Saltash Rail Users Group

22/10/2026

TRAVEL UPDATE FROM GWR

Dear Richard

You may have seen that the Met Office has issued an amber weather warning for Storm Austen, with strong winds and gusts that could exceed 80mph in coastal areas of the South West. We are asking customers travelling in Devon and Cornwall on Friday to check before they travel by visiting:

www.gwr.com/check

We will also be amending services to keep customers and colleagues safe. Strong winds increase the risk of trees and other debris falling onto the railway, so lower speed limits will be in place across routes in Devon and Cornwall from the start of service until 1300 on Friday.

This means fewer trains will run, with the following changes planned:

Long-distance services will run between London Paddington and Plymouth only, with local shuttle services operating between Plymouth and Penzance.

Tonight's (Thursday) Sleeper service from London Paddington will terminate at Plymouth.

Some early-morning services will be cancelled so that teams can assess any storm damage in full daylight.

Trains that do run are expected to be busier, and some journeys will take longer than usual. Other services in the region may also change as we respond to conditions and work to minimise the impact of the storm.

Full details of the amended timetable will be available at www.gwr.com/check later today and we are sorry for the impact this will have on travel plans.

We will continue to update customers as conditions change. Further travel information is also available through our live network updates page: Live network updates

Any support you can provide in sharing this advice with your networks would be much appreciated. Please do not hesitate to get in touch should you have any queries.

Best wishes,

Olivia & Heledd

Olivia Willett | Deputy Head of Public Affairs | Great Western Railway
E: [email protected]

Heledd Iolo | Senior Public Affairs Manager | Network Rail

E: [email protected]

19/10/2026

From the end of September, eligibility for the Disabled Person'a Railcard was expanded again to cover people who have a "long-term impairment, health condition or neurodivergence that has lasted or is expected to last at least 12 months and significantly affects their ability to use rail services".��The aim is to include those whose needs may not have been covered by the previous criteria. Rail Delivery Group, the firm in charge of railcards, told us it encourages anyone with a condition they believe significantly affects their ability to travel by train to consider applying.

Since March, blue badge holders and others also qualify

Eligibility was first expanded to cover a wider range of both visible and non-visible disabilities on 1 March 2026. Since then, there's been a 39% increase in Disabled Person's Railcard purchases compared to the same time last year, according to Rail Delivery Group. Here's who now qualifies under this expansion – those who:

- Have a blue badge.
- Have a disabled person's bus pass.
- Have a disabled person's Freedom Pass (London only).
- Can't drive on medical grounds.
- Receive Armed Forces Compensation Scheme benefits.
- Receive Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit for 20% degree of disablement or higher.
- Are without speech.

Previous eligibility criteria also still apply

19/09/2026

Live train times Now showing on the screen in the The Two Bridges. Why not have a pre-journey drink while you wait. 

16/09/2026

14/09/2026

SALTASH RAIL UPDATE

2 ADDITIONAL WEEKDAY SALTASH SERVICES

Following our request to strengthen the temporary rail timetable that has been introduced we are very pleased to report that GWR have added two additional Saltash calls on each weekday from today. Two Penzance to Paddington services will now call at Saltash, Monday to Friday at 16.00 and 17.58. These services will be extremely useful for anyone traveling back from Cornish stations during the afternoon period, ensuring minimal delays and in some cases, providing a better service than previously.

We hope that you can make use of them both for local and long distance travel, and as ever, we hope that wide scale use can help our justification for broader improvements at Saltash.

We are extremely grateful to GWR’s senior timetabling team for considering and agreeing to our requests for the additional Saltash calls. We understand that additional stops are never easy, even if trains are already running slowly through Saltash or have to stop anyway.

The additional calls are being rolled out to online planners, we can see they are in place for the next two weeks, the rest should follow shortly. We advise at this time you check your journeys with an online planner where you can.

10/09/2026

Hi all. I have received the following from GWR in regard to 1556 train from Plymouth, which is generally the busiest school train. 

 Hi Richard

Thanks again for this. I’ve spoken with our station team and rail replacement team this morning.

We are providing an additional bus an option for this week, noting the return to school and some of the fleet issues we’re contending with at the moment. It is there to make sure that no-one has to wait for a later train.

