The evolution of transport in Cornwall has been shaped by the county's strong maritime, mining and industrial traditions and much of the transport infrastructure reflects this heritage.
However, with the decline in mining and industry over the last century and more, transport provision in Cornwall has increasingly focused on the needs of tourism and holiday-makers. An example of this is the improvement of the A30 trunk road; the substantial dual carriageway sections have greatly relieved summer traffic congestion but are very under-used in winter.
In the case of the railway system, although Cornwall has lost some of its rail network since nationalisation in 1948, it has fared better than many other rural areas of England. In part, this is because many Cornish lines serve holiday destinations and are visitor attractions in their own right.
General situation The inland transport network consists of longitudinal spines (the A30, A38 and A39 trunk roads (though the A39 is no longer designated as such) and the former Great Western Railway main line through Cornwall) from which secondary roads and railway branch lines radiate to ports and resorts on the coast.
As a maritime county, ports and sea transport were once vital to Cornwall's prosperity: however, they are less important now. Fishing, too, has traditionally been a core industry and Newlyn remains one of the largest fishing ports in southern Britain and a major centre for distribution of fish and shell-fish to continental Europe. Fish from the ports was an important component of the freight traffic for Cornish railways although now the fish is conveyed by road.
As well as Newlyn, several other ports (notably Padstow) and also Newquay cater for commercial fishing on a smaller scale. Many more small harbours cater to sport angling, again reflecting the county's reliance on tourism and leisure.
The coastline of Cornwall is deeply indented (particularly in the south) by estuaries and rias (flooded river valleys) so Cornwall's ferry crossings are an important part of today's transport mix. The Isles of Scilly are accessible by sea from Penzance.
Road transport in Cornwall
Cornwall is one of the few English counties with no motorways. However, trunk road access to and from the rest of the UK is at the heart of Cornwall's transport infrastructure and it is now possible to drive on uninterrupted dual carriageway from Glasgow to Bodmin Moor.
The principal road routes into Cornwall for both freight and passenger vehicles are the A30 from Exeter and the A38 from Plymouth and south Devon.
A30: The A30 between Exeter and Penzance is part of the Trans-European Road Network and is regarded by the Highways Agency as a strategic route corridor to the south west.Highways Agency, A30 Penzance to Exeter Route Management Strategy, Final Report The route has been greatly improved and upgraded in the past thirty years. There were only two short sections of dual carriageway on the of the A30 between Exeter and Penzance before 1976, but today only of single carriageway remain (one short stretch on Bodmin Moor and the rest in west Cornwall).
A38: A38 traffic into south-east Cornwall used to face severe delays at the Torpoint ferry (see below) across the River Tamar but this was relieved by the opening of the Tamar Bridge (a toll suspension bridge) in 1961. According to the Highways Agency, ...it is not envisaged that the A38 has, or will have, a strategic role to rival that of the A30; rather it has a sub-regional role to provide access between Cornwall and Plymouth and other parts of South Devon.Highways Agency, A38 Bodmin to Exeter Route Management Strategy Summary, Summer 2004 Nonetheless, the A38 provides an alternative route for traffic from Exeter and the M5 motorway heading to south-east Cornwall. The increase in traffic warranted two extra lanes being added to the Tamar Bridge in 2001 (the first suspension bridge in the world to be widened while remaining open to traffic).
Other routes into Cornwall include the A39 from Barnstaple and Bideford to Bude and on to Wadebridge and south-west Cornwall; the A3072 from Hatherleigh and central Devon to Bude; and the A390 from Tavistock to Callington and Liskeard.
Early routes
In prehistoric times there were trackways across mid-Cornwall, trade routes between Ireland and Brittany. These arose because of the need to avoid the sea passage round Land's End. From Hayle on the north coast the track crossed to Mount's Bay; from the Camel estuary there were several routes. These went to Fowey, somewhere near Pentewan and to the River Fal. The east–west route was diverted northwards because of the obstacle of Bodmin Moor. From Mount's Bay it crossed the Carnmenellis and Hensbarrow moorlands and probably passed to the northwest of Bodmin Moor to connect with a route into the rest of Britain near Kilkhampton. It is likely that primitive main roads were in existence by the beginning of the 14th century. In medieval times a road known as the Royal Cornish Way began with a crossing of the River Tamar by Polston Bridge near Launceston. This bridge was probably built soon after the Norman conquerors had established a castle at Launceston. The medieval road then went by Downhead and Davidstow through Camelford (established as a borough in 1259) to the ford across the River Camel at Wade (Wadebridge) where a weekly market and two annual fairs were established in 1312. It then continued through St Columb Major and Mitchell to Truro. Another medieval way into Cornwall was by the Cremyll ferry from Plymouth and then by Millbrook and Crafthole to Looe where Looe bridge had been built in 1411–36.Balchin, W. G. V. (1954) Cornwall: an illustrated essay on the history of the landscape. London: Hodder and Stoughton; pp. 112-16
Traffic flows and improvements Data collected on the A30 Launceston bypass shows that annual average daily traffic rose from 14,318 in 1995 to 20,842 in 2005.Highways Agency (2005) As well as increased traffic from outside the county, Cornwall's resident population has grown more rapidly than average. The number of people living in Cornwall increased by 32 per cent between 1971 and 2001, compared to an average increase of 6.5 per cent in England as a whole.Cornish Social and Economic Research Group
Despite the very substantial increase in resident and visiting traffic, road improvements have reduced congestion on the major routes.
