MOTOR ON!

ST AUSTELL | 1956 - 1984

Illustration of a train carriage with passengers dining, with their car being transported on the train behind them. Part of the 1976 Motorail marketing materials.

Motorail brochure

Did you know? Holidaymakers could once bring their car on the train.

A network of services was set up, starting in the mid 1950s, with Scotland and the far South West being key destinations. From 1966, it was known as Motorail.

St Austell was a key station on this network. A “Car Tourist” service was set up in 1956 between London and St Austell. In this case, the car went by special overnight train with the driver and passengers travelling separately either on the night sleeper or on a day train.

Western Region car tourist service leaflet

Leaflet cover - Motorists: Relax and arrive refreshed by rail

In 1958, this ran every weekday between 2nd April and 11th October. The return fare for the car and driver (including the sleeping car supplement) was £11 in Second Class (equivalent to £223 in 2025).

In 1966, the “Car Tourist” service was replaced by a new Summer daytime Motorail service between London and St Austell where passengers travelled on the same train as their car. Here it is in St Austell in 1972:

Cars aboard the train at St Austell station

The London station for this train was not Paddington but the new Motorail terminal at Kensington Olympia.

At St Austell, cars were loaded and unloaded in a siding in what is now the station car park.

In 1976, the return fare for a car and driver was £43.00 for Summer Saturday travel (equivalent to £289 in 2025).

For a number of years, St Austell also had Motorail services to and from Crewe and Worcester. Across Devon and Cornwall, several towns and cities were at one time served by car carrying trains – Penzance, Plymouth, Totnes, Newton Abbot, Exeter, Okehampton and Barnstaple.

As roads and cars improved, demand for Motorail reduced. The Kensington Olympia train ended in 1981 and passengers and cars travelled separately between London Paddington and St Austell for two more years. St Austell’s last Motorail train ran in 1984.

Motorail ended in Britain in 1995 but returned for six years between 1999 and 2005 when the London – Penzance service was restored with car carrying vehicles again attached to the London night sleeper.

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