Perranwell station is on the Maritime Line between

Truro Truro (; kw, Truru) is a cathedral city and civil parish in Cornwall, England. It is Cornwall's county town, sole city and centre for administration, leisure and retail trading. Its population was 18,766 in the 2011 census. People of Truro ...

and

Falmouth Docks Falmouth Docks are a deep-water docks of the town of Falmouth in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The docks are the southern shore of the Fal Estuary which is the third largest natural harbour in the world and the deepest in Europe. They ex ...

in south-west England. It is measured from (via Box and Plymouth Millbay). The station is managed by, and the services are operated by, Great Western Railway.

History

The station was opened as ''Perran'' on 24 August 1863 when the

Cornwall Railway The Cornwall Railway was a broad gauge railway from Plymouth in Devon to Falmouth in Cornwall, England, built in the second half of the nineteenth century. It was constantly beset with shortage of capital for the construction, and was eventu ...

opened the line from Truro to Falmouth, it was renamed ''Perranwell'' on 19 February 1864 to avoid confusion with nearby . 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. The signal box here was very distinctive, being sited on girders above the track alongside the goods shed. The station was host to a GWR camp coach from 1936 to 1939. A camping coach was also positioned here by the Western Region from 1952 to 1964. 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 A goods shed is a railway building designed for storing goods before or after carriage in a train. A typical goods shed will have a track running through it to allow goods wagons to be unloaded under cover, although sometimes they were built ...

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.

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 The Carnon River ( kw, Avon Carnon) is a heavily polluted river in Cornwall, United Kingdom. It starts in Chacewater. Trewedna Water and River Kennall flow into the Carnon before it merges with Tallack's Creek to become Restronguet Creek, which ...

valley and the

Redruth and Chasewater Railway The Redruth and Chasewater Railway, (otherwise called the ''Redruth and Chacewater Railway'' using modern spelling), was an early mineral railway line in Cornwall, England, UK. It opened in 1825 and was built to convey the output from copper mine ...

. 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.

Facilities

There is just one platform with level access from the car park. There are information boards on the platform, as well as a waiting shelter. There are no ticket buying facilities, so passengers have to buy a ticket in advance or from the guard on the train.

Services

The new loop at Penryn allowed services on the Maritime Line to be doubled in frequency from 17 May 2009 to give up to a half-hourly service, however when two trains are operating only alternate services call at Perranwell.

Community Rail

The railway from Truro to Falmouth is designated as a

community rail Community rail in Britain is the support of railway lines and stations by local organisations, usually through community rail partnerships (CRPs) comprising railway operators, local councils, and other community organisations, and rail user grou ...

line and is supported by marketing provided by the

Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership The Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership is the largest Community Rail Partnership in the United Kingdom. It was formed in 1991 to promote the use of, and improvements to, rural railways in Devon and Cornwall, and also to promote the places serv ...

. The line is promoted under the " Maritime Line" name.Department for Transport, Rail Group (2006), ''Route prospectus for the … The Maritime Line''

References

External links