Penryn railway station

Penryn railway station is on the Maritime Line between Truro and Falmouth Docks, and serves the town of Penryn, Cornwall as well as Penryn Campus (formerly known as Tremough Campus). It is 309 miles 10 chains (497.49 km) measured from London Paddington (via Box and Plymouth Millbay).[1] The services are operated by Great Western Railway.

Not to be confused with Penrhyn railway station.

Penryn
Looking towards Truro railway station
Location
PlacePenryn
Local authorityCornwall
Coordinates50.170°N 5.111°W / 50.170; -5.111
Grid referenceSW779346
Operations
Station codePYN
Managed byGreat Western Railway
Number of platforms2
DfT categoryF1
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections
from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2014/15 0.267 million
2015/16 0.244 million
2016/17 0.256 million
2017/18 0.252 million
2018/19 0.240 million
History
Original companyCornwall Railway
Pre-groupingGreat Western Railway
Post-groupingGreat Western Railway
Opened24 August 1863
Re-sited24 June 1923
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Penryn from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.

History

The station was opened on 24 August 1863 when the Cornwall Railway opened the line from Truro to Falmouth, it was sometimes known as Penryn for Helston.[2][3]

It originally had 2 platforms either side of a passing loop, a goods shed with several sidings to south, one of which was equipped with a 2 ton crane, the yard was able to accommodate live stock and most types of goods.[4][5][6]

On 24 June 1923 the station was relocated nearby. The station was host to a GWR camp coach from 1934 to 1938.[7]

The station layout was rationalised to just a single platform when the line was being run by British Rail. A new 400 metres (440 yd) passing loop was installed in 2008,[8] being brought into use in 2009 before the new timetable commenced on 17 May as this called for two trains to be in operation on the branch for most of the day.[9] To pay for this work £4.67million was provided from European Union funds, £2.5million from Cornwall Council, and £600,000 from Network Rail.[10] The new works were formally opened by Kevin Lavery, the Chief Executive of Cornwall Council, on 18 May 2009.[11]

Description
Direction signs erected in 2009

There is a single platform that offers level access from the car park. Trains towards Truro run from left to right; trains towards Falmouth Docks run from right to left.

When constructing the loop a novel approach was adopted which avoided the building of a footbridge and works to the disused platform. The formerly disused northern end of the platform has been reinstated, and is now called Platform 2, and an extension has been built onto the southern end which is now called Platform 1, the middle section of the platform is now used to pass between the two. The extension and reinstatement creates a platform of 238 metres (781 ft) in length; the southern end of the loop joins the main branch at the northern end of Platform 1. New modern shelters have been built on each platform, and the brick shelter from 1998 still exists.

The disused platform on the far side of the loop line was formerly used by trains towards Truro.

On Monday 8 April 2013 Pay and display was introduced for the station car park.[12]

Signalling
A diagram showing the right-hand running through the loop line (top of diagram is south west).

Truro-bound trains use the northern end of the station (Platform 2), arriving before the Falmouth-bound train, which will pass through the new loop and to the southern end of the platform (Platform 1), allowing the Truro-bound train to continue its journey north. This gives a rare situation in the United Kingdom where trains run on the right, instead of on the left as is usual in this country. Trains are scheduled to depart simultaneously for Truro and Falmouth.

Signals are controlled from the signal box at Truro. Axle counters allow one train to be in the section between Penwithers Junction and Penryn, and another between Penryn and Falmouth Docks. The Up and Down Branch line (the platform line) is signalled for trains in either direction; the Down Loop is only signalled for trains towards Falmouth.[13]

  • First, a train arrives in platform 2 from Falmouth...
  • then the train from Truro (left) runs through the loop...
  • and enters platform 1...
  • then both can leave once their passengers are on board.

References
  1. Yonge, John; Padgett, David (August 2010) [1989]. Bridge, Mike (ed.). Railway Track Diagrams 3: Western (5th ed.). Bradford on Avon: Trackmaps. map 10A. ISBN 978-0-9549866-6-7.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  2. Quick, Michael (2019) [2001]. Railway passenger stations in Great Britain: a chronology (PDF) (5th ed.). Railway and Canal Historical Society.
  3. Grant, Donald J. (2017). Directory of the Railway Companies of Great Britain (1st ed.). Kibworth Beauchamp, Leicestershire: Troubador Publishing Ltd. p. 127. ISBN 978-1-78803-768-6.
  4. "Penryn station on OS 25 inch map Cornwall LXXI.6 (Budock; Mabe; Penryn; St Gluvias)". National Library of Scotland. 1907. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
  5. "Penryn goods yard on OS 25 inch map Cornwall LXXI.7 (Budock; Falmouth; Mylor; Penryn)". National Library of Scotland. 1907. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
  6. The Railway Clearing House (1970) [1904]. The Railway Clearing House Handbook of Railway Stations 1904 (1970 D&C Reprint ed.). Newton Abbot: David & Charles Reprints. p. 429. ISBN 0-7153-5120-6.
  7. McRae, Andrew (1997). British Railway Camping Coach Holidays: The 1930s & British Railways (London Midland Region). Scenes from the Past: 30 (Part One). Foxline. p. 31. ISBN 1-870119-48-7.
  8. "Penryn loop installed". Modern Railways. Ian Allan. 65 (722): 12. 2008. ISSN 0026-8356.
  9. "National Rail Timetable 143 (Summer 2009)" (PDF). Network Rail. Retrieved 11 May 2009.
  10. "Green light for Penryn loop". Modern Railways. Ian Allan Publishing. 65 (718): 9. 2008. ISSN 0026-8356.
  11. Heaps, Chris (2009). "New loop revitalises Falmouth branch". Modern Railways. Ian Allan Publishing. 66 (730): 16. ISSN 0026-8356.
  12. Fountain, Greg (26 April 2013). "End of free parking at Penryn rail station". Falmouth Packet. Retrieved 7 March 2016.
  13. Jacobs, G.A. (2009). "Trackwatch". Modern Railways. Ian Allan. 66 (731): 17. ISSN 0026-8356.

Further reading
  • Bennett, Alan (1988). The Great Western Railway in Mid Cornwall. Southampton: Kingfisher Railway Publications. ISBN 0-946184-53-4.
Preceding station National Rail Following station
Perranwell   Great Western Railway
Maritime Line		   Penmere
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