Cornish Main Line
| Cornish Main Line | |||
|---|---|---|---|
The Royal Albert Bridge crossing the River Tamar | |||
| Overview | |||
| Status | Operational | ||
| Owner | Network Rail | ||
| Locale | Cornwall, United Kingdom | ||
| Termini | |||
| Service | |||
| Type | Heavy rail | ||
| System | National Rail | ||
| Operator(s) | Great Western Railway CrossCountry (Freight: DB Schenker and Freightliner) | ||
| History | |||
| Opened | 1867 | ||
| Technical | |||
| Line length | 79.5 miles (128 km) | ||
| Number of tracks | Double with three single track sections | ||
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge | ||
| Old gauge | 7 ft 1⁄4 in (2,140 mm) Brunel gauge | ||
| Operating speed | 75 mph (121 km/h) maximum | ||
| |||
The Cornish Main Line is a railway line in Cornwall and Devon in the United Kingdom. It runs from Penzance to Plymouth, crossing from Cornwall into Devon over the Royal Albert Bridge at Saltash.
It directly serves Truro, St Austell, Bodmin (by a Parkway station) and Liskeard. It forms the backbone for rail services in Cornwall and there are branches off it which serve St Ives, Falmouth, Newquay and Looe. Directly connected to the South Devon Main Line at Plymouth, the Cornish Main Line also carries direct trains heading toward and in from London, Birmingham, Cardiff, Newcastle and Edinburgh.
It is the southernmost railway line in the United Kingdom and the westernmost in England.