It looks like they have a service every 2 hours to beyond Plymouth today, mostly to Paddington.  Will it be able to be hourly next year, and will they have enough trains and enough staff?

 
It’ll be much easier to organise next year, with the new infrastructure on the branch in place.

 

Wot?  They (GWR) didn't pick that one up on their early warning radar?? 

 


GWR never manage to get this event right do they?

13:38 Newquay to London Paddington due 18:22
13:38 Newquay to London Paddington due 18:22 will no longer call at Totnes, Newton Abbot, Tiverton Parkway and Taunton.
It has been delayed at Newquay and is now 49 minutes late.
This is due to more trains than usual needing repairs at the same time.
Will be formed of 5 coaches instead of 9.

Onward connections from Plymouth packed to the rafters too apparently - fortunately the GWR Sunday BBQ syndrome isn't too bad today.

And please there's no need to jump in with "well better 5 than none" or similar, thanks! 

 
Delays to services between Newquay and Par

Due to overcrowding because of an event between Newquay and Par the line is disrupted.

Train services running to and from these stations may be delayed. Disruption is expected until 1700 10/8

 
5Z86 0705 Laira T.& R.S.M.D. to Newquay (9 cars) was late leaving Laira, and arrived Newquay 40 minutes down.
It left Newquay 52 late, showing overcrowding (1Z86).
Journeycheck now offering ticket acceptance on local busses.
The local unit from Par to Newquay was held somewhere on the branch awaiting 1Z86 passing.
It left Newquay 54 late.
This being a 2 car unit.  Yet 2Z89 1235 Par to Newquay (5 car) still sits at Par.

Hardly a surprise there are huge crowds to move from Newquay, yet the 2 car unit is running.

 
Wednesday 9th August to Sunday 13th August due to the board masters event taking place at Watergate Bay and Fistral beach

 

Winter - Rain
Spring - Paint
Summer - Chip fat & sun tan lotion
Autumn - Petrichor & Lavender (grey season)

 
Been there a few times recently.  I don't remember an aroma but you have to pick your pubs carefully.

 
I have a childhood memory of Newquay being a whiffy and unpleasant place.  So much so that I’ve not been back since!

 
..and now the beach is taking the brunt.  According to the BBC it is one of those where the overflow from the sewage system has been allowed to run into the sea.

 
Perhaps the organising commitees of Boardmasters and the Brizzle Bloon Fester could actually talk to each other about NOT holding their events on the same weekend in future years. Then there mght be a fairer share of buses all round.
It was a shame the surfers didnt hang on one more day. The streets of Newquay were awash on Monday!

 

Cornwall live have posted loads of **** all week.
I’ve been on the ground in the bus operations the entire festival.
Queues for shuttle buses reported bad… we had a 85 or 105 seat double decker running every 60-90 seconds. We were loading and going. It would be impossible to go any more frequent. Most of the time we were loading two buses at a time. The main bus stop in use in town can only physically fit two buses at once. We had buses queued up 30 seconds away ready to pounce as soon as a space on the stop became available

 

Nice to hear a report from someone actually 'on the ground'.

 

GWR's first 14 coach IET service?

 

There was no problem with the rail. There was 10 53 seater coaches on Standby, I was one of them. Every 9 car IeT cleared the queue. 1000 or so people queuing with all their camping kit made the queue look huge.

Bodmin parkway is a no go for road transport in general. Of the 10 coaches on standby yesterday, only 1 of them would fit under the low bridge. PSVAR coaches are typically taller than their non PSVAR cousins. I had a Mk2 Scania Levante (ex national express) and it was marked 12’9. Par is not the best place due to lack of off Road space for coaches to park so we’d end up blocking the road.

Had we been used GWR had suggested they’d send us to Tiverton or Exeter to spread the load and give the options of Paignton and Exeter originating trains

 


<lifted from a Facebook post.....>
802011 (1A86 11:18 Newquay to Paddington) failed shortly after departure from Newquay.
802114, which was working 1C72 08:04 Paddington to Penzance was terminated at Par and formed 1Z99 to run up the branch and rescue 802011. The combined units then formed 1A86, which was then terminated at Par 213 late. 

