Cornwall by train

And Bristol – South Wales too.

Longer trains and some additional train services are to be provided from today to help people returning to rail travel as part of the Government’s lockdown easing roadmap to do so safely and with confidence.

Given that the M6 and the south west itself is likely to be clogged up during the peak summer months, and flights to Cornwall Newquay Airport are limited, the train can be an attractive alternative.

While current government advice remains to keep travel to a minimum, the train operator is increasing services in a phased approach prior to further timetable improvements on 17 May when restrictions are planned to be eased.

By increasing the level of service in stages Great Western Railway (GWR) is working to ensure it provides customers with the services they need so that they can return to rail and travel with confidence when the time is right. From today services will return to about 70% of pre-Covid levels, rising to around 90% in mid-May.

GWR managing director Mark Hopwood said: “As the gradual lifting of Covid-19 restrictions continues, we will be strengthening our busiest services and more of our long-distance services will run with 9 or 10 carriages.

“We are also planning further additional services in our summer timetable, which starts on Sunday 16 May, which will bring us back to around 90% of our usual timetable. You should now be able to see these in online journey planners so customers can plan future journeys and book ahead.”

The advice is to book early.  There is unlikely to be seat availability at the departure station.

www.gwr.com

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OUR READERS' FINEST WORDS (All times and dates are GMT)

All comments are filtered to exclude any excesses but the Editor does not have to agree with what is being said. 100 words maximum

Andrew Sharp, Surbiton

And you might find this useful! https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/times_fares/pr3b78700a040004011c93f7fece3a1d.aspx

David George, Northampton

Penzance Helicopters operate a shuttle bus between Penzance station and the new Penzance heliport with connecting helicopter flights to St Marys and Tresco.

Don MacCallum, United Kingdom

In my opinion, shared by many travellers on social media, it is not the case that "GWR Standard Class is very comfortable." The seats are like ironing-boards with minimal leg room. The latter point perhaps illustrated by the passengers in the photo who are obliged to sit with their knees protruding into the aisle. It is questionable whether such high density seating in trains is now really necessary given the drop in passenger numbers which is likely for the foreseeable future.