JUST A THOUGHT

Public transport is an often overlooked resource for towns, that also has a range of other benefits, says Miller Commercial partner, Thomas Smith.

OPEN YOUR EYES TO PUBLIC TRANSPORT

As the train turns the corner and Mount’s Bay appears in front of me, the sun glinting off a flat calm sea with Penzance in the distance, I sense a surge of intrigue. A journey to Penzance should just be part of my day job, but for some reason this all felt very different.

A cycling accident damaged my left shoulder at the start of the summer holidays meaning I had to rethink how I approached many aspects of work in the weeks ahead. In a job that is largely dictated by road travel, my main challenge was going to be getting around Cornwall and continuing to work properly when driving was not an option. After a quick re-evaluation of everything I needed to do, and with the benefit of living and working in Truro, for the first time ever I started looking at public transport as a serious alternative.

I didn’t realise it at the time but by committing to using the train to get around meant I was about to experience the county in a whole new way and see a number of towns across Cornwall through very different eyes. Nowhere made an impact on me like Penzance.

As the train slowed on its approach to the terminus, my anticipation grew as a number of other holiday makers got ready to leave the train. I have had the pleasure of driving into Penzance on business many times before, usually sitting in slow moving traffic from the St Erth roundabout, but never by train. Unlike many other towns, Penzance is well served by public car parks, but today, I had no need of them. I hopped off the train amidst the throng of tourists and day trippers and as I walked into the town centre, I started seeing shops and businesses that I had not taken in before. over parking, no time limit on the ticket, not to mention the feeling of suppressed adventure.

I delighted in walking up Causewayhead (which thanks to an ill-conceived shopping centre scheme and a change in retailing habits over a number of years has seen its position as the prime shopping street shift to an almost forgotten side road) and I saw a vibrant, diverse and energetic street scene. I wasn’t seeing it in pounds per square foot for once; I was enjoying it as a holiday maker, a tourist, a sightseer, a new eyeswide visitor soaking up all that this part of Penzance offered. These are not necessarily new shops or businesses, but I was noticing them properly for the first time. But there is more to this than just the change in my appreciation of a town. Of greater significance was a more cost-effective journey (the price of my train ticket was much the same as car parking, let alone the saving on diesel), it was more time efficient and critically it was also a sustainable model for town centre property inspection. Why had I not done this before? A number of Cornwall’s bigger towns sit right on the main line or have well-serviced branch lines that lead straight to the centre of town. No faff I cannot count the number of car trips I have made to places like Penzance, St Austell or Liskeard specifically for town centre appointments. It is impossible to quantify the time spent sitting in, and contributing towards, traffic or searching for parking spaces and the hours lost to inactivity behind the wheel as well as the unnecessary cost of fuel and parking. The experience this summer has definitely made me rethink

For some whether these downsides are inevitable. reason this all felt I am aware that Cornwall has a very different relatively basic public transport provision, nevertheless, a concerted effort to use the train can yield a number of benefits. The importance of sustainable practices, especially in the shadow of a fuel and energy price crisis, will dominate all of our futures. However, a small shift in mindset for me will mean I can free myself up to work on the hoof, see some financial reward by ignoring the car but enlighteningly, to get to know other places like the many visitors to Cornwall do every year. With great optimism and enthusiasm – and just a dash of holidayinspired sense of adventure - I look to gain a fresh perspective and an insight into towns that otherwise might have passed me by.