 
Given the late running of the 11:18 I am surprised the 09:04 was sent onto the branch and not held at Par.

 
According to Realtime Trains, the 11:18 from Newquay reached Par at 15:37, some 213 late.

The 09:04 Paddington - Newquay had to wait at Goonbarrow for the 11:18 departure, and reached Newquay at 15:50, some 93 late.

It is now on the return journey, the 14:55 departure from Newquay, but 60 late.

 
Not great news for anyone who'd stayed on in an attempt to avoid the inevitable Sunday/Monday chaos...

11:18 Newquay to London Paddington due 16:29 was terminated at Par and restarted from Plymouth.

It will no longer call at Lostwithiel, Bodmin Parkway, Liskeard, St Germans and Saltash.
This is due to a broken down train.

Will be formed of 5 coaches instead of 10.

 
The roads don’t sound robust enough to cope either:  https://www.cornwalllive.com/news/cornwall-news/boardmasters-road-chaos-starts-music-7445532.amp

 

Sounds like a good idea.

 
So what's the answer to this now annual problem? Using Par and/or Bodmin Parkway as a staging point for Boardmasters and using road transport for the rest of the journey to/from the Festival? It's clear now that the NQY line isn't robust enough to cope, at least until the Mid Cornwall Metro work is completed.

 

We’ve at least 4 coaches on standby at Newquay rail station tomorrow too.

 
Just 4 departures from Newquay today.

Tomorrow ...
Buses to Luxulyan at 07:12, 09:15, 13:10 and 17:19
Trains to Paddington at 07:40, 09:19, 11:18, 13:19, 14:55 and 18:04. 
Trains to Par at 19:45 and 21:34

 
Shows the state our railways are in. Too much talk and not enough practical people.

 

Obviously no one could have foreseen that.

 

At the time 1N78 departed Par, 1A94 had already entered the single-line section, but had not had time to reach St Blazey signal box. So the question must be where did 1N78 advance to to await 1A94, and why did wherever it ended up prevent 1A94 passing it?

 
Real Time Trains suggests they were scheduled to pass each other between Par and St Blazey.

1A94 left Newquay on time at 14:55, and indeed Goonbarrow, on time but picked up a delay of well over half an hour between there are St Blazey where it called at 16:15 / 16:16 versus a schedule of 15:37 / 15:38

1N78 left Par on time at 15:31, but didn't call at St Blazey until 16:11 to 16:17, versus a schedule of 15:33 / 15:39. It trailed into Newquay 44 minutes late at 17:06.   It set off back at 17:25 (versus a 16:50 schedule) ...

 
No doubt all will become clear in time.  Apologies for jumping the gun

 

Seems to have been on the double line between Par and St Blazey.
9 car IET EDMUs are scheduled on occasions  to cross at Goonbarrow Jn.

Possibly the NR local MOM (whose regular photos appear on the Cornwall Rly Soc. website and Twitter etc might in due course give an update.

 
Was it Goonbarrow?  I'd heard it was at St Blazey.

 
Hitachi say a 9 car Azuma train is 234m long.  The current version of the Sectional Appendix says the length of the crossing loop at Goonbarrow Jcn is 224m.  Ooops.

Goonbarrow Junction crossing loop used to be shown as 42 wagons + engine and van, which I reckon would convert to over 270m, so there has been some shrinkage since the 1970s

 

Speechless.

Mark

 
All the more reason to double the line between Tregoss Moor and St Dennis Junction, which I believe is planned,

 
1N78 and 1A94 discovered on Wednesday that two 9 cars IETs can’t fit past each other in one of the passing loops. Resulted in 1N78 reversing back off the branch and 45 min late arrivals

 

As I understand it, Bob, the plan is to reinstate the other side of the operational platform if the funding comes through.

 

Absolutely, Graham, in fact no-one ("political types" or railway) is pretending the Newquay line is OK as it is now, hence, as you say, the Mid Cornwall Metro project which Cornwall Council have been pursuing for more than ten years.  As mentioned in the thread specifically about it, things are looking positive with two good looking routes to the funding - Restoring Your Railway and Levelling Up Funds.

It's only three-quarters of a mile from Par to St Blazey.

