By Train to St Ives: A Trip on the Branch Line From St Erth

September 17, 2024November 18, 2024 Koen 0 Comments

This review shows what the train journey on the short yet scenic branch line from St Erth to St Ives is like.

By train to St Ives

St Ives, perhaps the best known of Cornwall’s seaside resort towns, can be easily reached by train.

To reach St Ives, you will first have to take a train along the Cornish Main Line to the junction station of St Erth, where you then connect onto a train along the short yet scenic branch line to St Ives.

There are direct trains operated by Great Western Railway (GWR) to St Erth from cities in Cornwall such as Truro or Penzance, but also all the way from London, making it very straightforward to reach St Ives with just one easy transfer.

St Erth is also served by direct CrossCountry trains on the long route between Scotland and Cornwall, with intermediate stops in English cities such as Newcastle, York, Leeds, Sheffield, Birmingham, and Bristol.

cornish main line st erth st ives map — *The railway lines of western Cornwall. The St Ives branch line splits off from the Cornish Main Line at St Erth. ©OpenStreetMap/Paliparan*

My trip to St Ives

After taking the Night Riviera sleeper train from London to Penzance, I found myself in the western tip of Cornwall.

I had based myself in Penzance, as it seemed the best location from which to explore this part of Cornwall by public transport.

Sadly, I had only two days to explore the region, one of which I had already spent exploring Penzance itself.

On my second day in Cornwall, I planned to take the train from Penzance to St Ives early in the morning, only to return to Penzance by mid-afternoon to visit the nearby town of Marazion and St Michael’s Mount.

night riviera sleeper train gwr london paddington station — *GWR’s ‘Night Riviera’ sleeper train is ready for boarding at platform 1 of London Paddington. ©Paliparan*

sleeper compartment night riviera london penzance cornwall — *My sleeper compartment on the Night Riviera for the ride from London to Penzance. ©Paliparan*

penzance cornwall — *View over Penzance. ©Paliparan*

Penzance station

My journey to St Ives began at the terminus station of Penzance, the western end of the Cornish Main Line.

Penzance station is rather small, but it does feature a cool-looking train shed and a proper ticket office.

As I had a continuous Interrail pass, I didn’t need to buy a ticket and could simply hop onto any train I wanted.

To travel from Penzance to St Ives, I first needed to go to the junction station of St Erth, which was one stop away on the morning train from Penzance to London Paddington operated by Great Western Railway.

penzance railway station — *Penzance railway station. ©Paliparan*

penzance station ticket office — *Ticket office at Penzance station. ©Paliparan*

crosscountry penzance — *A CrossCountry train at the station in Penzance. ©Paliparan*

penzance railway station train shed — *Train shed of Penzance railway station with a Great Western Railway Class 802 train. ©Paliparan*

penzance london intercity train gwr — *To reach St Erth, I would take the Penzance-London train for just one stop. ©Paliparan*

From Penzance to St Erth by train

The morning train from Penzance to London, which I would take only as far as St Erth, was a Great Western Railway Class 802.

This GWR train features two-abreast seating in second class, while first class offers a more spacious 1+2 seating configuration, with seat reservations being optional in both classes.

Having a first class Interrail pass, I took a seat in one of the first class coaches of the train.

The passenger load was quite light, especially in first class, which was almost completely empty.

The empty coaches were not surprising, as Penzance is just the starting point of the train and the digital reservation displays above the seats indicated that many more passengers would board at intermediate stations such as Truro, Plymouth, Totnes, and Exeter.

This fast GWR train takes just 8 minutes to cover the 9-kilometre (5.6-mile) stretch between Penzance and St Erth.

Aside from the first two minutes, when you can enjoy good views of the sea and St Michael’s Mount on your right-hand side, the ride was rather uneventful.

