It forms the backbone for rail services in Cornwall and there are branches off it which serve St Ives, Falmouth, Newquay and Looe.

Both the West Cornwall and the Cornwall railways had been built cheaply and had numerous timber trestle viaducts; these were cheap to build but very expensive to maintain, as the timber decayed, and the iconic viaducts were eventually all reconstructed in masonry or masonry and wrought iron, or in a few cases by-passed.

The most iconic structure on the route, however, is the Royal Albert Bridge spanning the River Tamar and opened in 1859; it remains in use to the present day.

The physical limitations of the steeply graded line imposed severe problems during the busiest times, not least for goods train operation.

A fifth branch starts at Plymouth in Devon but crosses the Tamar en route to serve Calstock and Gunnislake in Cornwall.

The route has a large number of viaducts, but the most significant structure is the Royal Albert Bridge[4] which crosses the River Tamar at Saltash.

[5] The 7.5-mile (12.1 km) section from Burngullow to Probus (between the current stations at St Austell and Truro) used to be double track, but was singled in 1985 due to subsidence from closed mines.

The total cost of the project was £14.3 million and was funded by Objective One, Strategic Rail Authority and Cornwall County Council.