I know the GWR team who plan GWR's response to special events.  They are very experienced and do their absolute best with the resources and capacity (train and physical) available.  Hopefully the rest of Boardmasters rail-wise will go better than yesterday.    Always tough though when trains between London and Cornwall are very, very busy already.

 

The platform currently in use as a dead-end has two faces, iirc.  I know it's not easy, but it wouldn't be an insoluble challenge to have track on both sides.  Control of the pointwork would be the most tricky question, I suspect

 
Thanks for digging that out. The timetable notes are particularly rewarding.

Mark

 
Here is what was done on summer Saturdays in the late 1960s ...

 
Some views of the out of use second platform at Newquay over the years.







It doesn't look as though the existing platform at Newquay was built out and the track slewed when the second one was taken out of use.   That's not to say it won't be expensive to re-instate it!

 

You're right about the two-track section from Par to St Blazey

Capacity on the branch is severely constrained by the (lack of) infrastructure.  Reduction of Newquay to  a single platform in 1987 and abolition of St Dennis Junction as a passing loop (1982??) are cutbacks that have proved costly during the summer months in terms of operations, and which really could do with being reversed

 

Almost - there is a passing place at Goonbarrow Junction, and it may be double (not sure) first couple of miles from Par to St Blazey.

The midCornwall Metro is looking at adding another loop and a second platform at Newquay. So perhaps the political types are NOT pretending it's OK

 
The Newquay branch. I don't know it. Is it a 20 mile single line with no passing places and a single terminating platform? To a town of 20,000, but one that can see 80,000 visitors at a time?

That's a recipe for unending pain, why is the railway bothering? (Or rather, why are the politicians pretending that  that's ok, 'cos the Newquay branch sounds to be a 1960s slash-and-burn relic.)

TSNO, the four letter acronym for 'Train Service in Name Only'.

Mark

 
Same story every year.

https://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/news/plymouth-news/stacked-boardmasters-trains-mean-festival-7448243

 
Some film footage was shown on the BBC Spotlight local news for the south west of England on Wednesday.

It appears as if if they were checking tickets on leaving the station.

 
Appalling service, even those with booked seats being turned away. We have long known that bookings are automatically voided on half length trains, it would appear that this now applies to popular events also.

 
From Devon Live

 
Day before Boardmasters starts, outstanding!

Cancellations on the branch too.


09:04 London Paddington to Newquay due 14:17 was terminated at Plymouth.
It will no longer call at Saltash, St Germans, Liskeard, Bodmin Parkway, Par and Newquay.
This is due to a points failure.

 

A colleague's daughter plays the double bass in an orchestra who perform internationally and you would not believe (well, you probably would!) the hassle involved.

 
Next Monday I’m on standby 0800-2000 with a coach at Newquay rail station, so appears some contingencies have been planned by GWR.

 

Other accompanied luggage aside, how else would people be expected to transport double basses.

Mark

 
How long until carriage of surfboards on Waterloo to Exeter services is prohibited ?
Or perhaps it would be simpler to prohibit surfboards on all trains.
Drive instead, the climate emergency is now very last year.

 

Indeed - it COULD be easier if, for example, there was no industrial action, no ban on surfboards on some trains but not others, and if a walkup ticket valid for the route and day could be used to walk up and travel the route that day.

Even I had some trouble working out how I would travel from London with my surfboard. "From London, passengers with surfboards should travel from Waterloo via Salisbury to Exeter, and change there into a train that starts at Exeter or comes from the Bristol direction.   If that's too slow or awkward, why not drive?"   Sorry - GWR - your web page smacks of 1984 doublespeak and 38 years after that, it feels like time to put all the customers and the environment ahead of cherry picking the business.   The railway as a common carrier of people and the luggage they can reasonably carry.

 
There does seem to be a degree of making it up as they go along to deal with a specific problem for this event.  It's perhaps surprising that they don't apply more restrictions for travel to Glastonbury Festival as the amount some people carry must really slow down loading and unloading and overload the luggage racks.  The general National Rail rules refer to an additional charge for "Each article exceeding one metre in any dimension that can be carried by one person"; GWR seem prepared to accept longer articles at no charge on some trains but a fuller explanation of how to work out which trains do take surfboards would have been useful for the target audience.  Most trains to Newquay are local trains, surely, so it's the mainline leg that's the problem.  Ironically the "Castle" HSTs probably come under the local train description.
 
