Following the publication by Go Cornwall Bus of the proposed timetables for the services to replace the First services that will cease on 14 February, this is an analysis of the changes that will affect each of the services.
First 1/1A Penzance to Lands End to be replaced by GCB 1 and 1A.
Broadly, the new timetables are very similar to the old ones.
Monday to Saturday will remain as an hourly service between Penzance and Lands End with no. 1 serving Sennen every 2 hours, and no. 1A serving Porthcurno on the alternate 2 hours. First bus of the day from Penzance to Lands End will be at 07:35 (vs. 07:40 currently), first bus of the day from Sennen to Penzance at 06:40 (currently it is at 06:40 but only on Truro College days). First bus from Lands End will be at 08:50 (vs. 08:37 currently).
Last bus of the day from Penzance to Lands End will be at 18:25 (vs. 18:30 currently) but then there are two further services as far as Newlyn only leaving at 20:30 and 21:55. I am not sure what the purpose of these are because the new GCB6 to Mousehole also serve Newlyn and one leaves Penzance at 20:30 and then 21:30 and 22:30. Last bus of the day from Lands End will be at 19:50 (vs. 19:40 currently), last bus from Sennen will be at 18:04 (vs. 19:44 currently) .
On Sundays, the services will be at 2 hourly intervals (vs. one-and-half hours currently). Again the 1 and 1A will alternate between serving Sennen or Porthcurno.
Timetables can be downloaded here: current First 1/1A. Proposed GCB 1/1A.
First U4 Falmouth to Penzance via Helston. This currently runs as an hourly service seven days a week. In addition, Go Cornwall Bus has been running a no. 2 service between Penzance and Helston, running hourly all the way between the two towns Monday to Saturday, but not Sundays. In addition, Go Cornwall runs just between Penzance and Goldsithney every half-hour on weekdays. With First’s departure from this route, Go Cornwall Bus will continue with its no. 2 service every hour through from Penzance to Helston and half-hourly just between Penzance and Goldsithney. GCB will add evening services to replace the First’s U4 services. GCB2A will continue to run through to Mullion school once each way each school day.
On Sundays, the GCB service will run at two-hourly intervals vs. the current U4 hourly service.
With regard to the Helston to Falmouth section of the current U4 service, GCB will run a no. 3 service between these two towns at hourly intervals Monday to Saturday (similar to the current U4 service) and at two-hourly intervals on Sundays (versus the hourly U4 service).
The way that the timetables are printed, it looks like the GCB2 service will become the GCB3 service when it calls at Helston Sainsburys each time: for example, GCB2 from Penzance to Helston arrives at Sainsburys at 47 minutes past the hour on weekdays, and GCB3 Helston to Falmouth leaves Sainsburys at 52 minutes past the hour. Vice versa, this is the situation with GCB3 from Falmouth to Helston arriving at Sainsbury and then GCB2 leaving Sainsburys for Penzance a few minutes later. Go Cornwall Bus has not said that it will be the same vehicle with just a change of number at that location. Neither have they said what the implication will be for a passenger who opts to stay on the vehicle and whether or not they then have to pay another fare for the second leg of the journey. This may be the way that GCB can extract £6 from a passenger travelling from Penzance to Falmouth versus the current £3 maximum single fare cap.
Timetables can be downloaded here. Current First U4 and GCB2/2A; Proposed GCB2/3.
First M6 Mousehole to Penzance. Currently, First runs the M6 at 20 minutes intervals during the main part of the day Monday to Saturday and at 30 minutes intervals on Sundays. They also run during the evenings until about 22:45 at 45 minutes intervals. Go Cornwall Bus will be running a no. 6 service 7 days a week, but the frequency will reduce to 30 minutes intervals Monday to Saturday and hourly on Sundays.
Timetables can be downloaded here: current First M6. Proposed GCB6.
First 17/17A Pendeen/Madron to Penzance to St Ives. This currently runs as a half-hourly service between Penzance and St Ives Monday to Saturday with extensions to Pendeen/St Just (17) or Madron (17A) alternately at hourly intervals each. On Sundays, it is hourly over the route Pendeen/St Just, Madron, Penzance, St Ives (17). The proposed Go Cornwall Bus service no. 17 will run just between Penzance and St Ives at hourly intervals Monday to Saturday, and two-hourly on Sundays. The section of the route west of Penzance will, in future, be covered by Go Cornwall Bus 4 and 4A services. GCB4 will cover St Just/Pendeen/Madron to Penzance at hourly intervals Monday to Saturday, and GCB4A will cover St Just to Penzance via Newbridge (not Pendeen or Madron) also at hourly intervals. On Sundays, GCB4A will cover all of these locations (Pendeen, St Just, Madron, Newbridge) at two-hourly intervals.
Timetables can be downloaded from here: current First 17/17A. Proposed GCB17 and GCB4/4A.
