Penzance - Plymouth journey time

[whole diary]

[ReWind]

Sleeper should be booked to stop at Bath & Bristol T.M.

Should stop something like:

Paddington
Reading
Swindon
Bath ( or BPW^» (Bristol Parkway - next trains) )
Bristol Temple Meads
Taunton
Exeter St Davids
Newton Abbott
Plymouth

and as it currently does down to Penzance.

Say booked to depart BTM^▸ (Bristol Temple Meads (strictly, it should be BRI)) at 04.45ish!  Gives the driver a few hours rest then!!!

[devon_metro]

Engineering works is the reason it doesn't stop.

[John R]

 I sometimes wonder if their is a 'business case' for an ealier train from Bristol/Exeter/Newton Abbot/Plymouth.

 Quite a few times standing on a busy platform at Newton Abbot waiting for the late running Bristol/Penzance 0730 in the morning.
 The howls of derision when a solitary 153 comes into view, knowing that we are going to lose even more time because of the bikes at Totnes.
 Fortunately my timetable is pretty flexible and I am quoting the worse case scenario.
 But surely their must be a case for a train that gets to Plymouth before 0800 in the morning ?

XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) introduced a 6 thirty something last December, which significantly improved the options for an early morning arrival in Plymouth.

[vacman]

not heard anymore about the 0706 introduction, maybe I missheard and it is starting in may? usually my sources are pretty good!!

[6 OF 2 redundant adjunct of unimatrix 01]

I find it hard to believe that there isn't a market for an arrival in Exeter from London in time for a business meeting or conference at 10am. Things do happen in provincial cities. Exeter is the hq of South West Arts, for example.

Based on past experience when services improve, I think FGW^▸ (First Great Western) might be surprised at the number of passengers an early service to Devon would attract. After all there hasn't been one since before the "railway renaissance" began.

and the met office, theres also the holiday traffic.....back in the day we used to catch the early train down here before we became residents, who wants to spend the first day of your holiday traveling? i have great memorys of arriving at exmouth at 6am after leaving stockport at 1am