When I disembarked in St Erth, I quickly ran up the stairs of the pedestrian overpass to take a few pictures of the GWR Class 802 train as it departed again from the station for its long journey to London.

gwr penzance london train — *Boarding the Penzance to London train operated by Great Western Railway (GWR). ©Paliparan*

second class seats gwr — *Second class seats on the Great Western Railway (GWR) Class 802 train. ©Paliparan*

firt class seats gwr 802 — *First class seats on the Great Western Railway (GWR) Class 802 train. ©Paliparan*

first class seats gwr — *Solo seats in first class on the GWR train linking Penzance with London. ©Paliparan*

seats gwr train — *Bay of four seats in first class. ©Paliparan*

seat reservation gwr digital display — *Digital displays indicating whether seats are reserved or not. ©Paliparan*

departure penzance — *Departing Penzance. ©Paliparan*

view train st erth — *View from my seat as we ride towards St Erth. ©Paliparan*

st erth train — *Riding through Cornwall on our way to St Erth. ©Paliparan*

st erth station gwr train — *My GWR train from Penzance has arrived at the station of St Erth. ©Paliparan*

*After my arrival in St Erth, I quickly climbed up the stairs of the pedestrian overpass to take some pictures of my train. ©Paliparan*

gwr train class 802 st erth — *The GWR train departs from St Erth and continues its way towards Truro and London. ©Paliparan*

St Erth station

Just like so many other rural British stations, the railway station of St Erth is highly picturesque and extremely well-kept.

From the charming white-and-blue wooden pedestrian overpass to the stone station building and the lush greenery along the tracks, St Erth station really has a delightful old-fashioned railway vibe.

Inside the station building, you’ll find a ticket office and the Branch Line Tea Room, where you can enjoy some refreshments.

Platform 1 at St Erth is where you can catch trains towards Penzance and where you will arrive if coming from the direction of London or Truro.

Platform 2, on the other hand, is where I arrived from Penzance, and where you can catch trains heading east towards Truro.

Adjacent to Platform 2 at St Erth is Platform 3, a terminus platform from where the train on the branch line to St Ives will depart.

There were 20 minutes between my train’s arrival in St Erth and the departure of the train to St Ives, giving me plenty of time to grab a cup of tea and make the transfer.

Indeed, the train to St Ives was already waiting at Platform 3, with some Great Western Railway employees casually chatting in front of it.

st erth railway station pedestrian overpass train — *The pedestrian overpass at the railway station of St Erth. ©Paliparan*

railway tracks pedestrian overpass — *View from the pedestrian overpass over the railway track and platforms 1 and 2. ©Paliparan*

st erth station platform view — *View from platform 1 towards platform 2 and 3. ©Paliparan*

st erth railway station building — *The stone station building of St Erth. ©Paliparan*

ticket window centre st erth — *Ticket window inside the station of St Erth. ©Paliparan*

tea room st erth railway station — *St Erth station also has a tea room. ©Paliparan*

st erth station train st ives — *The GWR train to St Ives stands ready for departure at platform 3 of St Erth’s station. ©Paliparan*

The St Ives branch line

The branch line from St Erth to St Ives, also known as the St Ives Bay Line, is relatively short, covering just 6.8 kilometres (4.23 miles).

Although the trip on this branch line is short — typically taking just 10 minutes to travel between St Erth and St Ive — it is undoubtedly a scenic railway journey.

The rail service on the St Ives branch line is operated by GWR Class 150 trains.

These DMU (Diesel Multiple Unit) trains have 2nd class unreserved seating only in a two-abreast configuration.

Almost immediately after departing from St Erth, the train branches off from the Cornish Main Line and makes a sharp left-hand turn.

It then follows the shore of the Hayle Estuary, which you can see on your right-hand side.

When travelling from St Erth to St Ives by train, the best views will be on the right-hand side in the direction of travel, so be sure to sit on this side to enjoy the sweeping views of the Cornish coastline and the sea.

Just after the Hayle Estuary, the railway line runs alongside a wide beach known as Porthkidney Sands and gently climbs up the cliff.

After a while, the train arrives in the village of Carbis Bay and stops at the local station, its only stop between St Erth and St Ives.

Carbis Bay certainly seemed to have a picturesque location, nestled between craggy green hills and cliffs overlooking a small bay, and if I had more time, I would have considered getting off the train here spontaneously.

