Penzance to Plymouth-branch line or main line?

[whole diary]

[6 OF 2 redundant adjunct of unimatrix 01]

ok i did my usual, but is there any merit in what im saying?

[bobm]

i don't believe frequency was the issue but capacity making every other hst none stop between penzance and plymouth and putting in a two hourly loco hauled plym to penzance stopping service would add faster london services from penzance and more capacity and better links for local shacks, it would also free up units for elsewhere

then again how much more could that line take capacity wise

Non stop Ply-Pnz? pointless, would at least need a Truro stop as Truro's footfall is over double that of Pnz!

With the speeds possible on most of the line in Cornwall I'm not sure missing stops would save all that much time.

[LiskeardRich]

it now takes considerably longer to get to exeter from truro by train than to drive, also considerably more expensive,
Whenever i need to go up to london, it saves me money and time by driving to Exeter, parking at my relations 2 min walk from st davids, and doing it that way, the savings in the train fare are about double what it costs me to drive to exeter, and saves about 45mins at least off my journey time,

[Umberleigh]

Had the pleasure of staying in the Travelling Post Office camping coach at St Germans last year (highly recommeneded!).

Dismayed to discover that 2-coach branchline dmus are being used for Plymouth to Penzance services. Throughout the week I was able to observe that these trains were uncomfortably packed with passengers on all but the most off-peak of off-peak services, not to mention the total lack of refreshments.

A journey of this length deserves rolling stock of the standard I often see at Castle Cary/Westbury (presumably on the Weymouth service?) i.e. 3-coach air-conditioned stock - and put a trolley on ffs.

My trip to Truro saw me stand on a crowded dmu for the short-ish hop up to Plymouth and then enjoy the luxury (!) of HST^▸ (High Speed Train (Inter City class 43 125 units)) down to Truro, rather than a sardine experience on a direct stopping train.

Cornwall has been awash with EU^» (European Union - about) funding (and quite rightly imho) so surely some of it could be diverted towards satisfactory rolling stock?

[Andy]

I agree with Vacman that a non-stop service through Cornwall to Penzance would serve little purpose. With no huge urban agglomerations but a series of large-ish towns, Cornwall's settlement pattern is radically different from that to be found in much of England as illustrated by the footfall figures.

Does anyone think that reducing local traffic on the 'up-country' trains at peak times by adding a commuter service, e.g. Par-Penzance or Truro (Falmouth?)-Plymouth could help?


 

[The Grecian]

An off-peak day return from Truro to Exeter is only ^16.40 - hardly expensive and cheaper than driving. Although an off-peak return is ^32 and an Anytime Return is ^40 - not quite so cheap. Weymouth-Bristol trains are (or were) more commonly 2-car 150s than 3-car 158s, so it's not really any better on the whole than Plymouth-Penzance services, which do at least see a decent number of HSTs^▸ (High Speed Train (Inter City class 43 125 units)) (and if you know much about the timetable you can work out which services are HSTs as it'll say they go to Paddington).

I wonder if there'd be much scope for an hourly Plymouth-Penzance calling at Liskeard, Bodmin Pway, St Austell, Truro, Redruth, Camborne, St Erth and Penzance every hour (and Par and Hayle every other hour), with a Plymouth-Newquay service calling at all stations every hour (or at least every 2 hours). But as it would involve sufficient trains and track capacity (and wouldn't be great for Newquay line passengers), it probably isn't likely.

[LiskeardRich]

An off-peak day return from Truro to Exeter is only ^16.40

correct, although for a return as i required from Truro to London Gatwick, at the times of my travel (1 week apart stupid times of the day) it saved me almost ^150 going from Exeter as opposed to Truro, [/quote]

I wonder if there'd be much scope for an hourly Plymouth-Penzance calling at Liskeard, Bodmin Pway, St Austell, Truro, Redruth, Camborne, St Erth and Penzance every hour (and Par and Hayle every other hour), with a Plymouth-Newquay service calling at all stations every hour (or at least every 2 hours). But as it would involve sufficient trains and track capacity (and wouldn't be great for Newquay line passengers), it probably isn't likely.

would Par needs a more frequent service than 2hourly for connections to the Newquay branch,