• Our booking engine at tickets.railforums.co.uk (powered by TrainSplit) helps support the running of the forum with every ticket purchase! Find out more and ask any questions/give us feedback in this thread!

The 'Facilities' at L'Pool South Parkway

Status
Not open for further replies.

alexl92

Established Member
Joined
12 Oct 2014
Messages
2,268
Visited this station for the first time whilst travelling to Garston last week. Whilst I was there I needed the loo and couldn't believe that the entire toilet facilities for the station consist of one single toilet in one of those 'clever' self-cleaning automatic booth things. Not only that but this clever toilet didn't even have a seat... how is it that in 2015 this is considered an acceptable provision? As a bloke it's okay but for women it must be seriously unpleasant?
 
Sponsor Post - registered members do not see these adverts; click here to register, or click here to log in
R

RailUK Forums

Merseysider

Established Member
Fares Advisor
Joined
22 Jan 2014
Messages
5,389
Location
Birmingham
Visited this station for the first time whilst travelling to Garston last week. Whilst I was there I needed the loo and couldn't believe that the entire toilet facilities for the station consist of one single toilet in one of those 'clever' self-cleaning automatic booth things. Not only that but this clever toilet didn't even have a seat... how is it that in 2015 this is considered an acceptable provision? As a bloke it's okay but for women it must be seriously unpleasant?
I'll second that! I was there a couple of months ago, and my first thought after using it was "This is the ****est toliet I've ever used in my life". I mistook its exterior for a lift at first.

Aside from the fact it takes about five minutes per single use, it certainly did not 'self clean' as it stank after the previous person. A much better use of resources would surely be a standard toliet, even if it was Radar 'protected'.

Almost as bad are Virgin's loos at Crewe :|
 

LDECRexile

Established Member
Joined
30 Jan 2014
Messages
2,149
Location
Southport, UK
I visit Liverpool South Parkway frequently.

I agree that the toilets are very over-engineered, resulting in very long and unnecessary waits, wet seats and earache from the speaker system.

There are, however, three toilets. One on the ground floor opposite the bus rank, a second on the ground floor on the passageway to/from Platforms 5 & 6 and the third upstairs on the transfer deck.
 

8A Rail

Established Member
Joined
6 Dec 2012
Messages
1,291
Location
Liverpool
At least it has three toilets (let alone one) for the public to use as numerous stations dont have any!! I would agree about the seat though as I reckon most would "hovver" especially ladies!! :lol:
 

Wavertreelad

Member
Joined
24 Feb 2013
Messages
709
There we go the solution of what to do with the 142s! Convert them to toilet trains and park them up in station bays.
 

Blindtraveler

Established Member
Joined
28 Feb 2011
Messages
9,600
Location
Nowhere near enough to a Pacer :(
Speeker system? I have met several species of the auto bogs in the past but none bosting a speeker system. Are the ones here wired into the station PA, Lest the hapless occupant miss a highly important announcement but not leaving your luggage unattended or do they actually do something vaguely helpful and boom instructions on usage and how near you are to being washed as it self cleans?
 

backontrack

Established Member
Joined
2 Feb 2014
Messages
6,383
Location
The UK
I recently had to visit a loo in St Pancras, and I couldn't sit down for the urine on the seat. Usually I put down toilet paper if it is clean, but I couldn't do that either. It was all over the toilet cubicle as well, and two more of the cubicles were out of order.

On that same journey I walked all the way from Coach A to Coach U on a Pendolino to use the loo. Almost all were out of order.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Station Bays?? Most of them have been consigned to history! :lol:

Then we can create a travelling toilet train, which can troubadour the network calling at remote stations without such facilities. From Lelant to Altnabreac via Braystones and Berney Arms!

You'd just be waiting at remote Bardon Mill for your (delayed) train, when suddenly the toilet train turns up out of the blue! Now there's deus ex machina for you.

"You've come over to Leicester at a very appropriate time where the captain Ray Illingworth has just relieved himself at the pavillion end." - Brian Johnston
 

fowler9

Established Member
Joined
29 Oct 2013
Messages
8,367
Location
Liverpool
I think South Parkway is brilliant, especially when you consider what was there before (Station wise I mean, not knocking South Liverpool FC). The toilet facilities however are terrible. Three single "super" loos for a station with for large swathes of the day 11 trains per hour to the city centre plus a major bus interchange is pretty poor. Especially since as others have already said they take about 5 mins per person.

