Hence my question about the numbers remaining on the train all the way to London. When you have a community so far removed from (in this case) the capital city, the people there have a long tradition of ignoring it ... and vice versa. Logically, to those of us who have grown up within spitting distance of a busy international airport, a regular air service is the way to improve the link, but humans are not logical.
It's not realistic to simply provide the connection to "somewhere" and expect it to flourish and remain viable without also making a determined effort to give an entire county reason to believe it serves a purpose or that it will be maintained long-term. In areas such as Devon&Cornwall - as in many parts of France - the locals have their cynicism reinforced by the frequent failed attempts of outsiders to impose on them a different mentality.
Not that that's stopping me from trying to do exactly the same. 