Cornwall Railway - Extension To Falmouth But Loss of Control

Extension To Falmouth But Loss of Control

The directors wished to extend their line to Falmouth, the original objective of the line, but money was still very difficult to obtain, and once again the company had to resort to asking the Associated Companies for finance. This was forthcoming in return for a 1000 year lease of the line to the Associated Companies, an arrangement that was authorised by Act of Parliament in 1861. A Joint Committee of Management was set up, consisting of four Cornwall Railway directors, three from the South Devon company, three from the Bristol & Exeter and two from the Great Western.

A new start was made on constructing the Falmouth extension, and this was opened on 24th August 1863 (and for goods trains on 5th October). A new dock had been opened at Falmouth since the original plans for the railway, and despite the decline in the significance of Falmouth docks to the railway company, an extension to that location was made, and a connection to the Dock Company's own rail network was made in January 1864.

The West Cornwall Railway had been opened as a standard gauge line but there was a legal provision that enabled the Cornwall Railway to demand that they install broad gauge rails. Since this was obviously conducive to more efficient operation, the Cornwall company activated the requirement. The West Cornwall company was in the same severe financial difficulty as the Cornwall Railway, and had to surrender its line to the Associated Companies, who themselves installed the broad gauge rails. Broad gauge goods trains started running on 6th November 1866 and passenger trains from 1st March 1867. This significantly improved operations and with through passenger trains running from Penzance to London, the subordinate status of the Falmouth line was emphasised: it was now in effect a branch line.

The Associated Companies amalgamated as the Great Western Railway early in 1876, and that company was now the only lessee of the Cornwall line, and the Joint Committee of Management now consisted of eight Great Western directors and four Cornwall directors.