Train review part 2: Riding the route of the ‘Riviera Express’

David Clough concludes his Riviera trip by returning from Penzance in the time slot of the old ‘Cornish Riviera Express’.

In this article:

• Modern services from Penzance offer a comfortable, scenic ride but have lost the historic 'Cornish Riviera Express' branding.
• Cornwall's railway highlights include scenic viaducts, heritage branches, and the continued transport of china clay.
• Key stops include Exeter, Newton Abbot, and Plymouth, with modern infrastructure blending with historical landmarks.
• You may want to read part one of this two-part coverage first.

Having travelled down to the end of the line at Penzance on the ‘Night Riviera’ (RAIL 1017), the only way to return to London was on the Up departure at the time of the old ‘Cornish Riviera Express’, which was originally at 1000.

With a two-hour regular-interval service to Paddington, one train is indistinguishable from another today, and so Great Western Railway (GWR) has dropped the name in its marketing.

Penzance is a tidy station that has changed very little in structural terms over the decades. There are four platforms, and on the Down side are the sidings that once led to the Flower Dock, where Channel Island produce was loaded onto trains.

Two trains are in the platforms: the 0815 to Paddington is formed of nine-car Intercity Express Train 802102, while an HST ‘Castle’ set with power cars 43092 and 43098 has arrived with the 0638 from Plymouth.

These ‘Castle’ sets have four coaches and are diagrammed on Class 2 secondary services. They will disappear in 2025, probably replaced by Class 175s which are currently stored after service with Transport for Wales.

Breaking with the succession of GWR services, CrossCountry’s 221134 heads away at 0830 on one of the longest through journeys in the UK, bound for Edinburgh.

It has only spent a booked eight minutes in the station, after overnight servicing at Long Rock depot. This pattern of arrivals and departures continues until RAIL boards the 1020 to Paddington (1A84), formed of Intercity Eexpress Train set 800313.

The pre-nationalisation GWR (Old GWR) introduced a new summer-dated return train that linked London with the West of England in July 1904.

It was claimed to be the longest non-stop service in the world at the time, running approximately 246 miles to Plymouth via Bristol (the direct railway over the Berks & Hants line had yet to be completed).

Referred to by railwaymen as ‘the Limited’, because of the number of coaches conveyed, the train’s public title was the ‘Cornish Riviera Express’, because the Old GWR marketed the seaside resorts it served as the ‘English Riviera’.

Until the introduction of High Speed Trains in 1981, the customary practice was for some coaches to be detached at Plymouth before continuing to Penzance, with Up trains adding coaches at Plymouth.

Today, the 1020 from Penzance is the nearest departure to that of the ‘Cornish Riviera Express’, when introduced.

Set 800313 is a nine-car bi-mode Intercity Express Train, built in 2017-18. These days, Class 800s and ‘802s’ are used interchangeably, although the latter are more common on the West of England route.

The first departure for Paddington is at 0503 and then hourly until 1020, when the interval becomes two-hourly, until the last one at 1750. Journey times to Paddington vary slightly but are generally around 5hrs 15mins (the 1020 is allowed just 5hrs 7mins).

The English Riviera is at its best on a sunny day. However, my trip is not so blessed, and St Michael’s Mount is shrouded in mist as we depart Penzance. 57602 had already shunted the empty stock off the ‘Night Riviera’ as we hurry past Long Rock depot.

A reminder of old times comes at the first stop, St Erth, where the Old GWR lower-quadrant signals survive. Liskeard is the only other location where these are observed during the journey.

Cornwall retains four passenger branches: Looe from Liskeard, Newquay from Par, Falmouth from Truro, and St Ives from St Erth. My train calls at all these junctions but misses out some of the minor stations.

Cornwall has many deep valleys, and the railway crosses these on viaducts as it generally keeps to high ground. This therefore affords a spectacular view of Truro Cathedral. Only a single track is provided across the neighbouring Largin and St Pinnock viaducts.

China clay constituted the main freight flow for over a century, and it survives long after the milk and broccoli trains disappeared.

Today, it operates at a lower level than before - a single DB Cargo Class 66 suffices for the internal movements from Parkandillack, Goonbarrow, Fowey Carne Point and Par docks. St Blazey depot, close to Par on the Newquay branch, continues to find work in the maintenance of the clay wagon fleet.

A clayliner runs to Cliffe Vale in the Staffordshire Potteries, and this had run the day before RAIL’s visit. Owing to the gradients, the load is split leaving

Parkandillack and the two halves are then combined at Exeter Riverside Yard. The normal arrangement sees the empties return the next day as far as Riverside Yard and later into Cornwall.

