Penzance railway station

Penzance railway station serves the town of Penzance, Cornwall, UK. The station is the western terminus of the 305.25 mi Cornish Main Line from London Paddington station. The current journey time to or from London is between five and six hours.

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 two languages: 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.

It is both the southernmost station on the National Rail network and the westernmost station in England, although not Great Britain as some stations in Scotland are further west. The station is operated by First Great Western as is every other station in Cornwall.

This is the Cornish terminus of the Night Riviera sleeper train to and from Paddington.

History
The station was opened by the West Cornwall Railway on 11 March 1852 as the terminus of its line from Redruth. This wooden station was replaced by the current buildings in 1879. Further alterations were made in 1937 and again in 1983 when new a ticket office and buffet were opened.

The arch that is blocked up 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 a goods yard where the 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situated here before being moved to the opposite side of the line near the end of the retaining wall, but it has since been replaced by the new Penzance TMD outside the station at Long Rock.

In 2012/13 the station's roof was refurbished.

Description
Penzance is a terminus station with three tracks under a large train shed roof and a fourth on the south side of this.

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.

Services
Penzance is the terminus of the Cornish Main Line. In the summer of 2013 it sees 18 First Great Western 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. First Great Western 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 and an evening return. Other fast trains are the mid-morning Cornish Riviera and the afternoon Royal Duchy.

CrossCountry operate a small number of long-distance services to and from destinations such as Birmingham New Street, Manchester Piccadilly, Leeds, Glasgow Central and.

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. History has come full circle, with the First Group again operating a large number of both the buses and trains in the area.

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