In particular, dualling of the A30 has relieved most of the congestion as towns along the route which were formally bottlenecks have been bypassed. Notable schemes include: Launceston bypass (1975); Bodmin bypass (1977); and the Fraddon and Indian Queens bypass and associated A39 spur(1995).
The most recent scheme is 7 miles of new dual carriageway to the north of Goss Moor. Opened in July 2007, the new road relieved a notoriously congested single carriageway stretch which included a bottleneck at the bridge carrying the Par-Newquay railway over the road. This scheme has reduced congestion, shortened journey times and reduced traffic volumes on the A39 and the A390. More than 30,000 vehicles a day use the new road on weekdays and up to 43,000 on Saturdays in August.Highways Agency, A30 Bodmin to Indian Queens Improvement, Impact Survey
As well as dualling, villages have been bypassed on sections that remain single carriageway; for example, the mile of bypass opened in 1991 at Zelah on the Carland Cross to Chiverton Cross section.
Bus services
Plymouth Citybus and Go Cornwall Bus, Stagecoach South West, Hopley's Coaches and Summercourt Travel also operate services around the county including services to Devon.
Since Cornwall Council gained devolved transport responsibilities they have launched the Transport for Cornwall brand and have introduced an integrated ticketing system across operators and secured increased funding for new buses in Cornwall.
A park and ride express bus service operates in Truro, transporting passengers from Threemilestone to Truro city centre.
Rail transport in Cornwall
History
Railways remain a core part of the county's transport infrastructure, with 37 stations within it.
Cornish engineer Richard Trevithick (who was developing high pressure stationary steam engines for Cornwall's industries) produced the world's first locomotive in 1802 by mounting an engine on wheels to run on rails.Rolt, L. T. C. (1970) Victorian Engineering, London: Allen Lane The Penguin Press, A horse-worked tramway was opened from Poldice mine to the harbour at Portreath in 1809 and many similar lines were then built linking mines with ports. The first steam-powered railway in Cornwall, the Bodmin and Wadebridge Railway, opened on 30 September 1834 less than ten years after the world's earliest steam railway, the Stockton and Darlington.Whetmath, C. F. D. The Bodmin & Wenford Railway, Forge Books
At its height, the railway system in Cornwall resembled the road network – central spines with branches to the coast. The Great Western Railway's main line from Plymouth to Penzance loosely followed the route of the A38 from Plymouth to the south of Bodmin then that of the A30 to Truro, Redruth and Penzance from 1859; the London & South Western Railway (LSWR)'s system in north Cornwall resembled that of the A39 beyond Camelford from 1895 (see maps).
The Cornish rail network suffered a substantial reduction during the 1960s due to the Beeching cuts. North Cornwall was hardest hit – the entire former North Cornwall Railway system which served Bude, Camelford, Wadebridge and Padstow was closed on 3 October 1966 (although the Wadebridge-Padstow section was retained for a further three months).Welbourn, Nigel. Lost Lines: Southern, Ian Allan Publishing,
Further west, the line from Chacewater to St Agnes and Newquay closed on 4 February 1963 after just 60 years of existence.Reade, Lewis. Branch Line Memories; 1: Great Western, Redruth: Atlantic Transport & Historical Publishers, The Helston branch (which left the main line at Gwinear Road) closed to passengers on 3 October 1962 and to goods traffic two years later.Reade, Lewis. The Branch Lines of Cornwall, Truro : Atlantic Transport Publishers
Today, the former Great Western Railway Penzance-Plymouth main line remains open and four ex-GWR branch lines (together with the ex-LSWR Callington branch as far as Gunnislake) survived the Beeching cuts, although Beeching had proposed the closure of the branches to Looe and St Ives. This network provides long-distance rail services from stations on the main line directly to London and to many other parts of England and Wales. These services are fed by the branch lines. Exceptionally, the Newquay branch continues to provide intercity services between May and September. As well as long distance and holiday services, commuter and 'shopper' trains from Cornwall serve Plymouth, Devon.Plymouth City Council, Local Transport Plan 2001 to 2006; Chapter 4.1: Corridor Strategies
Lines
The Cornish Main Line runs for 75¼ miles through the centre of Cornwall from Penzance to Saltash, where it continues on the Royal Albert Bridge across the River Tamar to Plymouth in Devon. It is the most westerly section of the route to Penzance from London Paddington.
As noted above, five branch lines serve Cornwall. Four have been designated as Community rail lines and are promoted by the Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership. The fifth, to Newquay, carries local Community Rail trains but the line itself cannot be designated because of the presence of intercity and freight trains. They are: St Ives Bay Line – St Erth to St Ives (4¼ miles) Maritime Line – Truro to Falmouth (12¼ miles) Atlantic Coast Line (local passenger trains only) – Par to Newquay (20¾ miles) Looe Valley Line – Liskeard to Looe (8¾ miles) Tamar Valley Line – Plymouth to Gunnislake (15 miles)
See full list of stations in Railway stations in Cornwall at the bottom of the page.
Services