Cornwall may be beautiful, but let’s be honest, it can be a bit of a hassle to get to. If you don’t drive, a trip to the county’s lush beaches may well involve having to catch a very expensive cab from one town to another. But soon that could change – as Cornwall has just won £50 million to develop a new railway that could make travel throughout the county a whole lot easier.
The Mid-Cornwall Metro project, which has received funding from the government’s £2 billion ‘levelling up’ pot, will connect four of the region’s largest urban areas: Newquay, Truro, Falmouth and Penryn. On top of that, the scheme aims to increase the number of daily services between Newquay and London. It comes after Ryanair also announced a new flight route from London to Cornwall for 2023.
The government said that the improved connections would increase access to jobs and education in some of the UK’s most deprived areas. Current plans suggest that the scheme will be completed by around 2025.
Steve Double, the Conservative MP for St Austell and Newquay, told Cornwall Live: ‘The Mid-Cornwall Metro project will allow residents of Newquay and the communities along the lines to not only have a direct route to Falmouth but also to the main line and beyond, and also provide economic benefit in allowing quicker, easier access for commuters and visitors coming into the area.’
The project is one of four bids by Cornwall Council to be granted funding from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. The Eden Project’s satellite site in Morecambe, Lancashire, has also been offered a portion of the funding.
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