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Awkward Stations to Find in towns

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CarltonA

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My vote goes to Tring....for not being even remotely in Tring. It's so distant from the town it has it's own hamlet callled Tring Station. I set out on foot once from the town and seemed to be walking forever and gave up thinking I had taken a wrong turn. Sorry for repeating what was in the distance thread, but it was difficult to find, I had to take the car and go back.
 
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wintonian

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Agreed again - it's a huge building and it's obviously up there above the street, but I've spent some time wandering around it trying to get a route in - I think that the routes in could be better advertised (for such a busy station)

Waterloo is my terminal but yes if you get cought the wrong side (York Road/ Wesminster Bridge) of the station it can be a difficult to find unless you remember where the once landmark Shell building is.

I will confess to getting lost once trying to get from Birmingham New Street to Moor Street - it took me over an hour of going round the houses to find it and yes I was trying to follow the signs. :oops::oops:
 

bAzTNM

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Paisley St. James in Scotland is a bit out of the way if you don't know your way about.
 

Jonny

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Chester-le-Street station is relatively out of the way, not helped by Station Road crossing a staggered mini roundabout, but it is a good deal easier to find once you actually know where it is.
 

philjo

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Burley Park - surrounded by houses.

Took a while to work out how to drive to drop off at Chesterfield station but that was due to the one way systems in Chesterfield. (could see the station but couldn't work out how to get to the entrance!)

Liverpool Central is well disguised as a shopping centre !
 

dzug2

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I will confess to getting lost once trying to get from Birmingham New Street to Moor Street - it took me over an hour of going round the houses to find it and yes I was trying to follow the signs. :oops::oops:

You are not the only one - I have a feeling there are signs missing. And the locals (or maybe they weren't) seemed just as ignorant
 
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Ive got to say when i also tried to get from Bham N St to Bham M St with my dad back in 1998 it was a farse as you had to go through a shopping centre and follow the coloured markings on the floor. Now its a five min walk if that straight out of New Street and turn left through the underpass and then you can see Moor Street.

The only time i have struggled to find a train station is when i had a visit to St Philips Marsh depot in Bristol and it took me ages to get back to Temple Meads station as it wasnt even marked, then you could see the station but you still wasnt anywhere near it.
 

OliverS

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Dorking West is one. I occasionally mention its low usage on here. The main reason I can see is that it is tucked away behind some industrial buildings on the outskirts of the main part of the town.

I've never quite understood Dorking West's low usage. Whenever I use it I'm never the only person there. I suspect it has something to do with the fact that the ticket machine always seems to be broken.

But yes it is a bit hard to find, but it is well signposted (I could probably see a sign to it if I move to the other side of the office...), I think it suffers from a lack of trains.
 

tsr

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I've never quite understood Dorking West's low usage. Whenever I use it I'm never the only person there. I suspect it has something to do with the fact that the ticket machine always seems to be broken.

But yes it is a bit hard to find, but it is well signposted (I could probably see a sign to it if I move to the other side of the office...), I think it suffers from a lack of trains.

There's also the problem that the guard may not get to all passengers on his/her train to sell tickets, because they will have to pop back to the cab every few minutes on stopping services in each direction.

I've never felt that it was particularly well-signposted, but there you are.

The other reason why low usage figures are recorded is probably due to the "Dorking Stations" ticketing group, and possibly historic low percentage allocations of passengers from that group to Dorking West (or something) - I might be wrong.

The service frequency is also poor, but not as bad as the frequency at some other stations on the line.
 

sn1975

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I will confess to getting lost once trying to get from Birmingham New Street to Moor Street - it took me over an hour of going round the houses to find it and yes I was trying to follow the signs. :oops::oops:

I got lost too the first time I had to walk between New Street and Moor Street even though I had visited Birmingham City Centre many times before.

I spent about 45 minutes walking aimlessly around the area - I forget now where I ended up but I think I went round in a circle and I must have been close to Moor Street more than once.

Anyway, I've been back there a few times since and on the second visit noticed the signs as soon as I left New Street.
 

Ivo

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Given its central location and theoretical easy access, West Croydon could be easier. Its entrance seems very similar to the nearby shops and could easily be missed by someone who is not aware of that, especially given the tram stop is opposite the bus station and not outside the station entrace.

Among others I know, I certainly agree on Dagenham Dock, and would also add (at this end of my life) Filton Abbey Wood to the list and Bedminster to the list.

