Go Cornwall Bus

[CornwallBus]

Not GoCornwall bus exactly but is there a list of Truronian liveried Coaches, fleet numbers, registrations etc?

 

[Sleepy]

So we have an open top bus route in Clacton but can't manage to keep one in Cornwall !?!

 

[Goldfish62]

I do wonder about the wisdom of leaving the summer services out of the timetable book. Given the amount of fillers there'd be plenty of room to incorporate them. It might be said that the timetables only last five weeks and the book lasts a lot longer, but that hasn't stopped GCB including a full page advert for the summer leaflets. That space could have been used for the 7/7A and 19 at least. On the network map the summer routes could have been shown as hatched lines or another way to show that they're seasonal.

What we've got instead is a book with, apart from a single page advert, no mention of the summer services, and which includes timetables for the 10 and 93 which are only partly valid between now and September, but with no mention that that is the case.

The summer leaflets themselves are OK, but look like they've been produced by a well-meaning independent, albeit one with little experience of producing publicity. The "maps", which are a series of joined straight lines are poor. The 19 is a complicated route, but there's been no effort to use the map to show how it's routed.

Some of the leaflets can be viewed here by clicking on the relevant links:

Summer Services 2026

We have range of service enhancements across our network

www.transportforcornwall.co.uk

Will the summer timetables be displayed on bus stops? Given that no timetables have been displayed on the new section of route 4 between Madron and Pendeen since it was introduced in February, I would guess the answer is no. I hope to be proved wrong!

 

[BuhSnarf]

Surely the summer services are likely to only be used by tourists, who are unlikely to be looking at a timetable book? Therefore having them posted at bus stops / information centres / holiday parks or online etc would be the best bet.

Certainly when I went to Cornwall on holiday recently, I went on the website to find out what they had.

 

[Goldfish62]

Surely the summer services are likely to only be used by tourists, who are unlikely to be looking at a timetable book? Therefore having them posted at bus stops / information centres / holiday parks or online etc would be the best bet.

Certainly when I went to Cornwall on holiday recently, I went on the website to find out what they had.

If you publish a timetable book you should put all your scheduled regular public services in it, especially as in this case it's the Transport for Cornwall timetable book published on behalf of the enhanced partnership.

As for the comment highlighted, believe it or not locals do like to go out by bus for leisure trips during the summer!

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 22 Jul 2026 ==

Will the summer timetables be displayed on bus stops? Given that no timetables have been displayed on the new section of route 4 between Madron and Pendeen since it was introduced in February, I would guess the answer is no. I hope to be proved wrong!

Update: I'm glad to be proven wrong! They're being posted at bus stops.

 

[BuhSnarf]

If you publish a timetable book you should put all your scheduled regular public services in it, especially as in this case it's the Transport for Cornwall timetable book published on behalf of the enhanced partnership.

As for the comment highlighted, believe it or not locals do like to go out by bus for leisure trips during the summer!

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 22 Jul 2026 ==


Update: I'm glad to be proven wrong! They're being posted at bus stops.

Haha, of course, yes locals do like to go travelling and yes you're right it does seem weird that they don't put them in the book.

 

[richard13]

There are several ideas which they would have considered in choosing not to include the summer dated timetables in the timetable book.

These may include:
The timetable book is expensive - try not to give it to tourist just for a few journeys.
Produce cheaper tourists leaflets instead as adverts, plus all routes are on the journey planner.
Younger tourists use online resources and not paper anyway.
Many people are poor an understanding timetable notes - putting in multiple copies of the same route just causes confusion as they don't spot the dates.
Just keep the book simple and hopefully valid until sometime in 2027.
Cornwall is not financially wealthy and what funds are available go on service provision and not paper advertising.
Hopefully bus stop timetables are updated for the summer where applicable.

I am more interested in the summer provision out of St Austell - 24B, 26A, 29. There don't seem to be leaflets for them.

 

[JKP]

There are several ideas which they would have considered in choosing not to include the summer dated timetables in the timetable book.

These may include:
The timetable book is expensive - try not to give it to tourist just for a few journeys.
Produce cheaper tourists leaflets instead as adverts, plus all routes are on the journey planner.
Younger tourists use online resources and not paper anyway.
Many people are poor an understanding timetable notes - putting in multiple copies of the same route just causes confusion as they don't spot the dates.
Just keep the book simple and hopefully valid until sometime in 2027.
Cornwall is not financially wealthy and what funds are available go on service provision and not paper advertising.
Hopefully bus stop timetables are updated for the summer where applicable.

