Penzance Pennsans
General information
Location	Penzance,Cornwall England
Coordinates	50°07′19″N5°31′59″W / 50.122°N 5.533°W /50.122; -5.533
Grid reference	SW475306
Managed by	Great Western Railway
Platforms	4
Other information
Station code	PNZ
Classification	DfT category C1
History
Original company	West Cornwall Railway
Pre-grouping	Great Western Railway
Post-grouping	Great Western Railway
Key dates
Opened	1852
Passengers
2020/21	0.190 million
Interchange	1,370
2021/22	0.516 million
Interchange	4,472
2022/23	0.565 million
Interchange	2,604
2023/24	0.619 million
Interchange	4,446
2024/25	0.685 million
Interchange	4,548
Location
Notes Passenger statistics from theOffice of Rail and Road

Penzance railway station (Cornish:Pennsans) serves the town ofPenzance in westCornwall, England. It is the terminus of theCornish Main Line and the southernmost railway station inGreat Britain, situated at milepost 326.5 miles (525.5 km) fromLondon Paddington. The station is owned byNetwork Rail and managed byGreat Western Railway, which also operates train services together withCrossCountry.

The first station opened in 1852; through travel to and from London commenced from 1859, with the opening of theRoyal Albert Bridge. The station was rebuilt by theGreat Western Railway in 1876 and the current layout was the result of a further rebuilding in the 1930s.

The station was opened by theWest Cornwall Railway on 11 March 1852^[1] as the terminus of its line fromRedruth. The station itself consisted of a single platform face, and along with the rest of the West Cornwall Railway was laid asstandard gauge.^[2] This changed in 1866 when the West Cornwall Railway was relaid to mixed gauge allowingSouth Devon Railway Leopard class locomotiveLance 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, theGreat 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 byWilliam 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 tostandard 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]

Followinggrouping, 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 byWest Country class 34002Salisbury 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 thelantern 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 fromLondon Waterloo as an extension of its service toExeter St Davids; this ceased in December 2009.

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

Penzance is the terminus of theCornish Main Line fromPlymouth. It is situated 326 miles 50 chains (326.62 mi; 525.7 km) fromLondon Paddington, measured viaBox andPlymouth Millbay.^[14] It is the southernmost railway station in Great Britain.^[15][16][17]

Platforms 1, 2 and 3 are within the maintrain 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 andCornish. 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 atMarazion, as the former northbound line has been used to accessPenzance TMD at Long Rock since 1977.

As the western terminus of theNight 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 theCornish Main Line; it is served by twotrain operating companies:

• Great Western Railway operates local and inter-regional services to and from Plymouth andCardiff Central; it also runsinter-city services to and fromLondon Paddington station, including the overnightNight Riviera sleeping car service.^[19]
• CrossCountry operates a small number of daily services to and from destinations in theWest Midlands,North East andScotland, includingBirmingham New Street,Leeds andEdinburgh Waverley.^[20]

Thelongest distance train service in the United Kingdom for many years ran fromAberdeen to Penzance with a journey time of around 13 hours.^[21] Since May 2025 the service only runs between Aberdeen and Plymouth.^[22]

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,^[23] 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 newPenzance Traction Maintenance Depot outside the station atLong 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.^[24]

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%.^[25]

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. Peterborough: Past & Present publishing.ISBN 1-85895-060-0.

Wikimedia Commons has media related toPenzance railway station.

• Video footage and history of Penzance railway station
• Train times andstation information for Penzance railway station fromNational Rail

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

• Railway stations on the South West Coast Path
• Former Great Western Railway stations
• Railway stations in Cornwall
• Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1852
• Railway stations served by CrossCountry
• Railway stations served by Great Western Railway
• Railway stations serving harbours and ports in the United Kingdom
• William Lancaster Owen railway stations
• 1852 establishments in England
• Buildings and structures in Penzance
• DfT Category C1 stations
• Cardinal points of the Great British railway network

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