Perranwell railway station

Perranwell
265px Looking towards Falmouth
Location
Place	Perranarworthal
Local authority	Cornwall
Coordinates
Grid reference	SW780398
Operations
Station code	PRW
Managed by	Great Western Railway
Number of platforms	1
DfT category	F2
Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries
Annual rail passenger usage*
2002/03	11,110
2004/05	9,936
2005/06	9,545
2006/07	10,489
2007/08	9,842
2008/09	13,348
2009/10	17,658
2010/11	21,454
2011/12	27,030
2012/13	27,478
2013/14	28,842
History
Original company	Cornwall Railway
Pre-grouping	Great Western Railway
Post-grouping	Great Western Railway
'Perran' opened	1864
Renamed 'Perranwell'	1864
National Rail – UK railway stations
* Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Perranwell from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year.
UK Railways portal

Perranwell station is on the Maritime Line from Truro to Falmouth Docks in England, the services are operated by Great Western Railway.

History

File:2009 at Perranwell station - goods shed.jpg

The old goods shed

The station was opened with the Cornwall Railway Falmouth extension on 24 August 1863. It was called Perran until it was renamed Perranwell on 19 February 1864 to avoid confusion with nearby Penryn.

The Cornwall Railway was amalgamated into the Great Western Railway on 1 July 1889. The Great Western Railway was nationalised into British Railways from 1 January 1948 but was then privatised in the 1990s.

The goods shed still stands in the forecourt despite goods traffic ceasing on 4 January 1965. A dry drinking fountain can be seen on the platform, a reminder of more important days. The signal box here was very distinctive, being sited on girders above the track alongside the goods shed.

File:Carnon Viaduct.jpg

The original Carnon viaduct

A short distance on either side of the station, valleys had to be crossed on lofty timber viaducts. To the north, Carnon viaduct crossed 96 feet above the Carnon River valley and the Redruth and Chasewater Railway. In the other direction, trains crossed the smaller Perran Viaduct (56 feet high, 339 feet long).

In the 1980s the station had become run down with only a small aluminium shelter with polycarbonate panels offering protection for passengers. However, during the late 1990s a new brick waiting shelter was built as part of a refurbishment programme at all the "Maritime Line" stations.

Description

There is just one platform with level access from the car park. Trains towards Truro run from left to right; trains towards Falmouth Docks run from right to left.

Services

The new loop at Penryn allowed services on the Maritime Line to be doubled in frequency from 17 May 2009, however only about half the trains are now scheduled to call at Perranwell. These only stop on request, which means that people alighting need to inform the train's guard, and those joining at the station need to signal clearly to the driver.

Preceding station	National Rail			Following station
Truro		Great Western Railway Maritime Line		Penryn

Further reading

• The Great Western Railway in Mid Cornwall, Alan Bennett, Kingfisher Railway Publications, Southampton 1988. ISBN 0-946184-53-4