London Underground incidentally is normally happy to allow objects up to 2 metres long according to its Conditions of Carriage.

 
Interesting collision of 'It couldn't be easier' with 'There's disruption from industrial action, and remember we don't accept surfboards.'

I wonder how many surfboards would fit in an IEP kitchen? :-)

Mark

 
https://www.gwr.com/stations-and-destinations/travel-inspiration/festivals-and-events/boardmasters-festival

 
Very optimistic.  High profile because there were 502 deaths with Covid mentioned on the death certificate in week ending 6th August in England. There were 875 excess deaths in the same week so no this is not just high profile it is killing people of all ages.  The covid dashboard indicates an average of 75 deaths per day.  Lets continue to take care of each other. 

 
Let’s remember this time of year, and festivals in particular have always been a super spreader for viruses and sniffles. We’ve just got a high profile virus which aids the media agenda this year.
Infections may be high but nearly all with minor symptoms no worse than a cold or other viral infection. Hospitalisation and death rate is low. There is nothing really to report worse than any other year.

 
The cases around us in West Dorset are now higher than they were in the January peak.

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-58318695

 
Part of the picture but not all.

Boardmasters was an outdoor festival, with PCR checks to enter, etc.
Newquay town is also over-run with visitors, going into indoor venues with no PCR checks.  Just a request to wear masks, and admissions open to all.
Nightclubs, pubs, shops, etc.
Falmouth & St Ives are also on a high since before the G7 (in case anyone is going to go that far back).
Too many people in too small a space.

Whilst the infection rates are very high, hospital admissions are way down fortunately.

 

"Innocent" people?

 

We should all be thankful for the benevolence of GWR in limiting access to this event, by means of closing stations  and bustitution and in refusing to convey surfboards, thereby limiting the risks to innocent people.

 
Grockles and emmets? More people in confined area or at a festival and bound to happen. Even if double vaccinated one can still carry as much contagion of the Delta variant as anyone else

 
I think it’s across the board* with Devon and Cornwall having some of the highest covid rates in the UK. Can’t think why 

*No pun intended 

 

Sadly, not at all surprising.

 
I see that Boardmasters is causing a massive spike in Covid numbers in Newquay! https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-58257323

 

I accept that footfall for the Plymouth suburban stations may not be that high, but surely if you cancel a train and say it's being replaced by a bus/buses, but don't tell people that the bus doesn't serve all the stations that the train would have, then surely that's a bit misleading, and could cause significant inconvenience?!

 

Passenger numbers at Dockyard, Keyham and St Budeaux are very low and I doubt there are (m)any for those early trains / buses.  The outbound  train is express to St Budeaux Victoria Road anyway.  Inbound, the train has a historic use for people working in Plymouth including at the dockyard, but passenger number figures would suggest this is now little used for that purpose - OR there's a quirk in the data, for example with everyone using Plymouth tickets and leaving / joining short.

Devonport figures are higher; the big flow there is to and from schools ... so not August and not this early in the day.

 

The buses don’t serve the suburban stations. Not sure if an alternative arrangement is made

 
I'm wondering what happens with the Plymouth suburban stations, that the train would have called at?
The timings must be interesting (and presumably fairly longer than by train), Bere Ferrers to Plymouth is fairly circuitous in order to get over the River Tavy, likewise Calstock to Plymouth is fairly circuitous in order to get over the Tamar. I imagine you would need to bear that in mind especially if connecting into other services.

BTW re Boardmasters, the 10.32 Newquay to Paddington and 12.31 Newquay to Paddington were both 9 car IETs on Monday and apparently very well filled! I don't know about the 08.37, 14.19 or 16.20 NQY - PADs.

 

Gunnislake is always 2 small buses. 1 for gunnislake and Calstock. The other for Bere Alston and Bere Ferrers. Oakleys coaches were covering the evening runs recently with  small Optare Solos

 
Friday:

So Castle Cary has an additional stop in the 1804 in lieu of the cancelled train... but Pewsey and Westbury do not.

