The Mid Cornwall Metro – which many at Cornwall Council believe is a “once-in-a-generation” opportunity to revolutionise rail travel in the Duchy – is now on the fast track to reality. However, some councillors have raised concerns about the financial risks involved.

The project, being mooted as transforming transport links in mid-Cornwall so that residents can better connect to employment, education and key services, was given the green light by the Council’s cabinet today (Wednesday, December 13).

Working with GWR and Network Rail, the new Mid Cornwall Metro (MCM) coast-to-coast rail service will create a sustainable transport corridor through central Cornwall by improving the current links between  four of Cornwall’s largest towns: Newquay, St Austell, Truro, and Falmouth/Penryn.

At today’s meeting, Cabinet members agreed to provisionally accept the Government offer of £50m Levelling Up Funding towards the delivery of the £56.8 million MCM initiative.

The council’s portfolio holder for Cornwall, Cllr Richard Williams-Pears, told the meeting: “Mid Cornwall Metro is truly a once-in-a-generation opportunity to invest in rail throughout the centre of Cornwall, sustainably connecting the Clay Country villages with some of the Duchy’s largest communities, including Newquay, St Austell, Truro and Falmouth.”

Of the money being ploughed into the project, £6.8m is made up of £2.7m of council funding and a further £4.1m from committed transport schemes.

Cllr Williams-Pears said the MCM would be a catalyst for future growth and investment in mid-Cornwall, connecting 180,000 residents, supporting the delivery of much-needed homes through to 2030 and beyond, connecting the Spaceport, Newquay Airport, Falmouth Docks, Falmouth University and St Austell College, and enabling the future employment ambitions of lithium and mineral extraction in the Clay Country to support Cornwall’s journey to being carbon neutral by 2030.

He did recognise the financial risks involved in such a huge capital project, stating: “In the case of Mid Cornwall Metro, the council is the accountable body and this means that the risk of delay or cost overruns are the responsibility of this council to resolve with the support of our delivery partners Network Rail.

“Risk has to be balanced with opportunity – the delivery of Mid Cornwall Metro will serve to benefit many future generations through the delivery of low carbon, high-quality public transport which will connect over one-third of Cornwall’s current population.”

The council’s portfolio holder for economy, Cllr Louis Gardner, said MCM “is a bit of a misnomer and actually it should be the Cornwall Metro because I believe the economic benefits are much wider than in the direct vicinity of the mid-Cornwall line.” He stressed it would particularly help those in the Clay Country where education and employment options have been limited.

Cllr Andy Virr said the metro would be particularly useful in his ward as currently disabled users have to be pushed over the tracks at Par Station if they want to travel east. Often disabled travellers have to get on at another stop and travel back “which is clearly unacceptable”, so he welcomed a lift-access bridge at Par.

Cllr John Conway asked: “If it goes over budget, what happens? Will Cornwall Council have to put its hand in its pocket? Cornwall Council hasn’t got the money to start subsidising any large overspend.”

The council’s deputy leader Cllr David Harris stressed the council would be having monthly meetings to ensure the project was on budget and to receive regular reports from Network Rail. The council had a ‘no-go’ clause to be able to pull the plug if the project starts going over budget.

Cllr Dominic Fairman asked about the council’s contribution from the public transport budget and wondered “are we sacrificing buses for trains?” Senior council officer Phil Mason said that ultimately the plan was to save money which could include scrapping expensive subsidised bus routes along the MCM line with those journeys being made on the metro instead.

Cllr Julian German asked for an assurance that there wouldn’t be a cost overrun.

“No, is the simple answer,” replied Cllr Harris. “There is something like £11m of contingencies built into the heavy rail. It’s the heavy rail element where we are at risk as there isn’t a fixed-price contract. There is risk in it, but I am confident that with the contingencies we’ve built in that we have enough controls around this.”

Mid Cornwall Metro will bring: an hourly direct train service connecting Newquay, Par, St Austell, Truro, Penryn and Falmouth a new platform at Newquay Railway Station a new passing loop on the Newquay branch line at Tregoss Moor doubling of the number of rail services between Newquay and Par – an extra 700,000 seats per year both ways improved accessibility and interchange at Par Station upgrades to the level crossing increased frequency of mainline services between Par, St Austell and Truro reduced journey times and ease road congestion for people living along the route public realm and accessibility improvements at rail stations and adjacent areas in Newquay, Roche, Bugle and Falmouth/Penryn ticket digitalisation – providing tap-on/tap-off ‘Pay-As-You-Go’ ticketing in Cornwall.