It was born in 1904 and survived the end of steam, the arrival of diesel power and the high speed train but now the Cornish Riviera Express is no more. The 10:04 departure from Paddington has become a train with no name. For more than a hundred years this service from London to Penzance carried the prestigious headboard through war and peace but the current custodian of the GREAT Western name has decided it's had its day. When I asked where the crack express had gone I was told via twitter that " We no longer have those named trains as we have new named trains and are in the process of naming the new fleet (of locomotives) after influential people in the region we serve as voted by the people for example Nancy Astor, Gareth Edwards, Michael Bond and Isambard Kingdom Brunel".
In 1904 the steam hauled Cornish Riviera covered the 325 miles from London to Penzance in 7 hours. By the late 1950s diesel power had taken over and in 1981 InterCity 125 trains cut the journey time to less than 5 hours. Now the 10:04 unnamed train from Paddington takes 5 hours and 6 minutes to reach west Cornwall's terminus. Yes you've spotted it - despite a multi million pound investment in new trains and electrification - the journey to Penzance now takes longer than it did 38 years ago.
So farewell Cornish Riviera and farewell Golden Hind and farewell all the other named GWR services.