven for thinking that an hourly service between Newquay and Falmouth is just a little underwhelming, but work like this keeps the whole thing working for the next century or so, and those extra services could be transformative for the whole network.

I'm sure Melksham would love an underwhelming hourly service..

[old original]

latest story from the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page)... Through Newquay - Falmouth from 2026..

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cpwdl4qdj12o

[Witham Bobby]

latest story from the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page)... Through Newquay - Falmouth from 2026..

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cpwdl4qdj12o

George Collinson of Network Rail is quoted by the BBC as saying:

Trains can now pass each other at Goss Moor for the first time since the 1960s

I'm pretty sure this is a bit wrong.  St Dennis Junction had a loop and wasn't abolished until some time in ?? the 1980s ??

[grahame]

From Cornwall Live:

At a meeting of Cornwall Council's sustainable growth scrutiny committee today (Tuesday, October 7 [2025]), Kevin Towill - Reform UK^▸ (United Kingdom) councillor for Newquay Porth and Tretherras - said: "It was always envisaged from the beginning of the Mid Cornwall Metro project that the train would stop at the villages - including Roche and Bugle - but I've heard a rumour this might not be happening now and the train will be running right through without stopping." He asked Cllr Dan Rogerson, Liberal Democrat cabinet member for transport, to clarify.

Cllr Rogerson said: "It is correct that the hourly service to Newquay will not stop at every station. I think it's more like a two-hourly service to those stations, which is not ideal. We want to encourage people to be able to get to a frequency of travel like perhaps there is on the Truro to Falmouth route which is half-hourly where people don't have to plan ahead quite so much and can hop on.

"There are real opportunities to do better in the future but for now, unfortunately, it will be an hourly service to Newquay and slightly less frequently to some of those clay country stations, which is not what I want to see, but that's where we're starting."

A recent report by the Diocese of Truro and Plymouth Marjon University found that poor transport links are hitting rural areas of Cornwall, particularly in the clay country area.

The concerns that a local or regional service that calls only once every 2 hours is so thin that it puts off a substantial proportion of potential users are, in my experience, correct.  I do not, however, know the potential user base at Bugle or Roche and cannot quantify / qualify the size of the market it will make a difference to.

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

Buses replace trains as Mid Cornwall Metro project enters final phase



Train passengers are being reminded to plan ahead of the final phase of engineering work on a rail line.

Network Rail said passengers travelling between Newquay and Par would be affected by the work on the Mid Cornwall Metro project between Monday and Friday next week. It said buses would replace trains from Newquay to St Austell, while passengers at Par were advised to take train to St Austell and change for buses towards Newquay. Trains would still run from Par towards Plymouth and Penzance, it said.

Lee Goodson, Great Western Railway station manager for west Cornwall, said during the works no trains could stop at Newquay, Quintrell Downs, St Columb Road, Roche, Bugle or Luxulyan stations. "Trains will still run at Par on the Cornish main line but replacement buses will operate mostly between Newquay and St Austell," he said. "Most of these rail replacement services will stop at all stations, except for Par, but some will operate non-stop at peak periods. It's important that customers are aware these alternative travel arrangements will make journey times much longer, so please plan ahead."

The Mid Cornwall Metro project involves the restoration of a second platform at Newquay station, a new passing loop at Goss Moor and the installation of new digital signals.

Network Rail said from 2026 there would be hourly trains between Newquay and Par, doubling the current service. It said the enhancements would then be followed by direct trains from Newquay to Falmouth, via Par, St Austell and Truro.

[Noggin]

From Cornwall Live:

At a meeting of Cornwall Council's sustainable growth scrutiny committee today (Tuesday, October 7 [2025]), Kevin Towill - Reform UK^▸ (United Kingdom) councillor for Newquay Porth and Tretherras - said: "It was always envisaged from the beginning of the Mid Cornwall Metro project that the train would stop at the villages - including Roche and Bugle - but I've heard a rumour this might not be happening now and the train will be running right through without stopping." He asked Cllr Dan Rogerson, Liberal Democrat cabinet member for transport, to clarify.

Cllr Rogerson said: "It is correct that the hourly service to Newquay will not stop at every station. I think it's more like a two-hourly service to those stations, which is not ideal. We want to encourage people to be able to get to a frequency of travel like perhaps there is on the Truro to Falmouth route which is half-hourly where people don't have to plan ahead quite so much and can hop on.

"There are real opportunities to do better in the future but for now, unfortunately, it will be an hourly service to Newquay and slightly less frequently to some of those clay country stations, which is not what I want to see, but that's where we're starting."

A recent report by the Diocese of Truro and Plymouth Marjon University found that poor transport links are hitting rural areas of Cornwall, particularly in the clay country area.

The concerns that a local or regional service that calls only once every 2 hours is so thin that it puts off a substantial proportion of potential users are, in my experience, correct.  I do not, however, know the potential user base at Bugle or Roche and cannot quantify / qualify the size of the market it will make a difference to.

In my experience of commuting on the Bristol to Gloucester line, a 1 hour+ gap in service (planned or unplanned) is far from ideal, but many people will work around it if there's a practical plan B such as a bus, or if they have a partner/parent/sibling able to act as a backup.

What really made the difference though was when it dropped to half-hourly, at which point many in my office switched to the train from the car or bus. My pal in HR^▸ (Human Resources) told me that it also made recruitment much easier, as early career people would baulk at the idea of having to buy a car, but were reasonably happy with 15 minutes on a train from Bristol and a 5 minute walk from the station.

[REVUpminster]

The current plan to increase the service from 2 hour to one hour will mean more passengers but GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) know from experience  with Falmouth and Paignton going from one hour to half an hour increases passenger number even more.

I think Newquay could well go half hourly in the future if they have the stock. Barnstaple also might be a candidate for a half hour service with the additional 175s

[Red Squirrel]

The current plan to increase the service from 2 hour to one hour will mean more passengers but GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) know from experience  with Falmouth and Paignton going from one hour to half an hour increases passenger number even more.

[...]

My recent experiences on the Falmouth Branch (offspring at uni in Penryn) have been a real eye-opener - trains very well-loaded.

[Mark A]

The entire South West so easily feels constrained in capacity and services. Makes me wonder what the optimum levels of both might be.

Mark

[RailCornwall]

My major concern is the use of Platform 3 at Truro for the St Austell bound services, faffing around with the footbridges at the station for passengers from Falmouth will be a hinderance. It's a shame there's no facility to switch eastwards of Truro from platform 2 to the upmain in the vicinity of the new switch that was installed with the new signalling to enabling of routing down services onto platform 3.

[grahame]

The entire South West so easily feels constrained in capacity and services. Makes me wonder what the optimum levels of both might be.

Mark

There is a psychology in passenger use of public (rail) transport ... the higher up this list, the more likely people are to take the train.  And I would suspect that where a service frequency moves lots of people's planning from one category to another, it results in a sharp rise in passenger numbers.

1. Just turn up at the station to travel
2. Plan your day and make a minor adjustment to catch the best train
3. Work out your trains, then plan your day around them
4. Look at the trains to see if they work for you
5. Don't even thing about the train - be amazed if it runs at a useable time