Never mind, there's the 1J93 Paddington-Frome... except that's also cancelled.
The best offer seems to be the 1C93 Paddington-Plymouth, which, surprisingly, stops at Hungerford and Bedwyn in addition to Pewsey and Westbury. (not a special for this week only).

 

Appears to be two buses - Plymouth to Calstock via Gunnislake and Plymouth to Bere Ferrers via Bere Alston, same in reverse.  Intermediate traffic probably light.

 
The route will be interesting, I wonder if it's an amphibious bus?!

Btw for those interested, the Cornwall Railway Society website is reporting that the 06.20 Plymouth - Penzance and 09.25 Penzance - Edinburgh has been a Cross Country HST all week instead of the usual Voyager.

 
Is there some big event at Luxulyan next week?

 
It becomes clearer - for those of us who are used to reading operational stuff - via Real Time Trains.  For next Monday, for example:



It looks like through London to Penzance trains are terminating for the most part at Plymouth, passengers having to transfer I suspect to 4 car trains which would normally be running Cardiff - Plymouth - Penzance services.   There's a couple of trains saved there with the cut back to Bristol at the moment.

I think that some of our members who feel that a five carriage train is too short for long distance journeys may be even less happy with a four car train, but in the great scheme of things those four carriage thingummies are quite nice.

 

Presumably the Plymouth to Newquay services aren’t serving the intermediate stations? So cancelled at those stations?

 

That was my thought as well and I checked the wording on the GWR site in case the wording was a spoof.

 

Ah ... do you remember "We've only run half the trains today [one], but it was twice the normal length so I don't know what you're complaining about".     To note - historic; don't see that reason being seen as reasonable by the GWR team today!

 

"We're running all the right trains, but not necessarily in the right order..."

 
As the late Eric Morecambe would have said "it's the way you tell them"

This must take a prize for failing to communicate clearly. It starts by saying that they are trying to serve two popular events and then seems to largely be a list of cancellations!

How many would get no further than , assuming that the line has been closed, and you cannot get to Newquay by train?

Then there's  . Extra above what? You have just told the confused punters that there are no trains between Par and Newquay. Presumably what they mean to say is that trains will be running all the way from Plymouth to Newquay instead of just starting at Par. For heaven's sake say so, and why not give the departure times as well. It looks like a classic case of railway industry mentality "ooh, no Newquay branch trains today" was clearly at the front of the mind of the person who put this together without giving a moment's thought to how what they had just written looks to the uninitiated in the context of a revised service. 

And presumably those trains will go back from Newquay to Plymouth? It's not clear, and not something either the infrequent or  experienced traveller could be confident about.

Then there's the confusing list of alterations between Penzance and Plymouth. Surely a simple statement that a number of through services to and from Penzance will be replaced by services between London and Plymouth and between Plymouth and Penzance might give some re-assurance to passengers that this is not a butchery of the time table.

And why are random announcements about a Paignton train and buses replacing trains to Gunnislake buried in the middle of these Boardmaster and Falmouth related changes? 

 

As soon as I read that I just knew what was to follow ...................just like my local Barclays........"to provide a better service, we are closing this branch".

 

Ironic is one word for it.

 

Does it strike you as ironic that the usual trains running to Newquay, on which surfboards can be carried, are replaced by trains that they are not allowed onto for the main arrival and departure times for Boardmasters?

 

It's a round figure 

 
Which of these will accept boards???

 
From the GWR website:

