Disruption in Cornwall as signalling upgraded to “transform” travel

Over the next few weeks, buses will replace trains for three blocks of dates as Network Rail works on Cornwall's new signalling system.

The replacement buses will run as follows:

• Tuesday 31 October to Sunday 5 November – St Austell and Penzance, including branch line to Falmouth Docks
• Monday 6 to Friday 10 November – Liskeard and Penzance, including branch lines to Newquay and Falmouth Docks
• Saturday 11 and Sunday 12 November – Plymouth and Penzance, including branch lines to Looe, Newquay and Falmouth Docks

However, some will run at reduced capacity or not at all, which Great Western Railway (GWR) blames on “the ongoing national shortage of bus drivers”. GWR will confirm cancellations and reductions in bus services in advance on its website.

The operator is urging passengers travelling in Cornwall on these dates to check carefully before travelling.

More information can be found here.

Passengers may also use their rail tickets on some local bus routes, including routes T1, T2, U1, U2, U4 and 27 for all three phases and routes 11, 25, 26 and 28 for phases 2 and 3.

Night Riviera Sleeper services will also be amended during the work. More information can be found here.

The new signals in will help to make services safer and more reliable, and will allow more trains to run in the region. This will help prepare for Mid Cornwall Metro services, which aim provide coast-to-coast connectivity between Newquay and Falmouth via Par and St Austell.

GWR West Cornwall Station Manager, Sharon Holloway, said: “We recognise that these works will be very disruptive for our customers, and we thank them in advance for their patience and understanding.

“We will be running an extensive replacement bus service on affected days to help keep passengers moving, but we recognise that capacity will be limited on some routes.

“We have worked closely with local bus companies to allow rail passengers to travel on some routes, but we recommend passengers allow plenty of time to travel and checking carefully before travelling.

“These upgrades will help to make our services in the region more reliable and allow scope for extra services to be added in the future.”

Network Rail sponsor, Paul Collyer, said:“This is the biggest piece of signalling work carried out in Cornwall for decades.

“We're bringing the county's signals into the 21st century and it will lead to more trains, safer services and a more reliable railway.

“Unfortunately, we do need to cause some disruption to work but once complete, passengers travelling into and around Cornwall will feel the benefits for years to come.”