-----------------

How the Hell can you get lost walking from New Street to Moor Street? From the main entrance at BHM, turn left and pass through the "tunnel"...
 

tsr

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Given its central location and theoretical easy access, West Croydon could be easier. Its entrance seems very similar to the nearby shops and could easily be missed by someone who is not aware of that, especially given the tram stop is opposite the bus station and not outside the station entrance.

I very rarely use West Croydon, but I don't think it's too hard to find compared to some other stations on here. You do have a good point about the tram stop's location, but you can sort of see the station from the tram anyway, IIRC.
 

dangie

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It's pretty easy to find Rugeley station as long as you know which one! For a smallish town to have two stations, one on the WCML and the other on the Chase Line, often confuses.
 

fgwrich

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I very rarely use West Croydon, but I don't think it's too hard to find compared to some other stations on here. You do have a good point about the tram stop's location, but you can sort of see the station from the tram anyway, IIRC.

The irony with West Croydon is that there is an enterance / exit right next to the tram stop, but this is disabled acess only - everyone else has to find the main enterance to the station, which is 200 metres away, behind a building.

As for stations becomming hidden in housing estates - that seems to be gradually happening in the west country, with Copplestone? and Letlant both becomming hidden by the Housing estates...Even more annoyingly so considering Letlant is supposed to be the Park & Ride for the line.

Other stations i have to admit ive found difficult to find - St Pancras Thameslink - not so bad to find when you get used to it, but its still pretty hidden within St Pancras. Apart from that, i cant really think of many more at the moment.
 

Deerfold

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Other stations i have to admit ive found difficult to find - St Pancras Thameslink - not so bad to find when you get used to it, but its still pretty hidden within St Pancras. Apart from that, i cant really think of many more at the moment.

Better signed than the Southeastern High Speed lines but I understand your point. a shame they couldn't have added St Pancras as an additional calling point to Kings X Thameslink.
 

Cherry_Picker

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The New Street to Moor Street walk is an interesting one. I guess it really depends on which exit from New Street you use. If you go out of the "main" doors by the taxi rank then it should be fairly easy unless you get sidetracked by gawping at the Bullring. If you go up the escalators or out onto Stephenson Street it might be a but more of a challenge.
Conversely, Moor Street to New Street is a doddle as you can see the big tunnel you need to walk through as soon as you leave Moor Street station. There is currently a lot of work going on at the front of Moor Street, I think the council are improving access to the station frontage for taxis and I do hope that putting back the double red lines for pedestrians to follow is a part of that works. But I doubt it. (if you don't know the area, there is a strange dual carriageway at the front of Moor Street, it's all one way but has a central reservation which is very pedestrian friendly. Problem is if you are a vehicle coming from New Street or Smallbrook Queensway/the A38 inner ring road as a lot of public transport tends to do then getting access to Moor Street station itself is a problem)
 

exile

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Oldham Mumps was a pain to reach from the town centre.
 

londonbridge

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Heworth on the Newcastle-Sunderland line(no indication there's an NR station there all Metro last I looked).
Sunderland.
Netherfield on the Nottm to Skeg.

Heworth I'd probably agree with but not Sunderland-there's a clearly marked entrance alongside the Burger King,opposite The Bridges.
 

tbtc

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Other stations i have to admit ive found difficult to find - St Pancras Thameslink - not so bad to find when you get used to it, but its still pretty hidden within St Pancras

True - I made the mistake (after visiting for the first time after the move from KX Thameslink) of coming down from the EMT platforms, not realising I needed to turn around at the bottom of the escalators, walking the full length of St Pancras, still not spotting the signs (which were presumably pointing in the opposite direction to the way I was walking), then searching in vain through the shopping bit to try to find the Thameslink platforms.

Now I know where they are its a doddle, but I bet its caught a few people out
 
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I agree about the old Oldham Mumps station.

I once took a wrong turn over a bridge and ended up in Glodwick - very scary place; riots not long after in that area too.

Rochdale station is half a mile away from the town, going through the red light district en-route, I suppose thats why Metrolink is heading that way.
 
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wintonian

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True - I made the mistake (after visiting for the first time after the move from KX Thameslink) of coming down from the EMT platforms, not realising I needed to turn around at the bottom of the escalators, walking the full length of St Pancras, still not spotting the signs (which were presumably pointing in the opposite direction to the way I was walking), then searching in vain through the shopping bit to try to find the Thameslink platforms.

