Transport in Cornwall
However, with the decline in mining and industry over the last century and more, transport provision in Cornwall has increasingly focused on the needs of tourism and holiday-makers.
An example of this is the improvement of the A30 trunk road; the substantial dual carriageway sections have greatly relieved summer traffic congestion but are very under-used in winter.
In the case of the railway system, although Cornwall has lost some of its rail network since nationalisation in 1948, it has fared better than many other rural areas of England.
The inland transport network consists of longitudinal spines (the A30, A38 and A39 trunk roads (though the A39 is no longer designated as such) and the former Great Western Railway main line through Cornwall) from which secondary roads and railway branch lines radiate to ports and resorts on the coast.
As well as Newlyn, several other ports (notably Padstow) and also Newquay cater for commercial fishing on a smaller scale.
Many more small harbours cater to sport angling, again reflecting the county's reliance on tourism and leisure.
However, trunk road access to and from the rest of the UK is at the heart of Cornwall's transport infrastructure and it is now possible to drive on uninterrupted dual carriageway from Glasgow to Bodmin Moor.
The principal road routes into Cornwall for both freight and passenger vehicles are the A30 from Exeter and the A38 from Plymouth and south Devon.
From Mount's Bay it crossed the Carnmenellis and Hensbarrow moorlands and probably passed to the northwest of Bodmin Moor to connect with a route into the rest of Britain near Kilkhampton.
In medieval times a road known as the Royal Cornish Way began with a crossing of the River Tamar by Polston Bridge near Launceston.
[5] Despite the very substantial increase in resident and visiting traffic, road improvements have reduced congestion on the major routes.
[9] At its height, the railway system in Cornwall resembled the road network – central spines with branches to the coast.
The Great Western Railway's main line from Plymouth to Penzance loosely followed the route of the A38 from Plymouth to the south of Bodmin then that of the A30 to Truro, Redruth and Penzance from 1859; the London & South Western Railway (LSWR)'s system in north Cornwall resembled that of the A39 beyond Camelford from 1895 (see maps).
[11] The Helston branch (which left the main line at Gwinear Road) closed to passengers on 3 October 1962 and to goods traffic two years later.
This network provides long distance rail services from stations on the main line directly to London and to many other parts of England and Wales.
As well as long distance and holiday services, commuter and 'shopper' trains from Cornwall serve Plymouth, Devon.
[13] The Cornish Main Line runs for 75¼ miles through the centre of Cornwall from Penzance to Saltash, where it continues on the Royal Albert Bridge across the River Tamar to Plymouth in Devon.
Today, the principal remaining traffic in Cornwall is china clay from the St Austell area and Goonbarrow on the Newquay line; this traffic is centred on St Blazey depot (which is on the Newquay branch, close to Par) and the freight-only line from Lostwithiel to Fowey docks where the china clay is loaded on to ships.
Newquay Airport offers or will soon offer flights up-country to Bristol, Leeds, London (Gatwick/Stansted), Manchester, Newcastle, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Plymouth, Southampton, Cardiff and the Isle of Man, and to destinations abroad including Chambéry, Dublin, Geneva, Reus, St. Brieuc, Düsseldorf, Girona, Alicante, and a summer service to Zürich.
[21] ISSC's subsidiary Land's End Airport Limited operates the airport, and another subsidiary, Isles of Scilly Skybus, operates a regular passenger service to St Mary's in the Isles of Scilly as well as scenic flights around west Penwith.
Fal River Links is a consolidation of ferry and boat services connecting Truro and Falmouth, and stopping at a few coastal villages in between.
