The St Ives Bay Line

The St Ives Bay Line runs 4¼ miles from St Erth, on the main line to Penzance, to St Ives, on a single track that follows the Hayle estuary and then the cliffs of St Ives Bay. Great Western Railway's two-car diesel trains take 10 to 13 minutes and run about every half hour, seven days a week.

It is older than it looks. The branch opened on 1 June 1877, built to the 7 ft broad gauge, and it was the last new broad-gauge passenger line built in Britain. A third rail was laid in 1888 so that standard-gauge goods wagons could reach Lelant, and the last broad-gauge train ran in May 1892. The Beeching report proposed closing it in 1963, but it was reprieved, and it still works the old way: one train on the branch at a time, signalled from the box at St Erth.

The reason to ride it is the view. From the salt marsh at Lelant the train climbs onto the dunes above Porth Kidney Sands and along the cliff edge past Carbis Bay, then curves round Porthminster Point and drops into St Ives above the beach.

Trains for St Ives leave from the bay platform at St Erth, where the branch leaves the Cornish main line. Some start back at Penzance, about ten minutes away. The line ducks under the A30 and runs north along the western shore of the Hayle estuary, past the mudflats and salt marsh at Lelant Saltings, where only a train or two a day stops.

At Lelant, a request stop served by about half the trains, the line passes the old village and the church of St Uny and climbs through a cutting onto the dunes. For the next mile the train runs high above Porth Kidney Sands, with the whole of St Ives Bay to the right and Godrevy at its far side, then reaches the cliffs at Hawkes Point, about 30 metres above the sea.

The headland of Carrack Gladden brings the train round to Carbis Bay, a village that took its name only after the railway arrived. Beyond the station the line crosses Carbis Viaduct, follows the cliff edge to Porthminster Point, and crosses the St Ives Viaduct before running down to the terminus. St Ives station sits just above Porthminster Beach, about eight minutes' walk from the town centre.

The trains

The line is worked by Class 150 diesel units, two-car trains known as Sprinters, sometimes coupled in pairs. All of them have ramps for wheelchairs. For the sea views, sit on the right-hand side when you board at St Erth.

Trains run every day of the year except 25 and 26 December: 28 each way on weekdays, 26 on Saturdays and 19 on Sundays. Through the middle of the day they leave about every half hour, and the journey takes 10 to 13 minutes.

Good to know:

• Lelant is a request stop served by about half the trains: tell the conductor if you want to get off, and signal to the driver to board.
• Lelant Saltings has only one or two trains a day. The park and ride is now at St Erth.
• Some trains run through from or to Penzance, so you can often stay on from the main line.

Times as of November 2026, from GWR's timetable K5, valid 13 December 2026 to 15 May 2027. Engineering work can change weekend trains: check your date on gwr.com (opens in a new tab).

The line is part of the National Rail network, so tickets are ordinary GWR fares, in Standard class only. Sampling the National Rail journey planner for one adult from St Erth to St Ives on Tuesday 17 November 2026, the lowest single was £3.10 and the lowest return, valid all day, £4.20. Children aged 5 to 15 pay half, and under-5s travel free. St Erth has a ticket office and a machine, St Ives a machine; at Carbis Bay you buy from the conductor.

For a day of getting on and off, the line's own Family Ranger costs £10 for two adults and up to three children, and the Group Ranger £8 for four adults. Fares checked November 2026 on the National Rail journey planner (opens in a new tab) and Great Scenic Railways (opens in a new tab); pounds sterling.

Interrail passes are valid. Interrail's table of railway companies for Great Britain lists Great Western Railway as included, so the line is covered by a one-country Interrail Great Britain Pass or a Global Pass. GWR takes seat reservations only on its Intercity Express trains, so on this line you simply board.

Visitors who do not live in the UK can also buy a BritRail pass, valid on National Rail services; the regional South West & South Wales Pass covers most of GWR's main and branch lines in the region.

For this journey alone, a pass is not worth buying. A return from St Erth to St Ives sampled at £4.20. A pass pays only when St Ives is one stop on a longer trip around Britain.

Checked November 2026 against interrail.com (opens in a new tab) and britrail.com (opens in a new tab).

St Ives is the stop to spend the day in: the station is above Porthminster Beach, and the harbour, the galleries and the Island are a short, steep walk away. Lelant, at the other end of the coast path, is the place to get off for the walk back.

St Ives has hotels and guest houses all over its hillsides, and Carbis Bay, one stop back, has more above its beach. If you come by car for the day, the park and ride is at St Erth, where the branch begins.

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