Now I know where they are its a doddle, but I bet its caught a few people out

On the other hand I had some trouble finding the SouthEastern platforms with no trouble finding the FCC or EMT ones..
 

IanD

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I got lost looking for Merthyr Tydfil after arriving on the bus from Rhymney. Looked so easy on the map.
 

Welshman

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Abergele station is about 20 minutes' walk from Market St in Abergele, as it's actually in Pensarn. It's called "Abergele & Pensarn" but should technically be renamed "Pensarn for Abergele"
 

John55

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On the basis that it is easy to walk past and not know they are there;

James St - from Water St

Lime St (Underground) from St John's Lane
 

OliverS

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I've never felt that it was particularly well-signposted, but there you are.

It is more that there are signs telling you that there is a station around, just not exactly where.

The other reason why low usage figures are recorded is probably due to the "Dorking Stations" ticketing group, and possibly historic low percentage allocations of passengers from that group to Dorking West (or something) - I might be wrong.

The service frequency is also poor, but not as bad as the frequency at some other stations on the line.

How do the usages for groups of stations such as Dorking get allocated? Main has barriers now but neither Deepdene nor West are staffed. Do they just guess?
 

tsr

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How do the usages for groups of stations such as Dorking get allocated? Main has barriers now but neither Deepdene nor West are staffed. Do they just guess?

I can't quite remember, but I think it may actually be based on passenger statistics from previous years, with any expected usage increase or decrease accounted for, based on overall and local trends. Consequently, any dramatic increases may not be noticed due to the status quo being maintained.

I have a young friend (who happens to be a rail enthusiast, too) who uses Dorking West for journeys to/from school up to a few times a week, and he maintains that it is quiet, but not quite as quiet as in the statistics, and he also maintains that the stopping services he uses are ones where tickets are not sold as often as they could or should be (this is probably not best practice - Dorking West is not a penalty fares station, so people are more than likely expecting to buy tickets on board, especially when there may not be any other way of purchasing).
 

John55

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How do the usages for groups of stations such as Dorking get allocated? Main has barriers now but neither Deepdene nor West are staffed. Do they just guess?

I can't quite remember, but I think it may actually be based on passenger statistics from previous years, with any expected usage increase or decrease accounted for, based on overall and local trends. Consequently, any dramatic increases may not be noticed due to the status quo being maintained.

The methodology for allocating the number of passengers between stations is described in the Station Usage Report. http://www.rail-reg.gov.uk/upload/pdf/stn_usage_report_1011.pdf on the ORR website. If you read Appendix 2 this gives all the information.
 

Smethwickian

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The New Street to Moor Street walk is an interesting one. I guess it really depends on which exit from New Street you use. If you go out of the "main" doors by the taxi rank then it should be fairly easy unless you get sidetracked by gawping at the Bullring. If you go up the escalators or out onto Stephenson Street it might be a but more of a challenge.
Conversely, Moor Street to New Street is a doddle as you can see the big tunnel you need to walk through as soon as you leave Moor Street station. There is currently a lot of work going on at the front of Moor Street, I think the council are improving access to the station frontage for taxis and I do hope that putting back the double red lines for pedestrians to follow is a part of that works. But I doubt it. (if you don't know the area, there is a strange dual carriageway at the front of Moor Street, it's all one way but has a central reservation which is very pedestrian friendly. Problem is if you are a vehicle coming from New Street or Smallbrook Queensway/the A38 inner ring road as a lot of public transport tends to do then getting access to Moor Street station itself is a problem)

Agreed - it needs better signing inside New Street's concourse to stop people seeking Moor Street heading up the escalators. Guess we'll have to see what the rebuild brings when the current concourse is transformed.

If you stand in the right spot at the front of Moor Street or New Street you can clearly glimpse one station from the other, they're that close. But when the Bullring was rebuilt the opportunity for a decent link, rather than a gloomy bit of road tunnel under the shops, seems to have escaped the minds of planners probably still fascinated by the shiny alien blob that is Selfridges.

The road layout in front of Moor Street is changing to accommodate new bus flows - two-way, I think - when services are pushed out of Corporation Street in a couple of months' time to prepare for the Metro line down there. There's detail on the Network West Midlands website somewhere with individual services' new routes and loading points now, while works are underway, and at the end of the changeover.
 
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