From Carbis Bay, the final station of St Ives is just a short ride away, and if seated on the right-hand side, you can already see the harbour of St Ives in the distance.

gwr class 150 train st erth st ives — *The train to St Ives is ready to depart from St Erth. ©Paliparan*

gwr class 150 train seating interior — *Seating is two abreast, 2nd class only, on this GWR Class 150 train. ©Paliparan*

class 150 train gwr seats — *Bay of four seats on this GWR train. ©Paliparan*

Hayle Estuary view st ives train — *View over the Hayle Estuary. ©Paliparan*

hayle beach — *Hayle Beach at the other side of the estuary. ©Paliparan*

sea view train — *If you sit on the right-hand side of the train in the direction of travel when going to St Ives, you can enjoy sweeping views over the estuary and sea during the ride. ©Paliparan*

porthkidney sands — *View over Porthkidney Sands from the train. ©Paliparan*

portkidney sands beach — *The beach at Porthkidney Sands at high tide. ©Paliparan*

carbis bay train view — *Carbis Bay as seen from the train. ©Paliparan*

carbis bay view — *View between Carbis Bay and St Ives. ©Paliparan*

st ives train view — *St Ives comes into view. ©Paliparan*

st ives train gwr class 150 — *After a short train ride on the branch line from St Erth, I arrived at the station of St Ives. ©Paliparan*

St Ives station

St Ives railway station is basic, with just a single platform and a couple of benches to sit on.

There is also a small ticket office, although it is open only during the summer season, so outside summer you have to buy your tickets online or from the ticket machine.

Directly below St Ives railway station, you’ll find a large car park, and further down the hill lies Porthminster Beach.

From the railway station, the town centre of St Ives and its harbour are just a 10-minute walk away.

st ives station gwr class 150 train — *The GWR Class 150 train at St Ives. ©Paliparan*

st ives railway station porthminster beach — *Porthminster Beach is just a stone’s throw away from the railway station of St Ives. ©Paliparan*

st ives cornwall beach england trains — *St Ives, Cornwall. ©Paliparan*

The ride back from St Ives to St Erth and Penzance

After spending a lovely few hours in St Ives, which I’ll cover in more detail in the next instalment of this trip report, I returned to the railway station to catch the train back to St Erth.

By this time, the weather had cleared significantly, and blue skies finally started to appear.

The sunny weather provided even better views on the return ride to St Erth, with Carbis Bay looking even more inviting.

Porthkidney Sands also looked highly appealing in the sunshine, as the sea finally receded at low tide, revealing the full width of the beach.

Eleven minutes after departure from St Ives, the train arrived at St Erth, where I connected to a GWR Class 158 for the equally short ride back to Penzance.

st ives train — *After a lovely half day in St Ives, I took the train back to St Erth. ©Paliparan*

carbis bay train view st ives branch line — *Carbis Bay as seen from the St Ives to St Erth train. ©Paliparan*

carbis bay beach st ives branch line train view — *View from the train over Carbis Bay Beach. ©Paliparan*

porthidney sands beach — *The wide beach of Porthkidney Sands at low tide. ©Paliparan*

Porthkidney Sands train view st ives branch line — *Porthkidney Sands. ©Paliparan*

st erth station gwr class 150 train — *The GWR Class 150 train has arrived back at St Erth. ©Paliparan*

Class 158 GWR st erth station — *GWR Class 158 train arrives at St Erth to take me back to Penzance. ©Paliparan*

Conclusion

The Cornish seaside town of St Ives is located at the far end of a short yet highly scenic branch line from St Erth.

With just one easy transfer at St Erth, you can reach St Ives by train from other cities and towns in Cornwall, such as Penzance and Truro, or even all the way from London.

Although the branch line from St Erth to St Ives is short, with GWR Class 150 trains covering the distance in just 10 minutes, it is one of the more scenic seaside lines in England, offering sweeping views of the Hayle Estuary and the beaches of Porthkidney Sands and Carbis Bay.