Devon & Cornwall

New network of services in Greater Cornwall from Sunday 3rd May 2009

From 3 May, all First bus drivers in Cornwall will be proudly flying the flag for Cornwall as the St Piran flag becomes part of their uniform. The move comes as First Devon and Cornwall completes the integration of Truronian into the rest of its network. First is also simultaneously increasing the frequency of buses on the important Truro to Falmouth corridor. From May, buses between the two Cornish towns will run every 15 minutes.

Marc Reddy, Managing Director of First Devon and Cornwall, explains, "In a move designed to fully integrate Truronian with the rest of the business, and improve the network for our customers, we are making a number of changes to the Cornish bus network from May.

"As well as introducing bigger buses on the well used Truro to Falmouth corridor, were also unifying all the vehicles in our fleet, replacing the old Truronian livery with consistent First branding throughout. As a result of the changes, the numbers of all the old Truronian services will change as the prefix ‘T is removed, and in some cases the routes of services will be altered slightly as some old Truronian and First routes are merged together.

"We believe these changes will benefit most people in Cornwall, so we are celebrating their introduction as well as our own Cornish heritage. With this in mind, we have had some pin badges made featuring the St Piran flag and the First logo; our staff will wear them as they serve local people.

"Were producing a raft of new literature which outlines the changes that were making. These leaflets offer customers details on the new numbers, and where appropriate, the new routes. This information will be freely available to download from the First Devon and Cornwall website from Monday 6 April, or to pick up from First Travel shops from mid April.'

Significant changes (from 3 May)

Services T1 (St Agnes to Truro to Helston) and T2 (Truro to Helston) will be replaced by new routes, specifically, Service 82 (Truro to Tremough to Helston), Service 82A (Truro to Stithians to Helston), Service 85 (Truro to Goonbell to St Agnes via the Royal Cornwall Hospital), Service 85A (Truro to Presingoll Barns to St Agnes via the Royal Cornwall Hospital).

Service T7 (Truro to Perranwell to Redruth to Illogan to Portreath to Camborne) will replaced by two routes; Service 47 (Truro to Devoran Village to Perranwell to Redruth) and Service 43 /44 (Redruth to Portreath to Illogan to Camborne). It means customers wishing to make longer journeys, from Perranwell to Camborne for instance, will need to change buses in Truro, but the punctuality and reliability of services overall will be improved.

Services T19, T20 and T21 will be replaced by Service 39 (Camborne to Leedstown to Helston), Service 45 (Praze an Beeble to Camborne to Pool Tesco Extra to Redruth) and a re-routed Service 40 which will operate every 30 minutes between Camborne to Illogan to Redruth to St Day to Truro to Trelander.

The route of Service T34 is being split and will be covered by two services, Service 33 (Lizard to Mullion to Helston) and Service 34 (Helston to Reduth)

The route of Service 88 is being changed slightly. The service will no longer call in Perranwell or Ponsanooth during the daytime , but customers in these areas will be able to use Services 41, 47 and 82/82A instead. Overall the frequency of Service 88 (Royal Cornwall Hospital to Truro to Tremough to Penryn to Falmouth) will be increased to every 15 minutes, meaning options for those wanting to travel to and from Truro and the Combined Universities of Cornwalls Woodlane Campus are increased.

The route of Service 68/68A is being changed slightly to serve Grenville Road in Falmouth (providing an effective replacement for the re-routed Service 88), and Killigrew Street rather than Marlborough Road in Falmouth.

Service 89 / 90 will now only run between Newquay and Truro, although connections and through tickets for onward services to Falmouth will be available.

From 3 May, Service T3 (the Lizard Rambler) - a tendered service currently operated by First on behalf of Cornwall Council - will no longer be operated by First, instead the parishes of Mawgan, Manaccan, St Anthony, St Keverne or St Martin will be served by East Lizard Dial"A-Ride service to Helston (Mondays to Fridays). More information and booking advice is available from West Cornwall Community Wheels, Tel 01736 757364.(The service operates Mondays to Fridays using an easy-access community minibus. There are two services to Helston each day, getting into Helston for either 10.15am or 12.30pm and returning at 11.15am or 1.30pm.)

The changes detailed above are a mixture of commercial services and those run under contract to Cornwall Council. In the case of the latter, all changes were made in full consultation with Cornwall Council.

Timetables for these revised services can be viewed by clicking on 'Forthcoming Timetables' within the Timetables menu to the left of this site. You can also view a table of what your new bus number will be by clicking on ‘Service Changes in menu to the right of this website.

Three booklets, each detailing the changes in a particular area, have been produced for customers; the pink guide covers Falmouth and Truro and surrounding areas, the blue guide is for the areas around Camborne and Redruth, and the green guide is for Helston, Lizard and Mullion.

The booklets, which are free, will be available from the First Travel Shops in Camborne, Truro and Penzance from mid April.

To download a copy of the Falmouth, Penryn, Malpas & Truro 'pink guide' please click here.

To download a copy of the Helston, Lizard & Mullion 'green guide' please click here.

To download a copy of the Camborne & Redruth 'blue guide' please click here.

Alternatively customers wanting more information and advice will be able to get this from a special First information bus that will be in Truro Lemon Quay between 27 April and 2 May.