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. 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. On 24 June 1923 the station was relocated nearby. The station was host to a GWRcamp coach from 1934 to 1938. The station layout was rationalised to just a single platform when the line was being run by British Rail. A new passing loop was installed in 2008, 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. To pay for this work £4.67million was provided from European Union funds, £2.5million from Cornwall Council, and £600,000 from Network Rail. The new works were formally opened by Kevin Lavery, the Chief Executive of Cornwall Council, on 18 May 2009.
Description
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 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 2013Pay and display was introduced for the station car park.
Signalling
Truro-bound trains use the northern end of the station, arriving before the Falmouth-bound train, which will pass through the new loop and to the southern end of the platform, 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 is signalled for trains in either direction; the Down Loop is only signalled for trains towards Falmouth.
