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.

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.

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