Atlantic Coast Express
 |
|
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Service type | Passenger train |
| First service | 19 July 1926 |
| Current operator(s) | Great Western Railway |
| Former operator(s) |
British Railways Southern Railway |
| Route | |
| Start | London Paddington |
| End | Newquay |
| Average journey time | 5 hours 20 minutes |
| Service frequency | Monday-Saturday summer only |
| Train number(s) | 1C76 (westbound) 1A92 (eastbound) |
| Line used |
Great Western Reading to Taunton Taunton to Exeter Exeter to Plymouth Cornish Atlantic Coast |
| Technical | |
| InterCity 125 | |
| Operating speed | 125 mph |
The Atlantic Coast Express (ACE) is an express passenger train in England that has operated at various times between London and seaside resorts in the South West England. It currently is operated as a summer only service by Great Western Railway between London Paddington and Newquay.
After completion of the lines to Bude in 1898 and Padstow in 1899, the London & South Western Railway (L&SWR) introduced the first North Cornwall Express in 1900 leaving London Waterloo at 11:10, and this continued over the next decade as the North Cornwall & Bude Express with the departure time adjusted to 11:00 running during the summer only. By 1914 this train was running throughout the year, and outside the summer season carried through coaches to Padstow, Bude, Plymouth and Ilfracombe, a presage of things to come. However World War I reduced both the scope for holidays and stretched the railways resources, and after this the L&SWR did not pursue a policy of having a premier named train on the route.
This was set to change as a result of the 1923 Railway Grouping Act which created four new companies to run Britain's railways, and the former London & South Western Railway became part of the new Southern Railway. The Great Western Railway (GWR), as the main competitor for services to Devon and Cornwall, had been left virtually unchanged by the railway company mergers, and the directors of the new Southern Railway recognised that some initiative was needed to publicise their services to the South West, and in addition show they were ready to compete with "the old enemy" once more; the GWR had coined the phrase Cornish Riviera and had been using this in its publicity for 20 years.
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