The frequency of trains on a branch line in Cornwall is planned to almost double from eight to 15 a day on 20 September, Railnews can reveal.

The date is set out in internal data which is also available on the internet, and the upgrade on the Newquay line is part of the developing Mid-Cornwall Metro project, which has a budget of £56.8 million and has been underway for the past couple of years.

When the MCM opens in full in 2026, hourly direct trains will run throughout the year between Newquay, St Austell, Truro and Falmouth for the first time.

The service will link four of Cornwall’s major towns, which between them possess the county’s main airport at Newquay, university campuses in Falmouth and Newquay and Cornwall’s largest shopping centre at Truro. Thousands of new homes are also boosting local populations, particularly in Newquay and Truro.

Cornwall Council, which sponsored the scheme and bid successfully for almost £50 million in ‘levelling-up’ funding, believes there is substantial ‘suppressed demand’ for rail along the corridor, particularly on the Newquay section, where the line has been hampered for many years by an infrequent service, the result of drastic British Rail economies in the 1980s.

Several of these cutbacks have been reversed as part of the MCM project, which includes a restored second platform at Newquay and an additional 400m passing loop on the branch. More than ten digital signals have been installed to control the extra loop and trains at Newquay station. A related project to upgrade signalling on the Cornish main line was completed last year, when several mechanical signal boxes were closed.

In addition, Network Rail has just completed a substantial upgrade of a viaduct on the Newquay branch which was built in 1873.

A speed restriction of 10mph (16km/h) over Ponts Mill viaduct in the Luxulyan valley has now been eased to 30mph (48km/h).

Temporary repairs were carried out in March 2024, and this was followed by a possession in March of this year, when the timber decks of the bridge were removed and replaced with new steel decks, while the girders were also strengthened. The rails, sleepers and ballast were also replaced, using two 60-tonne cranes.

Work now continues to paint the steel on the viaduct and repair the stone of the three columns and two abutments.

Network Rail programme manager Dan Parkes said: ‘This has been a major programme to not only protect the Newquay branch line but to preserve an historic structure.

‘We’re grateful to the local community for their patience while we completed the work.’

The branch also gained an additional bridge in the suburbs of Newquay on 10 May, which carries a new main road over the line. Two nearby level crossings have been closed to vehicles.