Penzance railway station

Penzance
Location
Place	Penzance
Local authority	Cornwall
Coordinates	50°07′20″N 5°31′56″W / 50.12226°N 5.53223°WCoordinates: 50°07′20″N 5°31′56″W / 50.12226°N 5.53223°W
Grid reference	SW475306
Operations
Station code	PNZ
Managed by	Great Western Railway
Number of platforms	4
DfT category	C1
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2002/03	0.392 million
2004/05	0.403 million
2005/06	0.414 million
2006/07	0.462 million
2007/08	0.498 million
2008/09	0.526 million
2009/10	0.521 million
2010/11	0.556 million
2011/12	0.579 million
2012/13	0.563 million
2013/14	0.533 million
2014/15	0.550 million
History
Original company	West Cornwall Railway
Pre-grouping	Great Western Railway
Post-grouping	Great Western Railway
Opened	1852
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Penzance from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Penzance railway station serves the town of Penzance in Western Cornwall, United Kingdom. The station is the terminus station for the Cornish Main Line from London Paddington and Plymouth. It is managed by Great Western Railway who also operate services along with CrossCountry.

History

Inside the second station c. 1915, a Steam Rail Motor waits to depart

The station was opened by the West Cornwall Railway on 11 March 1852^[1] as the terminus of its line from Redruth. A fire in 1876 destroyed the goods shed^[2] 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.^[3] The new platforms were used for the first time on 18 November 1879.^[4] 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.^[5]

Further alterations were made in 1937 and again in 1983 when new a ticket office and buffet were opened.^[6]

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.^[7]

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.

• 

  The station layout
• 

  Inside the train shed 1974
• 

  The station seen from the north east

Services

A First Great Western operated British Rail Class 43 (HST) at Platform 4 with a bilingual sign in English and Cornish.

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

In the summer of 2013, it was served by 18 Great Western Railway and 4 CrossCountry departures Monday to Friday, with 18 on Saturdays and Sundays. There are also a small number of short workings to St Ives or Truro.

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 such as Birmingham New Street, Wolverhampton, Derby, Manchester Piccadilly, Leeds, York, Newcastle and Edinburgh in the morning and returning in the evening.

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%.^[8]

	2002-03	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07	2007-08	2008-09	2009-10	2010-11	2011-12
Entries	199,282	205,025	210,998	235,377	253,881	323,269	260,491	278,273	289,824
Exits	192,726	197,974	202,907	226,387	244,409	323,269	260,491	278,273	289,824
Interchanges	unknown	2,132	748	699	354	49	200	22	118
Total	392,008	405,132	414,653	462,463	498,644	646,538	521,182	556,568	579,648

The statistics cover twelve month periods that start in April.

Bus station

A 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 South West and National Express services.

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

References

1. "West Cornwall Railway. Opening of the Line from Redruth to Penzance". Royal Cornwall Gazette (Falmouth). 12 March 1852. Retrieved 5 October 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive. (subscription required (help)).
2. "Fire at the Penzance Railway Station". Royal Cornwall Gazette (Falmouth). 22 January 1876. Retrieved 5 October 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive. (subscription required (help)).
3. "Penzance". The Cornishman (74). 11 December 1879. p. 4.
4. "Fire at the Penzance New Railway Station". West Briton and Cornwall Advertiser (Falmouth). 20 November 1879. Retrieved 5 October 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive. (subscription required (help)).
5. "Penzance". Cornishman (Falmouth). 3 June 1880. Retrieved 5 October 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive. (subscription required (help)).
6. Bennett, Alan (1988). The Great Western Railway in West Cornwall. Cheltenham: Runpast Publishing. ISBN 1-870754-12-3.
7. "Penzance train station: Giving travellers a good welcome". The Cornishman. 8 November 2012. Retrieved 21 June 2014.
8. "Station Usage". Rail Statistics. Office of Rail Regulation. Retrieved 2010-03-25.

Further reading

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

This station offers access to the South West Coast Path
Distance to path	50 yards (46 m)
Next station anticlockwise	Falmouth Docks 60 miles (97 km)
Next station clockwise	St Ives 41 miles (66 km)