Bodmin Parkway was renamed from Bodmin Road in 1983 and serves as the railhead for north Cornwall, which was shorn of its passenger services in the 1960s. Today, it is still the interchange for Bodmin - albeit the branch is part of the heritage Bodmin Railway, whose route extends to some six miles to Boscarne Junction.

At the time it was built in 1859, the Royal Albert Bridge across the River Tamar was an engineering marvel. It is where Cornwall is left behind and the train passes into Devon.

Soon, the Gunnislake branch arrives at St Budeaux Junction. It is all that survives of the former Southern route from London Waterloo. Today, it is marketed as the Tamar Valley line.

Keyham, Dockyard and Devonport pass in quick succession before arrival into Plymouth, where the call lasts only three minutes.

Accelerating away, Laira Depot is shorn of the locomotives that once proliferated there, with diesel multiple units and HSTs representing the current order. On the Up side, little remains of Tavistock Junction yard.

1A84 has no difficulty climbing Hemerdon Bank to the high tableland of south Devon, where Ivybridge residents have enjoyed being reconnected to the rail network since 1994, after a gap of 29 years.

The number of passengers has gradually grown until the 1020 from Penzance is quite full. As might be expected, the majority fall into the leisure category, but even so there are few empty seats in First Class.

Separate catering trolleys ply First and Standard Class regularly with good selections of food and drink. The cheery crew change over at Exeter St Davids.

The railway through Devon is no less hilly as far as Newton Abbot. Restarting from Totnes, with the South Devon Railway station on the Up side after crossing the River Dart, the line climbs steeply for five miles to Dainton summit.

This used to demand an all-out effort for locomotive-hauled trains, but since the introduction of HSTs, the modern trainsets cannot be driven flat out throughout the ascent because of line curvature.

The approach to Newton Abbot is presaged by the appearance of the Paignton branch.

Remodelling of the junction has brought a name change from Aller Junction to Newton Abbot West Junction. Newton Abbot station has been reduced to three platforms, with the in-filling of Platform 1 to give step-free access from the concourse.

Newton Abbot used to be the main traction maintenance facility in the West Country, with a large workshop that dated from the early days of the railway.

Dieselisation saw the focus move to Plymouth Laira depot, and Newton Abbot declined to the status of a fuel and examination point, until even this closed. Today, it continues as a junction for the Heathfield branch, while Hackney Yard serves as a staging point for civil engineer’s movements.

Descriptions of the Dawlish Sea Wall transit have become hackneyed, but it is interesting to see the new construction, which is of a different design that is intended to deflect the waves back out to sea.

Approaching Exeter, Marsh Barton station opened on July 4 2023 and is situated between Exeter St Thomas and Starcross.

Exeter St Davids continues to be an important interchange point. Until 1968, it also formed part of the former Southern Railway through route between London Waterloo and Plymouth. This created the curious situation whereby trains bound for Plymouth from Paddington and Waterloo passed through Exeter St Davids travelling in opposite directions.

This is the terminus of the two-hourly semi-fast timetable from Paddington that serves the stations west of Newbury.

After a gap of nearly 50 years, regular Exeter-Okehampton passenger services were reinstated in November 2021, branded as the Dartmoor Line.

St Davids is also the jumping-off point for the Tarka Line to Barnstaple, and to Exmouth as well as to Waterloo, all of which makes the station a busy location.

Exeter Riverside yard is both a destination for stone traffic from Westbury and a staging point for other freight activity. Beyond its east end is Cowley Bridge Junction, where the route to Barnstaple and Okehampton diverges.

Passing the site of Tiverton Junction, my train calls at the replacement Tiverton Parkway, close to the M5.

The gradual climb up the Exe Valley and into the Blackdown Hills brings the crossing (inside Whiteball Tunnel) of a county boundary from ‘Glorious Devon’ into ‘Smiling Somerset’ - the terms used by George Behrend in his classic book Gone With Regret.

The railway rushes through Wellington, which is where (hereabouts in 1904) the first instance of 100mph on a railway was claimed. It is regarded today as fanciful, even if it did lead to preservation of the locomotive involved - ‘City’ Class 4-4-0 3440 City of Truro.

Just west of Taunton, Norton Fitzwarren sees the arrival on the Up side of the connection with the West Somerset Railway to Minehead.

Heading east from Taunton, only two tracks now suffice to Cogload Junction, where the line to Bristol diverges.

Blink and you will miss Athelney level crossing.

