Penzance railway station

The station was opened by the West Cornwall Railway on 11 March 1852[5] 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.[6] 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,[6] 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.[7]

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[8] to a design by William Lancaster Owen. The total cost was around £15,000 (equivalent to £1,620,000 in 2021)[9] which included the 250ft by 80ft roof which cost £5,000 for the iron and the 50 tons of glass.[10] The new station had the booking office at street level with the two platforms were accessed by a staircase,[7] and was used for the first time on 18 November 1879.[11] 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.[12]

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.[7]

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

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.[13]

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.[14]

The WCR station had a disc-and-crossbar signal on the end of the single platform, this being common on the GWR and associated companies.[6] This was replaced by the familiar semaphore signals, and these were replaced in turn by colour light signals in 1982.[14]

Further alterations were made in 1983 when a new ticket office and buffet were opened.[15] 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.[16]

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.[17]

• 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.