I am more interested in the summer provision out of St Austell - 24B, 26A, 29. There don't seem to be leaflets for them.

In my past experience the other reason is that the timetables had not been finalised before proofing or printing schedule dates.

 

[Goldfish62]

There are several ideas which they would have considered in choosing not to include the summer dated timetables in the timetable book.

These may include:
The timetable book is expensive - try not to give it to tourist just for a few journeys.
Produce cheaper tourists leaflets instead as adverts, plus all routes are on the journey planner.
Younger tourists use online resources and not paper anyway.
Many people are poor an understanding timetable notes - putting in multiple copies of the same route just causes confusion as they don't spot the dates.
Just keep the book simple and hopefully valid until sometime in 2027.
Cornwall is not financially wealthy and what funds are available go on service provision and not paper advertising.
Hopefully bus stop timetables are updated for the summer where applicable.

I am more interested in the summer provision out of St Austell - 24B, 26A, 29. There don't seem to be leaflets for them.

They're all potentially valid points. However, as I pointed out there's enough filler adverts in the book to be able to include the timetables without the need for extra pages. Not that extra pages would cost that much more, and certainly probably less than the cost of individual leaflets for each route.

I don't buy the point about multiple timetables for the same route causing confusion at all. It's easily and clearly done by operators up and down the country and has been ever since I've been on this planet. If people can't understand timetable notes they're unlikely to be able to understand the timetables themselves.

If the book was to be published in September I'd understand the separate leaflets - it would be nuts to have a rerun of the current book just to include the summer services. But instead the September changes are brought forward to this coming weekend hence the new book.

I think it just all illustrates Go South West's rather ambivalent approach to marketing and publicity. But hey, at least we're not in the realms of "it's all online" as with some operators.

 

[Flange Squeal]

The timetable book is expensive - try not to give it to tourist just for a few journeys.

Meanwhile, Go-Ahead's Go South Coast division understands that encouraging tourists to use their bus networks in touristy areas might increase revenue (and a few less cars on the road to contend with). As a result, a tourist on the Isle of Wight can pick up a Southern Vectis timetable book to put in their bag and take back to their accommodation, see journey options and plan days out, and then deposit said book back in one of the large boxes at key places (like bus stations, ferry terminals etc) at the end of their bus travels for another tourist to then pick up and reuse.

 

[Lynford1976]

I think it just all illustrates Go South West's rather ambivalent approach to marketing and publicity. But hey, at least we're not in the realms of "it's all online" as with some operators.

Is it really Go South West's fault? Or Cornwall Council not agreeing any funding in time? Are these purely commercial initiatives?

 

[Goldfish62]

Is it really Go South West's fault? Or Cornwall Council not agreeing any funding in time? Are these purely commercial initiatives?

The summer routes are commercial, as are many routes in the book.

I've never been convinced by the format of the book, A4, which I think was the council's decision. I'd favour going back to three area slimline books, or a smaller A5 format all-Cornwall book. One was still being published as late as 2012, which as well as all operators included rail, express coach, ferry and air. Plus it had a decent index and detailed town maps.

 

[OptareOlympus]

It should be noted that this year, GSC have not included any of the Morebus Breezer routes, including the newly branded 81/82 in the main summer timetable booklet. They are only available in separate leaflets.

 

[Goldfish62]

It should be noted that this year, GSC have not included any of the Morebus Breezer routes, including the newly branded 81/82 in the main summer timetable booklet. They are only available in separate leaflets.

Interesting! So perhaps this is a GoAhead thing. Not including routes such as the 40 and 50, which are the year-round services connecting Swanage with the outside world seems singularly unhelpful.

 

[Andyh82]

Interesting! So perhaps this is a GoAhead thing. Not including routes such as the 40 and 50, which are the year-round services connecting Swanage with the outside world seems singularly unhelpful.

Not really the same because this extra leaflet for the Morebus breezers is available just as widely as the main timetable book is

It remains to be seen if these extra GCB leaflets are available widely, or indeed if the main timetable book even is. Has it not been like hens teeth in recent times.

I wouldn’t complain though, as it wouldn’t be a stretch for someone to just decide to do no printed timetable at all

 

[Goldfish62]

It remains to be seen if these extra GCB leaflets are available widely, or indeed if the main timetable book even is. Has it not been like hens teeth in recent times.

I wouldn’t complain though, as it wouldn’t be a stretch for someone to just decide to do no printed timetable at all

A friend of mine managed to pick up a timetable book at Penzance today. None of the leaflets were available though.

I would suggest that printed timetables are safe under the enhanced partnership. Both the council and GoAhead as a group-wide policy are keen on them. If they'd been in any danger it would have been under First.