To better serve customers for Falmouth Week and Boardmasters in
Newquay, we have made a number of changes to our train service.
Wednesday 11 and Thursday 12 August
• All trains between Par and Newquay from 0818 to 1914 are replaced by buses
• 4 extra trains will run from Plymouth and Par to Newquay
• On 11 August only, 0637 London Paddington to Penzance terminate at
Plymouth. This connects with an additional 0945 Plymouth to Penzance
• 0904 London Paddington to Plymouth no longer calls at Totnes
• 1004 London Paddington to Penzance terminate at Plymouth
• 1736 London Paddington to Plymouth does not run
• 1804 London Paddington to Penzance calls additionally at Castle Cary
• 1412 Paignton to London Paddington starts earlier from Paignton at 1336
• 1215 Penzance to London Paddington terminates at Plymouth. This connects
with an additional 1415 Plymouth to London Paddington
• 1615 Penzance to London Paddington starts at Par at 1717
• On 11 August only, Falmouth Town station is closed all day. Customers should
use Falmouth Docks instead
Friday 13 August
• All trains between Par and Newquay from 0818 to 1719 are replaced by buses
• 3 extra trains will run from Plymouth and Par to Newquay
• 0904 London Paddington to Plymouth no longer calls at Totnes
• 1736 London Paddington to Plymouth does not run
• 1804 London Paddignton to Penzance calls additionally at Castle Cary
• 1412 Paignton to London Paddington starts earlier from Paignton at 1336
Monday 16 August
• All trains between Par and Newquay from 0712 to 2021 are replaced by buses
• Additional trains run from Newquay to London Paddington at 0835, 1032,
1231, 1419 and 1631. An additional train also runs to Plymouth at 1758
• 0457 Plymouth to Gunnislake is replaced with a bus
• 0540 Plymouth to Penzance does not run
• 0542 Gunnislake to Plymouth is replaced with a bus
• 0637, 0804 and 1004 London Paddington to Penzance all terminate
at Plymouth
• 0712 Plymouth to Penzance is replaced by an additional 0715 train run by
CrossCountry and runs non-stop Plymouth to Liskeard
• 0815, 1015, 1215, 1415 and 1615 Penzance to London Paddington do not run.
Alternative services run from Penzance to Plymouth, where customers can
change into direct services to London Paddington
• 0945 Plymouth to Penzance runs additionally
• 1030 Penzance to Plymouth is an additional train run by CrossCountry
• 1225 Penzance to Par runs additionally
• 1404 Par to Penzance runs additionally
• 1515 Penzance to Plymouth departs at 1520 and terminates at Par
• 1615 Penzance to Plymouth runs additionally
Other service changes may be made at short notice

 

MUCH better.  Probably the best of the standard clauses and an extra line of free text to confirm. Thank you to whoever made the change!

 
I suspect that this will lead to more (genuine) cancellations in the area;

Cancellations to services between Taunton and Exeter St Davids
Due to a person being hit by a train between Taunton and Exeter St Davids all lines are blocked.
Train services running through these stations may be cancelled, delayed by up to 60 minutes or diverted. Disruption is expected until 16:00 12/08.
Further Information

 
When a train has been cancelled, such as those affected by the Boardmasters, and been re-instated it has to be shown as an additional STP because the system thinks it has been cancelled.    This can, of course, baffle the public although it is internal processing of data.

 
The description for the cancelled trains has now been updated

 

Agreed - in the "Line Update" section.  Even if all the individual trains are still there, a line update might have been a useful summary

 
I can see why it’s happened like that.  All the additions from Newquay and a few other alterations as a result are now cancelled and a ‘normal’ weekday service is running.  A sensible decision.

For example the 09:54 Great Malvern to Reading usually goes to Paddington of course, but the plan today saw it terminate at Reading and form a Reading to Bedwyn (instead of the usual Paddington to Bedwyn) to release a set for the Newquay specials.  With that not needed, those trains are listed as cancelled and ‘additional’ trains are listed at 09:54 from Great Malvern to Paddington and 12:06 from Paddington to Bedwyn which simply reinstates the normal timetable.

Agreed that it makes it look bloody confusing on JourneyCheck though!  Perhaps one entry just saying a normal weekday service now applies would be much more customer friendly?

 
Journeycheck is a shambles these days.

 
JourneyCheck is currently reporting 17 cancellations across the networK


All of these are due to "overcrowding because of an event". But then a lot of the same trains appear in the 'Other Train Service Updates' as additional trains that will be running.

Very confusing.

 
JourneyCheck has not caught up / though I suppose it's right to flag trains that people had booked on that are no longer running, even though the reason for them running had gone away.  A few people may have travelled an stayed in Newquay, intending to catch those trains back.


But surely undercrowding because of the lack of an event?

 
I can think of a similar sized town that’s already had 5 departures by then!