Plymouth Citybus has lodged applications with the Traffic Commissioners to operate “new” services and “varied” services in Cornwall to take effect from 15 February 2026.
These services will be the ones that will aim to replace those routes that First is giving up as it withdraws from its Cornwall operations on 14 February.
I do not have details of the timetables proposed but the notice published by the Traffic Commissioner suggest that the way that the First services will be replaced is as follows:
M6 Mousehole to Penzance: will become Go Cornwall Bus no. 6 running 7 days a week
T1 and T2 Penzance and St Ives to Truro: unclear exactly what is proposed - the notice says, "Operating between Penzance and Truro given service number 14 / 18 effective from 15 February 2026. To amend Route and Timetable.” There are currently no 14 or 18 services in Cornwall but I assume that these will be the replacements for the T1 and T2.
U1 Falmouth to Truro: nothing specific in the notice but GCB currently runs an hourly service (no. 32) on this route Monday to Saturday but nothing on Sundays. The U1 is a 7 days a week service, half-hourly on weekdays, hourly on Sundays.
U2 Falmouth to Redruth: the notice refers to a GCB 33 and 33A as a new service on this route.
U4 Falmouth to Penzance: the notice specifies a GCB no. 3 between Helston and Falmouth 7 days a week and a variation on their current 2 and 2A service between Helston and Penzance.
1 and 1A Penzance to Lands End: the notice refers to a GCB 1 and 1A between Penzance and Sennen as an amendment.
17 and 17A Pendeen and Penzance to St Ives: the notice specifies a GCB no 17 between Penzance and St Ives - no mention of Pendeen.
24 Fowey to St Austell: the notice says that 24, 24A and 24S services will amend the route and timetable.
27 Truro to St Austell: the notice says the no. 27 will have an amended timetable.
29 St Austell to Mevagissey: the notice says the no. 29 will have an amended timetable.
87 Truro to Newquay via St Agnes: the notice refers to a GCB 87 and 87A on this route.
As soon as I have further information on the proposed timetables, I will post another story here.
An extract from the Traffic Commissioner’s notice with the text relevant to the Citybus submissions can be downloaded here.
The notice is not yet live on the Traffic Commissioner’s website page where the most recent notice is for 25 December. I obtained it through an industry source. Presumably, the website will be updated shortly to show this notice dated 1 January 2026.