 

[Snozzel]

Not really the same because this extra leaflet for the Morebus breezers is available just as widely as the main timetable book is

It remains to be seen if these extra GCB leaflets are available widely, or indeed if the main timetable book even is. Has it not been like hens teeth in recent times.

I wouldn’t complain though, as it wouldn’t be a stretch for someone to just decide to do no printed timetable at all

There were 4 whole pallets of timetables delivered to summercourt the other day, the supervisor was only expecting one!. Whether the brown outer boxes had leaflets or full timetables or both i could not say as they were clad in shrink wrap still.

 

[philthetube]

When I go on Holiday to an area the first thing I do is get hold of a timetable book, where available.

 

[Andyh82]

I see the 1/1A will now loop around the village of Paul in the same direction both ways, presumably buses kept meeting each other, since they changed the services to run a through bus through the village.

The Newquay Park & Ride using the same service number (93) as a regular hourly service to Truro seems unnecessarily complicated, especially as this route will be used mostly by visitors unfamiliar with the bus network. Try explaining that they need to catch the 93 but not *that* 93 as the Truro journeys don’t serve the P&R site on the way back, on top of the fact that Newquay Bus Station is a tad disorganised at the best of times.

Another random observation, wouldn’t the evening 93A be better numbered 91A? It seems to have much more in common with the 91

 

[Goldfish62]

I see the 1/1A will now loop around the village of Paul in the same direction both ways, presumably buses kept meeting each other, since they changed the services to run a through bus through the village.

Yes, they've been doing this ever since the full timetable was introduced following the reopening of Chywoone Hill.

The Newquay Park & Ride using the same service number (93) as a regular hourly service to Truro seems unnecessarily complicated, especially as this route will be used mostly by visitors unfamiliar with the bus network. Try explaining that they need to catch the 93 but not *that* 93 as the Truro journeys don’t serve the P&R site on the way back, on top of the fact that Newquay Bus Station is a tad disorganised at the best of times.

Would be clearer if it was numbered 93P or similar.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 27 Jul 2026 ==

One summer enhancement that has received no advance publicity at all is that the Sunday service on route 6 is increased to half-hourly.

The registration on Bustimes.org:

Variation history​

1. • Received24 Jun 26
   • Effective26 Jul 26
   • 
     
     Provision of extra Sunday/BH journeys to cater for unexpected demand

PH0000135/414 – bustimes.org

bustimes.org

I'm somewhat surprised that the increase in demand in the summer was unexpected as it was certainly an enhancement I was expecting to see and was disappointed when it didn't appear in the list of summer uplifts.

Needless to say, because it's a summer enhancement the timetable in the TfC book still shows an hourly Sunday service. There's a PDF of the summer service on the website.

 

[ArranArchie]

24B is a weird timetable. It makes sense on Sundays, but for the other days it seems to shadow the 24. eg both leave Fowey at 12:30, 13:30 etc instead of something like 24 at 12:30, 24B at 13:00, etc.

 

[hdennis13]

Recently visited the isle of wight including the needles and saw that southern vectis have a popular and well presented open top network. I'm surprised that go ahead dont do something similar in cornwall, especially for the lands end tourism.

 

[kernowbususer]

24B is a weird timetable. It makes sense on Sundays, but for the other days it seems to shadow the 24. eg both leave Fowey at 12:30, 13:30 etc instead of something like 24 at 12:30, 24B at 13:00, etc.

The vehicles run through to Mevagissey on the additional 29’s so are spaced at that end. The 24B is a different route between St Austell and Fowey.

 

[Andyh82]

I happened to be in Cornwall when the summer uplift started, destination blinds haven’t been programmed for the 19, so buses just had the number on a bit of paper in the window. Timetable books widely available, but I haven’t seen any of the summer leaflets.

The council have decided to redevelop the main stop in St Ives in the middle of high summer, so it’s been pushed even further up the hill than normal. I also see that there is a new one way system in the centre which is causing local outrage. The road through the centre is now one way except for buses, so you get a not very ideal situation where road users think it’s a one way street except for a few times an hour when a bus on the 7 or 19 comes the opposite way.

In Mousehole the permanent bus stop is further out of the village than the arrangements used to be when First ran a double decker on the M6. I observed two buses and they both did the reversal in opposite ways to each other.

Finally, far too many buses with Plymouth Citybus fleetnames, in the areas dominated by ex-First services it seems to be every other bus.

 

[YorkRailFan]

Finally, far too many buses with Plymouth Citybus fleetnames, in the areas dominated by ex-First services it seems to be every other bus.

