Re: Cardiff:
It can be cold due to it's situation rather than quality.
I must agree, it can get quite chilly. However, there are waiting rooms situated on all three platform blocks (i.e. 1/2, 3/4, 6/7), all of which are heated and are actually very warm and cosy!
PHILIPE said:
Refreshment facilities are atrocious for the capital of Wales. There is an Upper Crust Burger type Bar in the open air resembling a Burger Bar on Platforms 1/2 and which has mo seating area outside it. There are refreshment facilities (Upper Crust and Pumpkin combined) but these are below platform level and outside the ticket gates.
I think Cardiff is fine for refreshment facilities. There is a Spar, a WH Smith, an Uppercrust and a Marks and Spencer available. Admittedly, the fact that it is outside of the barriers is slightly inconvenient; however, if you show a valid ticket to the gateline staff and mention that you want to buy some refreshments, they are more than happy to let you pop out and come back again.
PHILIPE said:
It is poorly advertised (if at all) on the platforms and virtually remote from the trains so people could keep in touch with train running and withouit facilities to inform re train arrangements.
They are poorly advertised on the platforms themselves but when you get down the stairs and look at the signs facing towards the barriers it is slightly better informed.
Re: Newport:
PHILIPE said:
The footbridge might be nice to look at if you appreciate artistic design.
I did GCSE Art and A-Level Art; a subject I'm very passionate about!
PHILIPE said:
It is like a route march to cross between platforms, higher flights of steps than necessary.
As is the case with most major stations in the country, there is step-free access to all platforms, i.e. by means of a lift.
PHILIPE said:
Station facilities such as toilets on 2/3 and the Buffet are at the wrong end for the trains.
That is true. They really should be moved further down, as trains pull up right to the bottom of the footbridge (i.e. at the Cardiff end of the platform), unless it's an FGW HST or the daily XC Voyager (of which the last carriage sits just in front of the Uppercrust store). This is one of the factors that I admittedly
don't particularly like about Newport; it is mainly the artistic design of the footbridge and the fact that it's a relatively small station that catches my eye with it.
PHILIPE said:
There is only outdoor waiting and seated area on 2/3, the busiest platforms, again like the buffet, there is an indoor waiting room remote from where the trains actually stop.
The lack of waiting rooms is certainly something I am inclined to agree with; Newport is a busy interchange station for connections with the Welsh Marches and the South West. However, most services (unless it's FGW!) normally connect within each other so it isn't too bad. However, like with Queen Street, I think passengers are allowed to wait in the Uppercrust on platforms 2/3, as a makeshift waiting room.
Is there an elevator to Platform 1/2 at Cardiff Central and to the Cardiff Bay branch Platform at Cardiff Queen Street?
Yes. There is step-free acess to all platforms at Cardiff Central and I believe to all platforms at Queen Street also.
