Penzance railway station

History

The station was opened by the West Cornwall Railway on 11 March 1852 as the terminus of its line from Redruth. A fire in 1876 destroyed the goods shed and the wooden passenger buildings were replaced by the current station in 1879 to a design by William Lancaster Owen. The total cost was around £15,000 which included the roof which cost £5,000, for the iron and 50 tons of glass. The new platforms were used for the first time on 18 November 1879. However, the new station suffered from teething problems, as 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.

Further alterations were made in 1937 and again in 1983 when new a ticket office and buffet were opened.

The blocked-up archway in the wall that retains the hillside behind the platforms was used by the railway as a coal store. Freight traffic, especially the busy fish trade, was handled in the former goods yard, where cars are now parked, adjacent to the bus station. An engine shed was also situated here before being moved to the opposite side of the line near the end of the retaining wall. It has since been replaced by the new Penzance TMD outside the station at Long Rock.

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.

Description

Penzance is both the southernmost station on the National Rail network and the westernmost station in England.

Platforms 1, 2 and 3 are within the main train shed; Platform 4 on the south side is 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 (now defunct) station at Marazion, as the former northbound line has been used to access Penzance TMD at Long Rock since 1977.

Services

Penzance is the terminus of the Cornish Main Line. The current journey time to or from Paddington is between five and six hours.

Two operators serve Penzance. Great Western Railway operate a mixture of local trains to Plymouth and longer distance services to London Paddington. These include the Night Riviera overnight sleeping car service and the Golden Hind which offers an early morning service to London Paddington and an evening return. Other fast trains are the mid-morning Cornish Riviera and the afternoon Royal Duchy. Services to London Paddington during the day use Class 43s, but other services use Class 150 and Class 153 DMUs. The Night Riviera uses a Class 57 locomotive hauling Mark 3 carriages.

There are a limited number of CrossCountry trains providing a service to destinations in the midlands and north such as Birmingham New Street, Manchester Piccadilly, Leeds and Edinburgh.

Passenger volume

Penzance is the second busiest station in Cornwall after Truro. Comparing the year from April 2008 to that which started in April 2002, passenger numbers increased by 64%.

The statistics cover twelve month periods that start in April.

Bus station

Penzance bus station is situated immediately outside the station entrance; this example of transport integration arose from the Great Western Railway's operation of most of the early bus services in the area. It is served by First Kernow and National Express services.

The Tourism Information Centre is located in the middle of the bus station.