At the later date, the canal was working at capacity, and the transshipment at Moorswater from rail to canal was costing from 4d to 6d per ton; because of congestion on the canal, trade was being lost to competing routes via Calstock and St Germans; and the twenty-four locks caused the journey to be slow and cumbersome. Moreover, the Cornwall Railway was being constructed to run through Liskeard, with unknown implications for the competitiveness of the Canal. Attention was given to constructing a railway from Moorswater to Looe.