00:00We're here as they test the new rolling stock on the Mid Cornwall Metro, we're
00:04on the PAR to Newquay branch line, now integral part of the new Mid Cornwall
00:11Metro, so instead of services being two hourly or so it's down to an hour
00:16between PAR and Newquay, so it really gives connectivity for that. Links in
00:21then to the trains which will go all the way down through Mid Cornwall down to
00:25Falmouth. A train every hour, going to places that are useful will be great for
00:31local people to open up opportunities to access training, jobs, education etc, but
00:38also will be great in terms of getting people out of their cars who are coming
00:41on holiday because you can get around once you're here. Next year they'll run,
00:46they'll be extended onwards to runners free trains to Falmouth. The line has been
00:51upgraded in location so like it got small we've now got a pass and loop and that's
00:56a brand new piece of track which has gone in that gives us that capacity then for
01:00two trains to pass each other that then naturally allows us to increase the level
01:05of service that we see on the line. Not only has new track gone in we've seen
01:10changes with the new signaling system which goes all the way through to PAR so
01:14where we used to have token systems and trains stopping to exchange tokens we now do
01:20our train detection via axle counters which speeds up the train we brought back
01:26into use the new platform too there at Newquay so that's great news because again
01:31we need that second platform in order to allow that capacity because you're going to
01:35see now 17 trains like on a Monday to Friday basis happening from the May 17
01:41timetable change and that will then see those direct services in the summer that
01:45will take you through to London at the same time so that extra platform is vital to
01:50the delivery of that change. The line was stripped back about 40 years ago and it became
01:57basically a long siding for the last 20-25 minutes of the journey which meant that you
02:03could only have a two hourly local service on the line so a very restricted local service
02:08and on summer Saturdays when you were running the through trains to and from London you weren't
02:14able to have a local service at all because there wasn't the room on the line. Now for many,
02:19many years basically I've been at the partnership 28 years for all of that time local people have
02:25been saying look how do we improve the train service on the Newquay line and they've talked
02:29about putting in a second platform at Newquay and the passing loop around where the old passing
02:35loop was at St Jenny's Junction because those were the keys to making a really big step change. Now
02:41over the years we in Cornwall and Great Western have made improvements to the service but the service
02:46is still only two hourly and this is the massive step change. Cornwall is a you know peninsula we're
02:54not a sort of one large town with villages around it we're a whole series of towns all the way
03:00that
03:00need connecting and buses are part of that solution trains are part of that solution absolutely investing
03:06in our roads and highways and we we do that too but if we can provide sustainable public transport
03:11options that work for communities then that's a really great step forward and we've seen that in usage
03:17on some of the other branch lines which are very popular so investment in this part of Cornwall
03:22it is helpful but it is you know recognised obviously that other parts of Cornwall that the railway
03:26doesn't get to and that's why we have our bus network to all the way from west Cornwall up into
03:32north and east Cornwall so we're working with local communities to try to provide the options that
03:39work for them and this investment here it's been a long time coming it's a big project lots of physical
03:45changes signalling changes and now the new trains that are being refitted and coming to us as well
03:49but it is really important that we get investment in Cornwall and we don't see all that money just
03:54going to other parts of the country. These things don't happen without that support from government
04:00the support from the council the the vision and that whole strategy about what we want to do
04:05and increase services that connectivity for people cannot be done without everybody working together.
04:12If you look at the last decade at the amount of funding that Corn councils secured to nerve park
04:17and ride contributions to our depot upgrade along with the sleeper refurbishment the sleeper lounges
04:24as well as the main line signalling that allowed half hourly services in 2019. That partnership that
04:29trust that bringing together of the knowledge and skills gives gives us the confidence and the
04:34knowledge that we can make these things happen and mid-core metro is a great demonstration of that
04:39Cornwall council secured the funding both initial development funding and then
04:43secured the leveling up funding over 50 million pounds that has paid for this at the same time
04:48network crowd has delivered it and has funded and delivered other critical works that were needed on
04:55the new key line anyway rebuilding a viaduct for example that was that was in need of uh life extension
05:02and obviously we bring the timetable we bring the the trains these additional trains um we've secured
05:09uh cross 175s support mid-core metro metro s and other schemes but also add resilience in our fleet
05:16and the train crew and generally you know bring it together at the end so it's all about our partners
05:23bringing their skill sets but when you've been doing it as long as we are have um it can be
05:28really
05:28really effective it's going to be great i think uh it's going to be great for local people it's going
05:32to be great for local people not just in terms of them traveling taking a fresh look at the railway
05:37and
05:37and deciding to use it but also in terms of it being easier to reach new key by train there'll
05:44be more
05:45day trippers there'll be more tourists who'll visit new key by train which obviously spending their money in
05:49local businesses which is obviously good for the economy good for jobs and that's all great
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