London to Penzance train with Great Western Rail

Trains from London to Penzance

Trains from London to Penzance run on a very regular schedule, at about hourly intervals throughout the day and into the late evening. The route takes you from the capital to the south-west tip of Cornwall, and most of the journeys take between 5h and 5h 30min. Most of the trains leave at around the top of the hour, making the timetables pretty easy to remember.

London to Penzance Train Time: Daily Departures

There’s a London to Penzance train about 15 times a day during the week, with around 11 or 12 leaving on Saturdays and Sundays, respectively. This gives an average weekly frequency of just under 100 train trips to choose from. The first weekday trains generally leave just before 06:40, with the last two at about 23:45. On weekends, the first train usually leaves just after 08:00, with the rest following roughly an hourly schedule. The last one is at around 18:00 on Saturdays and a shade before midnight on Sundays.

How long is the journey by train from London to Penzance?

The trains to Penzance from London all take roughly the same amount of time, which is to say between 5 hours and 5h 30min. There are few exceptions, though. You can find a marginally shorter train trip that takes about 4h 55min in the early evening. The late-night trains are the longest journeys, coming in at roughly between 7h 50min and 8h 10min. Most trips are direct, with a few making one change.

Trains from London to Penzance: man on a train from London. Source: Shutterstock

What are the departure and arrival stations for trains from London to Penzance?

Departure train station: London to Penzance trains all depart from London Paddington Station, which you can reach in about 12min on either the Northern to Central Underground line or via the Bakerloo line. The line 7 bus will get you there in about 16min from the Selfridges stop, on Bond Street. The station has step-free access, tactile strips and induction loops for accessibility, plus baby-changing facilities. There’s also a wide variety of shops, coffee shops, takeaway outlets and the like.

Arrival train station: The train on the London to Penzance route will take you to Penzance Station. Personal assistance for passengers with limited mobility is on hand, with platform ramps, step-free access and accessible toilets. It’s a small station, so there are few other amenities besides showers and refreshment amenities. Getting to the town centre is simply a matter of boarding a First Kernow MOUS bus, which takes about 3min to get there.

Which train companies travel from London to Penzance?

Great Western Railway operates all the trains from London to Penzance. Most of their trains are direct on this route, with a few that make a single change on the way. These are all high-speed trains (barring those late at night), travelling at around 125 mph (200 km/h). The late-night trains are leisurely overnight journeys, and consequently a couple of hours longer than the others. The trains that stop en route generally do so in Plymouth, where you’ll switch trains, but these trips still have a travel duration in the 5 hour to 5h 30min bracket, so you won’t be sacrificing time by catching them.

Night trains London

There are two night trains from London to Penzance every day of the week except for Saturdays and Sundays. Both leave at about 23:45, with one travelling directly (taking about 8h 10min) and one making a stop in Plymouth, yet still getting there about 15min before the other. You’ll switch trains on the latter trip. There isn’t a night train on Saturdays, and on Sundays, only the direct night train runs.

Great Western Railway trains from London to Penzance

Travelling on a Great Western Railway train to Penzance from London, you’ll have plenty of choice from early morning till late at night. If you travel anytime during the day from around 08:00 till about 17:00, you can catch a train roughly once an hour, a few minutes after the hour has turned. You’ll mostly travel directly to Penzance, with around three or four trains a day making a single stop for a change at Plymouth Railway Station, in Devon. Most take between 5h and 5h 30min, with the last of the day taking around 8h.

Trains from London to Penzance: Sustainability travel

Using a train to Penzance from London rather than driving there significantly reduces your carbon emissions, through the simple arithmetic of a large number of passengers travelling together versus each one using their own vehicle. Great Western Railway has adopted policies in line with the Rail Industry’s Sustainable Development Principles, with the aim of using up to 75% recyclable materials. Other initiatives have been to provide more electric vehicle charging points at the stations it operates, along with technology improvements on trains to reduce emissions and energy use overall.

Train London to Penzance: Services on Board

On a London to Penzance train trip with Great Western Railway, you can pre-book limited-mobility or disability assistance, through the national Passenger Assist service. You have the option of travelling first class if you wish. Standard class amenities include a very decent food and drinks menu and free Wi-Fi. You can bring up to two domestic pets with you for free; dogs need to be on a lead, as long as they don’t sit on the seat, and other pets must travel in a suitable travel container. Assistance animals are not restricted in any way. You can book one of the bicycle spaces on the trains – these are limited, though, so book early to make sure you get one. Each carriage has a dedicated luggage area, again with limited space. Luggage items placed here can’t exceed 10 x 16 x 27.7 inches. If you have smaller luggage, you can put it in the same kind of overhead compartments as an airplane, and you are also allowed to put smaller bags under your seat. Unfortunately, even though you’re heading for the Cornwall Coast, you won’t be able to bring larger items like a surfboard.

How to find cheap train tickets from London to Penzance

There are two standard ways to get cheap train tickets on trains from London to Penzance. The first is to be as flexible as possible about the day and even the time that you travel. This way, you’ll be in a position to take advantage of last-minute discounts offered on cancelled tickets. You can also play it the opposite way, by booking as far ahead as you can, which is when early-bird ticket discounts are sometimes available. Also, keep your eye on the timetables on our website for trains that take a little longer or make more changes on the way, as the compensation for the extra travel time is often in the form of cheaper tickets.

Mousehole Harbour in Penzance. Source: Shutterstock

To Penzance by train—travel tips

Once you’ve settled in after your train to Penzance from London, head straight to Chapel Street. It’s the historical centre of the town, where you’ll find shops and houses dating back to before the 18th century, when the town was an important port. You’ll see significant town landmarks, like Admiral Benbow Pub, the Turk’s Head Pub and the unusual Egyptian House. On totally the opposite end of the spectrum is The Exchange Gallery, a contemporary art gallery – you can’t miss its huge glass wall lit up by hundreds of coloured LED lights. You can take a walk through an exotic sub-tropical flora, like Japanese bitter orange and banana plants, at Morrab Gardens. There’s also a memorial to the Boer Wars. The Jubilee Pool is a great place to go swimming – it’s an Art Deco pool right on the waterfront. Penzance is also the ideal base from which to visit the ancient stone sites in the area, like Merry Maidens stone circle, Men-an-Tol and Lanyon Quoit. For more ideas, have a look at our online travel magazine, The Window Seat.

• Penlee House Gallery & Museum
• Trengwainton Gardens
• Mousehole fishing village
• A ferry to the Scilly Isles
• Minack Theatre, on a granite cliff
• Walk the South West Coast Path