Penzance railway station

The station was opened by the West Cornwall Railway on 11 March 1852^[1] as the terminus of its line from Redruth. The station itself consisted of a single platform face, and along with the rest of the West Cornwall Railway was laid as standard gauge.^[2] This changed in 1866 when the West Cornwall Railway was relaid to mixed gauge allowing South Devon Railway Leopard class locomotive Lance to bring in the first broad gauge train which carried dignitaries from Truro,^[2] although the small station with the single platform remained with little other alteration. A siding extended beyond the goods shed and ran along Albert Quay.^[3]

In 1876, the Great Western Railway took over the West Cornwall Railway and a major redevelopment was undertaken. An enlarged goods shed was built and the wooden passenger buildings were replaced by a much larger station built in rock-faced granite^[4] to a design by William Lancaster Owen. The total cost was around £15,000 (equivalent to £1,930,000 in 2023)^[5] which included the 250ft by 80ft roof which cost £5,000 for the iron and the 50 tons of glass.^[6] The new station had the booking office at street level, with the two platforms linked by a staircase,^[3] and was used for the first time on 18 November 1879.^[7] However, the new station suffered from teething problems because, by 1880, it was reported that some settlement in the masonry and shrinkage of the iron in the roof had caused several sheets of the glazing to break.^[8]

In 1892, station was converted from broad gauge to standard gauge. At the same time, work was undertaken to widen and extend both the two platforms, and a fourth road was laid in the station.^[3]

 

Following grouping, about 60 staff were employed at Penzance station by the 1930s. In 1937, the GWR were granted permission to reclaim land from the sea, permitting a significant enlargement of the station with the capacity being doubled with two platforms providing four platform faces, three of which were under the main roof.^[9]

The blocked-up archway in the wall that retains the hillside behind the platforms was used by the railway as a coal store.

The last train of the steam era to Penzance was a railtour hauled by West Country class 34002 Salisbury on 3 May 1964.^[10]

The WCR station had a disc-and-crossbar signal on the end of the single platform; this was common on the GWR and associated companies.^[2] This was replaced by the familiar semaphore signals, and these were replaced in turn by colour light signals in 1982.^[10]

Further alterations were made in 1983, when a new ticket office and buffet were opened.^[11] The 1983 refurbishment also included the replacement of the lantern roof with a different design.^{[Note 1]} The new roof failed to vent diesel fumes from the trains to the necessary safety standard, meaning passengers had to alight outside the concourse.^[12]

From 1996, South West Trains operated a weekly weekend service from London Waterloo as an extension of its service to Exeter St Davids; this ceased in December 2009.

In 2012–13, the station's roof was refurbished.^[13]

 

 

Penzance is the terminus of the Cornish Main Line from Plymouth. It is situated 326 miles 50 chains (326.62 mi; 525.7 km) from London Paddington, measured via Box and Plymouth Millbay.^[14] It is the southernmost railway station in Great Britain.^[15][16][17]

Platforms 1, 2 and 3 are within the main train shed; platform 4 is on the south side, in the open air. A large stone at the end of this platform welcomes people to Penzance in both English and Cornish. This side of the station is built on the sea wall near the harbour; the other side is cut into the hillside.

There is only one bi-directional line into/out of the station as far as the former station at Marazion, as the former northbound line has been used to access Penzance TMD at Long Rock since 1977.

As the western terminus of the Night Riviera service from London Paddington, the station has a sleeper lounge and a shower room to the northern end of the concourse, as well as waiting rooms and two cafes on the concourse. There is also an information point on platform 3.^[18]

 

Penzance is the western terminus of the Cornish Main Line; it is served by two train operating companies:

• Great Western Railway operates local and inter-regional services to and from Plymouth and Cardiff Central; it also runs inter-city services to and from London Paddington station, including the overnight Night Riviera sleeping car service.^[19]
• CrossCountry operates a small number of daily services to and from destinations in the West Midlands, North East and Scotland, including Birmingham New Street, Leeds and Edinburgh Waverley.^[20]

The longest distance train service in the United Kingdom runs from Aberdeen to Penzance; the journey time is around 13 hours.^[21]

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Terminus		Great Western Railway Cornish Main Line		St Erth
		CrossCountry Cornish Main Line
	Ferry services
St Mary's		Isles of Scilly Steamship Company Ferry		Terminus

The WCR station had both a goods shed and a locomotive shed between the passenger station and the sea; when a fire destroyed the goods shed in 1876,^[22] the building was enlarged considerably incorporating the original locomotive shed^[2] which had been replaced by one on the opposite side of the line near the end of the retaining wall, which in turn was replaced by the new Penzance Traction Maintenance Depot outside the station at Long Rock. In the first decade of the 20th century, Penzance was typically handling 45,000 tons of goods each year.^[3]

In November 1882, there were complaints about the paving, rail tracks and the difficulty for traffic to pass on the Albert Pier. The Borough Council requested the Railway Company to replace the paving with granite setts before relaying the rails.^[23]

When the expansion of 1937 doubled the number of platform faces, the fourth face was outside the overall roof; this was used for mail and parcels traffic as access to the road was provided.^[9]

In 1987, the goods facilities were removed and the land levelled for use as a car park.

Penzance is the second busiest station in Cornwall; Truro is the busiest, with more than twice the number of passengers. Comparing the year from April 2011 to that which started in April 2002, passenger numbers increased by 48%.^[24]

The statistics cover twelve month periods that start in April.

• Vaughan, John (2009). An Illustrated History of the Cornish Main Line. OPC. ISBN 978-0-86093-625-1.
• Mitchell, David (1994). British Railways past and present: Cornwall. Vol. 17. Peterboroough: Past & Present publishing. ISBN 1-85895-060-0.

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Penzance railway station.

• Video footage and history of Penzance railway station
• Train times and station information for Penzance railway station from National Rail

• "Travel Centre". Rail Enthusiast. EMAP National Publications. October 1982. p. 52. ISSN 0262-561X. OCLC 49957965.