Helping deliver the Looe Valley Line’s best year yet
Our marketing of the line's improved timetable helped deliver record journey figures
The Looe Valley Line’s May 2025 improved timetable is a story of community rail and the tourism sector working together. The timetable improvements were inspired by the tourism sector, promoted alongside the tourism sector, and have benefited the railway, tourism industry and wider local economy.
The project began when a hotelier in the Cornish fishing port of Looe reported to the Devon & Cornwall Rail Partnership (DCRP) that her guests would benefit from quicker connections with the main line at Liskeard and improved stopping patterns at intermediate stations. DCRP liaised with GWR who wrote a new timetable and made it a reality. It means journeys to Looe from Plymouth, the nearest city, are now up to 20 minutes quicker than before.
But this was just the start. DCRP worked across a range of media and with a wide variety of tourism partners to promote the timetable and Looe’s leisure offer. The campaign had four main themes: quicker journeys, coastal walks, evenings out and local heritage.
What happened
Quicker journeys
DCRP launched the timetable with a video on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok explaining the quicker connections, filmed on location to show off Looe’s charm. On Instagram, the video was run as a “collaboration post” with Visit Looe and Welcome to Looe & Polperro, meaning the video went out not just to DCRP’s own followers but also to those of both destination management organisations.
This was accompanied by a press release which achieved local media coverage, adverts in the Plymouth and local press, and 80,000 leaflets distributed across the region via tourism leaflet racks, funded by CrossCountry Trains and the Community Rail Development Fund.
Coastal walks
To promote Looe as a rail destination for walkers, DCRP worked with GWR and the South West Coast Path (SWCP) team to create four routes from Looe station, promoted via dedicated webpages, a station poster and a ‘how to’ video of the coastal walk to neighbouring Polperro. This time the Instagram collaboration was even wider, involving GWR, SWCP, Visit Cornwall, Visit Looe and Welcome to Looe & Polperro.
Train trips to Looe were organised with the University of Plymouth to enable their students to benefit from coastal wellbeing walks. Three free guided walks were also held for the public.
Evenings Out
DCRP worked with local businesses to promote another benefit of the timetable – later trains home from Looe. They produced an “Evening Out in Looe” video, showcasing the scenic journey, Looe’s historic pubs and top local restaurants.
Local heritage
To highlight Looe’s heritage offer, DCRP worked with East Looe Town Trust to create a walking route, webpage and video promoting historic landmarks through the town, in particular the newly refurbished Old Lifeboat Station. As part of Railway 200, a day of walks and talks about the line’s rich history was held.
Results
Across social media, local press, leaflets and web, the campaign reached an estimated 1.2 million people.
48 social media posts attracted a total of more than 17,000 likes. Comments included: “Sounds amazing, I must try this journey” and “Wow – I want to come from London”.
This translated into bums on seats. Late June to mid September registered the line’s busiest summer on record with more than 48,000 journeys made. 2025 went on to become the line’s best ever year.
The visitor economy has benefited in turn – with Visit Looe commenting: “By highlighting local attractions and involving businesses, DCRP’s outstanding work has raised Looe’s profile and helped strengthen the local economy.”