I remember the outrage on here about First using buses that didn't have Kernow fleetnames...

If tracking is to be believed, it's not just the areas that First abandoned in February but also areas like Bude that have buses running around in Plymouth Citybus fleetnames. Quite a few of the TfC/GCB fleetnamed buses are now with Dartline with Dartline fleetnames instead.

 

[richard13]

Comparisons between Go Cornwall and Go South Coast need to bare in mind the very different clientele they serve. For a start GSC has about 5 times as many residence living in an urban sprawl with high traffic density and strained parking facilities. The GSC bus is a very viable and acceptable option for residents and visitors.

The Isle of Wight gets many passengers arriving on the passenger ferries without a car. I have visited the IOW as a passenger day tripper via the ferry many times and therefore catch the bus normally from Ryde.

Both areas have substantial numbers of holiday makers, but most of Cornwall's come by car, whereas GSC gets many by train. London suburbia isn't far away even if a somewhat long and expensive day trip, but it happens. Those coming by train use the bus.

Its a different world.

 

[Snozzel]

The vehicles run through to Mevagissey on the additional 29’s so are spaced at that end. The 24B is a different route between St Austell and Fowey.

A good chunk of it follows the exact same route minus the hospital. To have a mevagissey-fowey route for summer tourists that ignores charletown seems very short sighted. It is all timed for the convenience of fitting between time a and time b rather than what is best for fitting in with other services and places.

 

[Goldfish62]

I happened to be in Cornwall when the summer uplift started, destination blinds haven’t been programmed for the 19, so buses just had the number on a bit of paper in the window. Timetable books widely available, but I haven’t seen any of the summer leaflets.

I guess this means none of the other new route numbers, eg 4B, have been added either.

The council have decided to redevelop the main stop in St Ives in the middle of high summer, so it’s been pushed even further up the hill than normal.

This work has been going on since late last year and was supposed to be completed in a few weeks. But then we shouldn't be surprised given that it's Cormac, the council's in-house contractor which has a reputation for slowness and doing everything "dreckly".

In Mousehole the permanent bus stop is further out of the village than the arrangements used to be when First ran a double decker on the M6. I observed two buses and they both did the reversal in opposite ways to each other.

The new arrangements in Mousehole are not helped by the council recently shortening the bus stand bay in order to fit in another two car parking spaces. Now not even the shortest E200s can pull in straight. Nice one Cornwall Council! Also some drivers now set down only at the stop, then turn and pick up on the opposite side of the road where there's no pavement.

Finally, far too many buses with Plymouth Citybus fleetnames, in the areas dominated by ex-First services it seems to be every other bus.

I'd have thought this would have been sorted by now. It's over five months since the expansion. Obviously the operator can use whatever liveried buses they like on their commercial routes, but PCB buses are equally widespread on contracted services. Together with buses acquired new for TfC services moving to Devon-contracted Dartline services it makes me wonder how much oversight the council has. But then with GoAhead now having a virtual monopoly it can pretty much dictate terms to the council.

 

[YorkRailFan]

I was out on the 7/7A today, very busy all round and stunning as usual. On the way out in the morning, I had a former Stagecoach London E400 with TfC/GCB fleetnames. Despite the seat padding looking worn out and the odd TfL advert inside, a well presented bus, no complaints really. The driver was wearing a former FirstBus jacket which I found amusing.

On the return journey, I also had an E400, this time with PCB fleetnames but with a TfC/GCB sticker at the rear. There was a slip of paper in the window showing the service number (both 7 & 7A) and the destination blind unhelpfully displayed "Private Hire". The driver explained that the destination blind hadn't been updated and informed everyone boarding that it was the 7A towards St Ives. Despite being 20 years old, the E400 coped well on the route and the numerous steep inclines it encountered.

 

[Goldfish62]

I was out on the 7/7A today, very busy all round and stunning as usual. On the way out in the morning, I had a former Stagecoach London E400 with TfC/GCB fleetnames. Despite the seat padding looking worn out and the odd TfL advert inside, a well presented bus, no complaints really. The driver was wearing a former FirstBus jacket which I found amusing.

On the return journey, I also had an E400, this time with PCB fleetnames but with a TfC/GCB sticker at the rear. There was a slip of paper in the window showing the service number (both 7 & 7A) and the destination blind unhelpfully displayed "Private Hire". The driver explained that the destination blind hadn't been updated and informed everyone boarding that it was the 7A towards St Ives. Despite being 20 years old, the E400 coped well on the route and the numerous steep inclines it encountered.

What were the loadings like?