It was not intended to be a mandatory option for any passengers, and no-one should have been asked to leave the train and use the bus instead.

The bus will continue to run from Plymouth station today and tomorrow. Students travelling to Saltash, St Germans and Liskeard are welcome to use it, should they feel they train is too busy - but they are also very welcome to board the train. Station staff are aware of this and they should not have any more issues.

Next week we’re planning for the bus will be standby at Devonport rather than Plymouth station, again as a standby option, and it will be train only from Plymouth.

I trust this helps and thanks again for raising – I’ve also spoken to the Girls School who have been in touch too.

Best wishes

Tom

Thomas Lydon | Head of Public Affairs | Great Western Railway

04/09/2026

News FROM GWR

This is still subject to change with some Saltash requests still been considered.

 Dear Richard

Following our update last week, we’re writing to confirm that we will be making a limited number of timetable reductions from this Monday, 7th September, on our services in Devon & Cornwall.

As explained in our previous updates, this is necessary because our Class 175 trains are not providing the reliability we need to operate the full timetable. This means we can provide greater certainty for customers, protect the reliability and capacity of the rest of our timetable, and avoid short-notice cancellations as much as possible.

I’ve listed the specific changes below, and our train planning team are working to get these uploaded into journey planners today (Friday 4th Sept). Stations posters will be displayed, and customers who have booked onto the affected services should receive specific updates. We are also looking to provide contingency road replacement services if needed over the coming period.

We have a dedicated webpage now available at https://www.gwr.com/travel-information/travel-updates/temp-timetable-change and any help you can give to make sure customers are aware of the changes would be much appreciated.

If you have any questions, or if there is anything we can do to help, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Best wishes



Monday to Friday changes



The following services will not run:

07:43 Penzance to Exeter St Davids
11:27 Exeter St Davids to Penzance
13:39 Plymouth to Penzance
14:50 Penzance to Plymouth
15:52 Penzance to Plymouth


The following services will be revised as shown:

06:18 Par to Plymouth will start from Liskeard
08:15 Penzance to London Paddington will depart earlier at 08:12 and call additionally at Hayle, Lostwithiel and Ivybridge
10:03 London Paddington to Penzance will call additionally at Lostwithiel and Hayle
14:42 Plymouth to Penzance will call additionally at Menheniot
16:15 Penzance to London Paddington will depart earlier at 16:13 and call additionally at Hayle and Lostwithiel


Saturday changes on 12 September 2026 only



The following services will not run:

08:50 Penzance to Exeter St Davids
12:19 Exeter St Davids to Penzance
15:50 Penzance to Plymouth


The following services will be revised as shown:

08:00 Exeter St Davids to Penzance will start from Plymouth
09:11 London Paddington to Penzance will call additionally at Ivybridge
09:50 Penzance to Plymouth will call additionally at Menheniot
10:02 London Paddington to Penzance will call additionally at Lostwithiel and Hayle
1103 London Paddington to Penzance will call additionally at Ivybridge


Saturday changes from 19 September until 12 December 2026



The following services will not run:

12:42 Plymouth to Penzance
15:15 Penzance to Plymouth


The following services will be revised as shown:

10:02 London Paddington to Penzance will call additionally at Lostwithiel and Hayle
15:50 Penzance to Plymouth will call additionally at Menheniot

30/08/2026

🚆 Make this Bank Holiday a car-free adventure!

Leave the traffic and parking costs behind and explore some fantastic destinations across Devon and Cornwall by train from Saltash. From coastal Looe and St Ives to Plymouth, Truro and Exeter, there’s a day out waiting for you.

Save with GroupSave or a Railcard — and all trains are off-peak!

Where will the railway take you? 🌊☀️

25/08/2026

Don’t forget that the train is a great option to get you to and from Tunes in the Park. We now have late trains back on most nights calling St Germans and then Saltash. On Friday night is an extra super late train to get you home. Always check the online train times.


25/08/2026

 This update is now in place. 

Save 50% on train fares for just £35 with the 16–17 Saver Railcard. Enjoy cheaper UK train travel and start saving on your journeys today.