First T1/T2. These have been the flagship First routes in Cornwall from Penzance to Truro via Camborne and Redruth (T1) and St Ives to Truro via Camborne and Redruth (T2). Running at half-hourly intervals Monday to Saturday and hourly on Sundays, they provide a 15-minutes interval service between Camborne and Truro on weekdays. They run late into the evenings. In 2025, Go Cornwall Bus introduced a no. 41 service between Camborne and Truro at roughly 20-minutes intervals to compete with the First services on this section of the routes (but not between Penzance and Camborne, or St Ives and Camborne). With First’s departure, Go Cornwall Bus proposes to run a no. 14 service between St Ives and Truro and a no. 18 service between Penzance and Truro. On the Camborne to Truro section of the route, the combined no. 14 and no. 18 service will provide a 15-minutes interval service, but on the Penzance to Camborne and the St Ives to Camborne section, the service will be hourly (versus the current half-hourly service). On Sundays, the services will be hourly from Penzance and St Ives combining to a half-hourly service between Camborne and Truro (as currently). Presumably, Go Cornwall Bus will withdraw its no. 41 service, it having served its purpose of helping to force out First from Cornwall.
Timetables can be downloaded from here: current First T1/T2. Proposed GCB14/18.
First 24 St Austell to Fowey. First runs a service at one-and-half hour intervals on this route 7 days a week. In addition, Go Cornwall Bus runs an hourly no. 25 service between St Austell and Fowey Monday to Saturday, not Sundays. The GCB service follows a less direct route than the First route including Tywardreath, Duporth, Carlyon Bay and St Austell hospital and takes 15 minutes longer. The proposed new GCB24 service will be be an hourly service – it will include St Austell hospital and Tywardreath but not Charlestown, Duporth or Carlyon Bay and will take 47 minutes. On Sundays, the GCB24A will run at two-hourly intervals and will include the longer route. The GCB25 service will be cut back to St Austell to St Blazey Monday to Saturday.
Timetables can be downloaded from here: current First 24/GCB25. Proposed GCB24 and GCB25.
First 27 Truro to St Austell. First currently runs the service between Truro and St Austell daytime Monday to Saturdays and Go Cornwall Bus runs the GCB27E in the evenings and on Sundays. The proposed GCB27 service is essentially a straight copy of the previous combined timetable.
Timetables can be downloaded from here. Current First27/GCB27E. Proposed GCB27.
First 29 St Austell to Mevagissey. Currently First runs an hourly service between St Austell and Mevagissey Monday to Saturday and a service at one-and-half hours intervals on Sundays. Go Cornwall Bus covers later evening services with no. 29E on weekdays. The proposed GCB29 service will be very similar on weekdays but will be at two-hourly intervals on Sundays but will extend to the Eden Project, probably replacing the GCB28 service to Eden on Sundays.
Timetables can be downloaded from here. Current First29/GCB29E. Proposed GCB29.
First U1 Truro to Falmouth. First currently runs a half-hourly service between Falmouth and Truro Monday to Saturday and an hourly service on Sundays. In addition, on Falmouth University term dates, it runs a shuttle between Falmouth and Penryn campus at Tremough at half-hour intervals so that, in combination with the service running through to Truro, the campus gets a 15-minutes interval service. On Sundays, the U1 provides an hourly service on this route. In 2025, Go Cornwall Bus introduced its no. 32 service on the Falmouth to Truro corridor to compete with the First service, Monday to Saturday only. With First withdrawing, Go Cornwall Bus will provide no. 32 and 32A services on this route. Between them, they will provide a half-hourly service between Falmouth and Truro with the no. 32 terminating at Truro bus station and the no. 32A continuing through to Threemilestone. On Sundays, the buses will be at two-hourly intervals and run just to Truro bus station.
Timetables can be downloaded from here. Current First U1 current GCB32. Proposed GCB32/32A.
First U2 Falmouth to Redruth. First currently runs an hourly service between Falmouth and Redruth 7 days a week. Go Cornwall Bus proposes to run no. 33 between Falmouth and Redruth at hourly intervals Monday to Saturday and at two-hourly intervals on Sundays. In addition, it will run no. 33A at hourly intervals from Falmouth to Tremough only (Monday to Saturday only) slotting them in between the 33 services.
Timetables can be downloaded from here. Current First U2. Proposed GCB33/33A
First 87 Newquay to Truro. First currently runs this service via Perranporth, St Agnes, Treliske at 40-minutes intervals Monday to Saturday and hourly on Sundays. Go Cornwall Bus runs its 85 between Newquay and Truro via Crantock, Cubert and Shortlanesend at hourly intervals Monday to Saturday only; in 2025, it introduced a new service no. 86 following more closely the First 87 service including Perranporth. Following the First withdrawal, Go Cornwall has rejigged its 85 and 86 timetables and also introduced its own no. 87. The GCB 85 will run hourly between Newquay and Truro much as it currently does; the GCB86 will now just run between Perranporth and Truro. The GCB87 will follow a similar route to the First 87 route except it will also include Crantock and Cubert and will take about 15 minutes longer. The service will be hourly on Monday to Saturday (versus the current 40 minutes intervals). On Sundays, it will be GCB87A and will be at two-hourly intervals and will go via Shortlanesend rather than Treliske.
Timetables can be downloaded from here. Current First 87; current GCB85/GCB86. Proposed GCB85/86 and proposed GCB87/87A.
In summary, the proposed Go Cornwall Bus timetables will essentially cover the routes that First is giving up. However, frequencies will be reduced in many cases. In particular, on the T1 section between Penzance and Camborne and the T2 section between St Ives and Camborne, the frequency on Monday to Saturday services will be reduced from half-hourly to hourly. On Sundays, many of the routes that currently have an hourly service will only have a 2-hourly service in future. Overall, there will be a reduction in the service levels.