GWR teams up with Penguin Books for competition to win guide to best stations

Britain’s 100 Best Railway Stations by Simon Jenkins is published in paperback by Penguin Books on World Book Day tomorrow — and GWR has four copies to give away on its social media channels.

To be in with a chance of winning, all you’ve got to do is visit Twitter @GWRHelp, Facebook @gwruk or Instagram @gwruk and tell us about your favourite station. Four lucky entrants will then be drawn at random.

The book, a Sunday Times bestseller, explores the station’s role in the national imagination; championing the engineers, architects and rival companies that made them possible.

Jenkins has travelled the length and breadth of Great Britain to select his hundred best, and London Paddington, Bath Spa, Bristol Temple Meads, Cardiff Central, Exeter St David’s, Great Malvern, Slough and Windsor & Eton are among those to feature.

GWR Head of Communications Dan Panes said:

“Many of us love a good book to read on a relaxing railway journey to an iconic destination and we are delighted to have partnered with Penguin Books for this exciting competition, building on an affiliation which dates back more than 85 years.”

Author Simon Jenkins added:

“I’m delighted that Great Western Railway is helping to promote this important part of our heritage. From Paddington to Bristol Temple Meads to Great Malvern, their stations are part of Britain’s architectural glory. Remember, railways are not just about trains but about stations...”

In 1934, while waiting to travel back to London after visiting Agatha Christie, Sir Allen Lane found himself at Exeter St David’s station with nothing to read.

This experience, together with Sir Allen’s passion to make quality literature affordable and accessible to all, led him to create the iconic sixpenny paperback and marked the beginning of Penguin Books and its lasting legacy.

The sixpenny paperback was affordable enough to be sold at railway stations, corner shops and even in vending machines across the country, ensuring no one would go without a quality book to read on their journey again. The first Penguin paperbacks included writing by Ernest Hemingway and Agatha Christie.

Sir Allen went on to found Penguin Books alongside his two brothers Richard and John in 1935. 

A memorial plaque, commissioned by Sir Allen’s daughter Clare Morpurgo and designed by Penguin Random House, was unveiled at Exeter St David’s in 2017.

GWR is operating a reduced timetable during the latest national lockdown and customers should follow Government guidelines, only travelling for work if essential or for other legally permitted reasons. Find out more at gwr.com/safety.

GWR has been providing rail services throughout the pandemic and has worked to ensure that these are as safe as possible. This includes increased cleaning regimes and the use of a virucidal spray; extra staff at key stations to offer help and guidance; and processes in place to help customers maintain a safe distance where possible, such as restricting the number of reservations available. 

Notes to editors

Great Western Railway (GWR) provides high speed, commuter, regional and branch line train services. We help over 100 million passengers reach their destinations every year — across South Wales, the West Country, the Cotswolds, and large parts of Southern England.