Lelant Saltings, twinned with Pilning?

[whole diary]

[Mark A]

Heard an anecdote from someone local to the station, checked on a map, and yes, Lelant Saltings Station's adjacent housing might also be served by buses on the main road - said main roads also sever walking routes to the likes of St Erth.

Despite this, the station's timetable (07:52 to St Ives, 9:12 to St Erth and that's it... that is designed simply to ensure that the timetable of their local station does not meet the travel needs of people living within walking distance.)

Then, if you group the station with Lelant - you now have what's listed as a population of nearly 4000 - the rail service there is a somewhat better but heaven forbid that anyone might need, say, an evening train or first train of the day...

Mark

[bradshaw]

I presume that the concentration of parking at St Erth station has led to the decision. Lelant Saltings opened in 1978 as the P&R^▸ (Park and Ride) station for St Ives. That function has now been taken by St Erth.
Whether the decision to reduce services was the correct one is another thing.

[Mark A]

In its defence, the one up train of the day from Lelant Saltings, the 9:12, makes a squeaky connection at St Erth into the 9:20 to deliver the traveller to Paddington just before 2:30pm...

Mark

[RichardB]

It's 10-15 minutes walk from Lelant Saltings to Lelant.  There's a back road.  I did it years ago.

[grahame]

It's a 4.5km (1 hour estimate) walk from Pilning (Station) to Severn Beach Station, then a journey of around 110 minutes from there to Cardiff by train allowing for long way round and change needed.   Total journey 180 minutes if you allow yourself 10 extra minutes to arrive from your walk at Severn Beach station in good time for the train.    Contrast that to a 31 minute schedule from Cardiff to Pilining, direct, if you're lucky enough to want to go in that direction on a Saturday at 8 a.m. or 3 p.m.

In contrast to that extra two and a half hours, it's just an extra half hour from Lelant Saltings to Plymouth, London or just about anywhere else ... and Lelant Saltings does have 10 trains calling every week rather that 2 ...  Pilning remains the poor cousin rather than a twin.

[Mark A]

Agree, twins more in the intention of the service pattern than anything else.

Thinking of Lelant, yes, there's a train service there but odd, given that the branch itself operates into the late evening, that the decision's been made to curtail calls there after five-ish.

(The last time I caught a train from there the staff really weren't expecting anyone to be on the platform let alone have a hand out: this led to the opportunity to explore a long out-of-use section of the station's platform. I'd earlier been looking for the rumoured section of shore that's bolstered by the plating from a WW1 navy ship. That, I did not find...)

Mark

[RichardB]

Agree, twins more in the intention of the service pattern than anything else.

Thinking of Lelant, yes, there's a train service there but odd, given that the branch itself operates into the late evening, that the decision's been made to curtail calls there after five-ish.

(The last time I caught a train from there the staff really weren't expecting anyone to be on the platform let alone have a hand out: this led to the opportunity to explore a long out-of-use section of the station's platform. I'd earlier been looking for the rumoured section of shore that's bolstered by the plating from a WW1 navy ship. That, I did not find...)

Mark

Lelant still gets served right through to the last train, seven days a week.

Talking about Lelant Saltings, I organised a small celebration of the station's 30th anniversary all the way back in 2008.  Here is the press release.

The St Ives Bay Line saw 435,743 journeys in 2008.  Last year, it was 841,159.

[grahame]

Lelant still gets served right through to the last train, seven days a week.

Talking about Lelant Saltings, I organised a small celebration of the station's 30th anniversary all the way back in 2008.  Here is the press release.

The St Ives Bay Line saw 435,743 journeys in 2008.  Last year, it was 841,159.

The St Ives branch has done amazingly well. 

Lelant Saltings is one of those stations which - if so advised by those of you in the know and with local support - really should not be safeguarded - I would not look to protect.   I suspect that even with an hourly service, it would hardly be used, the reason for it being there in the first place is no more, it's a short walk to the next station on the same line, and I don't know of any potential other traffic.   Should a significant number of new homes be built on the brown field site that once was the park and ride, or there be a prospect of this, then it would have a reason.

Pilning is so different. An hourly service each way would be used - not massively at first but it would be, there is big potential we have explored before. it's a long walk to the next line, etc.  In the case of Pilning and a new use, local input needs to be carefully considered alongside the wider needs, and I sense NIMBYism from many who would regret a Pilning station coming into full and proper use.

[Mark A]

Agree, twins more in the intention of the service pattern than anything else.

Thinking of Lelant, yes, there's a train service there but odd, given that the branch itself operates into the late evening, that the decision's been made to curtail calls there after five-ish.

(The last time I caught a train from there the staff really weren't expecting anyone to be on the platform let alone have a hand out: this led to the opportunity to explore a long out-of-use section of the station's platform. I'd earlier been looking for the rumoured section of shore that's bolstered by the plating from a WW1 navy ship. That, I did not find...)

Mark

Lelant still gets served right through to the last train, seven days a week.

Talking about Lelant Saltings, I organised a small celebration of the station's 30th anniversary all the way back in 2008.  Here is the press release.

The St Ives Bay Line saw 435,743 journeys in 2008.  Last year, it was 841,159.

Ah, so it does - I pulled its timetable from Realtimetrains and either chose the wrong day or got hold of the wrong end of the stick. And yes, the St Ives branch is phenomenal especially considering its resourcing. It's always informative to compare its passenger numbers with Penzance. (Journey lengths from Penzance will be generally rather longer, mind...)

Mark