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Thursday 26 Oct 2023

Passengers urged to check before they travel as Cornwall signalling upgrade reaches key stage

Region & Route:

Wales & Western: Western

| Wales & Western

Network Rail has reached a key stage in its programme to modernise signals across Cornwall and improve the reliability of the railway. 

Work will take place around the clock while trains aren’t running from Tuesday 31 October to Sunday 12 November to enable the current signalling system to be replaced with new digital technology. 

Network Rail’s contractor Siemens will install 35,000m of cabling as well as testing the new system, which is due to come into operation in Spring 2024 following further planned phases of work. 

GWR is encouraging passengers to check their journeys ahead of the work, with buses replacing trains between these stations on the following dates: 

• Phase 1: Tuesday 31 October to Sunday 5 November – St Austell and Penzance, including branch line to Falmouth Docks 
• Phase 2: Monday 6 to Friday 10 November – Liskeard and Penzance, including branch lines to Newquay and Falmouth Docks 
• Phase 3: Saturday 11 and Sunday 12 November – Plymouth and Penzance, including branch lines to Looe, Newquay and Falmouth Docks 

More information can be found at www.GWR.com/CornwallUpgrade  

Network Rail sponsor Paul Collyer said: “We have reached a crucial phase in our programme to bring the signalling in Cornwall into the 21st century. 

“When complete in 2024, the work will help bring more trains and a more reliable and safer service to the county for decades to come. 

“To keep everyone safe, the work needs to be done while trains aren’t running and we’d like to thank our passengers for their patience.” 

GWR station manager for West Cornwall 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.” 

To help keep passengers moving, Great Western Railway has reached an agreement with local bus companies to accept rail tickets on some routes during the work: 

• Phases one, two and three: rail tickets accepted on bus routes T1, T2, U1, U2, U4 and 27 
• Phases two and three: rail tickets accepted on bus routes 11, 25, 26 and 28