Penzance - Plymouth journey time

[whole diary]

[The Grecian]

Out of interest, how long does anyone think it would take for a fast service between Penzance and Plymouth calling at say Redruth, Truro, St Austell and Liskeard only? I doubt it would ever happen even for one train as the stations missing out wouldn't be happy, but I think it could go down to about 1h30. Given that the line between Plymouth and Dawlish is still largely limited to 60mph, I severely doubt the Cornish main line will ever allow much higher speeds than it does now, so I doubt there's any other ways to speed things up.

[devon_metro]

0505 Penzance - Paddington calls Redruth, Truro, St Austell, Bodmin Parkway, Liskeard and takes 1h44

[marky7890]

Trouble with the mainline in Cornwall is there are so many bends, there is only 1 mile of dead straight track, which is from the Shilingham or Wivelscombe Tunnel to the Lynher Viaduct. This route is newer than the original which ran nearer to the Lynher river, but was diverted to the current route which runs further inland.

Mark

[vacman]

Plymouth-Penzance can be done non-stop on an HST^▸ (High Speed Train) in just over 1hr15 (talking from experience  )

[Chris from Nailsea]

Ahem!

Officially?

[winterbourne]

59 mins with a light 47 many years ago I hear...

[vacman]

Ahem!

Officially?

Yep, ECS^▸ (Empty Coaching Stock)!

[woody]

Noticed today as I exited the circle line at Paddington underground station for the 1405 Padd/penzance several large Air South West posters on the tunnel walkway walls exclaiming London to Plymouth in only 70 minutes and Cornwall in under 2 hours! clearly now targeting rail passengers.Given the very low line speeds in the far south west what do you think the future holds in these parts for FGWs^▸ (First Great Western) competing services.

[JayMac]

Noticed today as I exited the circle line at Paddington underground station for the 1405 Padd/penzance several large Air South West posters on the tunnel walkway walls exclaiming London to Plymouth in only 70 minutes and Cornwall in under 2 hours! clearly now targeting rail passengers.Given the very low line speeds in the far south west what do you think the future holds in these parts for FGWs^▸ (First Great Western) competing services.

Those headline grabbing times for the air alternative are for the airport to airport leg of the journey, inclusive only of the minimum 20 minutes check-in time (hand baggage only). Factor in the travel time to/from the airports as well as a more realistic checking in time (ASW recommend 1 hour) and also exiting at the destination airport and you get a more accurate comparison. Also bear in mind that Air South West cannot compete with the frequency/flexibility that the train offers nor on the comfort levels.
Finally I don't need to prove my identity, nor hand over lots of personal information which ends up god knows where, to take the train!

Oh, one more thing. An adult fare is 16 or over on the train, children over 2 pay full fare on the plane.

[devon_metro]

Not to mention the fact that Plymouth airport is nowhere near the city centre! From December the 1005 and 1206 departures will take 3 hours flat to get to Plymouth.

[woody]

In the Great Western Route Utilisation Strategy (RUS^▸ (Route Utilisation Strategy)) Draft for Consultation regarding earlier arrivals from Paddington to Plymouth it states "Proposals for changing the calling patterns in the West of England have formed First Great Western^s timetable offer in May 2009 with further changes proposed for December 2009.Earlier arrivals from London Paddington to Plymouth were reviewed. Following a high-level appraisal of introducing an earlier service, the gap was discounted."Anything to do with Air Southwests earlier arrivals in Plymouth.First flight from Gatwick arrives in Plymouth at 10.10 and from London city at 10.35 well before the first Paddington train,the 07.30 departure which arrives in Plymouth at a lousy 11.15 ish.

[woody]

Not to mention the fact that Plymouth airport is nowhere near the city centre! From December the 1005 and 1206 departures will take 3 hours flat to get to Plymouth.

Actually as Airports go Plymouths is very close to the city centre (about 4 miles in fact next to Derriford hospital) with good road access via the A38 parkway to the entire Plymouth urban area.Because of Plymouths geography the City centre is not its geographic centre with most of its population now closer to the airport than the railway station.
  One cannot help get the feeling that the so called main line west of Exeter to Penzance is now little more than a secondary line in the Dfts eyes.Even IEP^▸ (Intercity Express Program / Project.) wont change that.

[grahame]

First flight from Gatwick arrives in Plymouth at 10.10 and from London city at 10.35 well before the first Paddington train,the 07.30 departure which arrives in Plymouth at a lousy 11.15 ish.

The 06:45 from Paddington gets you to Plymouth at 10:48, with just a single change at Temple Meads.   I expect the problem with an earlier direct Plymouth (say an 06:30 from Paddington) is that you would need an extra 125 to run it ... and that would be contra-flow, so would be very expensive.  It couldn't really bring a train load of commuters in first from Oxford / Didcot / Reading.

[bemmy]

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.

[John R]

I wonder how successful XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise))'s new early service from Bristol to Plymouth is?