Athelney, which lost its station in 1964, is a small village in the Somerset Levels, and the best way to appreciate the railway’s elevation in the landscape is to traverse the crossing by road and observe the way the line is carried above the countryside to keep it clear of potential inundation by flooding.

Moreover, one does not notice the ride quality during the journey because it is so good.

Again, the power available in modern traction means the train keeps to the line limits as it negotiates the gradients to Castle Cary, where the Weymouth line curves in on the Down side.

Before Bruton, the very observant might see bridge abutments that once carried the Somerset & Dorset Railway across the London line.

Falling gradients brings my train past East Somerset Junction, where traffic from Merehead Quarry joins the main line.

Blatchbridge Junction takes a line into Frome, and this rejoins the main route at Clink Road Junction. This is where aggregates from Whatley Quarry head east.

Here, 59005 is being held with the Exeter Riverside Yard to Westbury service. The train had departed 110 minutes early, but has been held in Taunton for 65 minutes until two passenger trains had passed, such are the long sections these days between refuge points for freight workings.

The train had run via Frome to permit my train to overtake, and it resumed the last leg of its journey on time. This pathing of freights that involves long waits for passenger services to proceed is a frequent complaint of freight operators.

Moving on, the Westbury avoiding line curves right at Fairwood Junction and rejoins the original route at Heywood Road Junction. Westbury continues to be busy with movements from Merehead and Whatley quarries. It also handles passenger traffic from the Trowbridge and Salisbury directions.

Racing along on near-level track, you might not notice Edington, whose claim to fame is the place where King Alfred’s Wessex army defeated the Vikings in 878 AD, and so prevent the latter’s total domination of England.

A little further on, at Lavington, the railway begins a steady climb to the last summit before Paddington - at Savernake.

The Kennet & Avon Canal, which has been on the Up side from Wootton Rivers, disappears into Bruce Tunnel to avoid the high ground and emerges on the Down side, where parallel running with the railway makes it a favourite location for photographers.

Bedwyn is the outer limit for suburban services from Paddington or Reading. But Newbury is served by many more of these trains, and this is why it is the end of electrification.

The train path for 1A84 shows a change from diesel to electric power by bi-mode 800313 here. Perhaps to slow the train for the changeover, it is routed through the platform road, but 1A84 continues to Paddington using the diesel engines. A report refers to pantograph issues on GWR IET sets and the inability to run on overhead electric power may have been the reason.

Theale handles quite a range of freight - primarily construction-related, but also oil. In addition to aggregates, there is a train path from Hope cement works in Derbyshire.

Soon, the well-used inter-regional line from Basingstoke merges at Southcote Junction.

After Reading West, the route into the remodelled Reading station, with its 15 platforms, now sees my train veer left onto the Reading avoiding line, before diverging over a new flyover into the station.

This new flyover avoids conflicting movements by trains from the Berks & Hants line making a flat crossing over the Paddington-Bristol main line. It also affords a view of Reading Traincare Depot.

Leaving Reading, the Thames is glimpsed for the first time on the Up side. And through Sonning Cutting, the Henley-on-Thames branch arrives at Twyford.

Today, Maidenhead is not only the jumping-off point for the Marlow branch, it also has stabling sidings for Elizabeth line Class 345s, which provide the suburban services into Paddington and beyond to Abbey Wood.

Travelling now at 125mph, it is easy at Slough to miss the branch from Windsor & Eton Central, arriving on the Down side.

Suburban stations and aggregates terminals flash by, as well as junctions with Downside branches to Thorney Mill, Heathrow Airport and Brentford Town.

The Greenford loop curves away on the Up side from West Ealing taking the passenger service to Greenford, as well as links to Northolt for the Chilterns and Old Oak Common.

With Freightliner now handling Mendip stone traffic, the 4,200-tonne jumbo trains split into two at Hanwell Bridge, for onward transfer to their destinations.

Despite losing the Mendip stone trains to Freightliner, because Acton Yard is operated by DB Cargo, the yard remains busy. From here, a cross-London railway line strikes away to Acton Wells Junction and the routeing options both north and south.

The railway past Old Oak Common into Paddington is now complicated - not least because of construction of the HS2 station. North Pole traction depot is on the Down side, while the railway from Greenford and Northolt Junction joins on the Up.

Westbourne Park main line station is but a memory. But beyond Ladbroke Grove, there is railway everywhere, as Elizabeth line trains gain their own route under Paddington and have stabling facilities at hand.

Royal Oak is the place where GWR trains weave in preparation for entry into their arrival platforms. There are also loops for holding trains prior to entry into Paddington, such as the ‘Night Riviera’ stock 5C50.

This brings the journey back full circle from where it all started the night before.

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