On the plus side I love the sign in the cafe saying "All day breakfast served all day!". Ha ha. The staff are friendly as is the station cat. I use the station almost every day and I love it. Just can't fathom what the designers were thinking when it came to the bogs.
 

TheNewNo2

Member
Joined
31 Mar 2015
Messages
1,008
Location
Canary Wharf
I had a bad experience at Liverpool Parkway, as a guard on a Merseyrail service threatened to have me arrested for taking photos.
 

alexl92

Established Member
Joined
12 Oct 2014
Messages
2,268
I think South Parkway is brilliant, especially when you consider what was there before (Station wise I mean, not knocking South Liverpool FC). The toilet facilities however are terrible. Three single "super" loos for a station with for large swathes of the day 11 trains per hour to the city centre plus a major bus interchange is pretty poor. Especially since as others have already said they take about 5 mins per person.

On the plus side I love the sign in the cafe saying "All day breakfast served all day!". Ha ha. The staff are friendly as is the station cat. I use the station almost every day and I love it. Just can't fathom what the designers were thinking when it came to the bogs.

To be fair, it's a nice environment. It's open, it's light, it's generally very clean. Signage isn't great and the presence of airport departure boards where you'd expect the railway ones to be is confusing but otherwise a nice place.

Is it heavily used? There are a lot of trains but I was there just after lunch time two Tuesdays in a row and it was pretty empty. 11 chairs in the waiting room suggests it's not heavily patronised, but apparently footfall is higher than Dewsbury in West Yorkshire which I pass regularly.
 

8A Rail

Established Member
Joined
6 Dec 2012
Messages
1,291
Location
Liverpool
I had a bad experience at Liverpool Parkway, as a guard on a Merseyrail service threatened to have me arrested for taking photos.
And did you take any notice of him? You say it was a "guard", then clearly that has nowt to do with the station or the staff who work there then as they are friendly and happily let you take images on the platforms without any bother.
 

bunnahabhain

Established Member
Joined
8 Jun 2005
Messages
2,070
To be fair, it's a nice environment. It's open, it's light, it's generally very clean. Signage isn't great and the presence of airport departure boards where you'd expect the railway ones to be is confusing but otherwise a nice place.

Is it heavily used? There are a lot of trains but I was there just after lunch time two Tuesdays in a row and it was pretty empty. 11 chairs in the waiting room suggests it's not heavily patronised, but apparently footfall is higher than Dewsbury in West Yorkshire which I pass regularly.
Its very heavily used at the peaks for travel to and from the Manchester direction, at other times its relatively quiet.
 

fowler9

Established Member
Joined
29 Oct 2013
Messages
8,367
Location
Liverpool
To be fair, it's a nice environment. It's open, it's light, it's generally very clean. Signage isn't great and the presence of airport departure boards where you'd expect the railway ones to be is confusing but otherwise a nice place.

Is it heavily used? There are a lot of trains but I was there just after lunch time two Tuesdays in a row and it was pretty empty. 11 chairs in the waiting room suggests it's not heavily patronised, but apparently footfall is higher than Dewsbury in West Yorkshire which I pass regularly.

Lime Street is relatively quiet at Tuesday lunchtime and that is a city centre terminus. My use of Virgin first class on Pendos would suggest no one uses it. We all know that isn't how it always is though. :D The fact there are aircraft departure notifications next to the train ones isn't that confusing, the fact most of them rarely work is annoying though.
 
Last edited:

TheNewNo2

Member
Joined
31 Mar 2015
Messages
1,008
Location
Canary Wharf
And did you take any notice of him? You say it was a "guard", then clearly that has nowt to do with the station or the staff who work there then as they are friendly and happily let you take images on the platforms without any bother.

Things were fine until I got to the Merseyrail platforms!
 

dk1

Veteran Member
Joined
2 Oct 2009
Messages
15,827
Location
East Anglia
I often stay at Crowne Plaza JL Airport & make use of the excellent 86A bus from South Parkway. Often it's very busy indeed especially on the LM services.
 

8A Rail

Established Member
Joined
6 Dec 2012
Messages
1,291
Location
Liverpool
Things were fine until I got to the Merseyrail platforms!
Still the "Guard" then? No problems taking images on the Merseyrail platforms either and I know from experience. May be the "guard" did not want to be on your image which is probably the real problem rather than the train or the station. If that is the case just refrain until he pops his head back into the train and hey presto, problem solved! Still sounds it is not the station or the staff there and probably may of got the same treatment with the same guard at another station?
 
Last edited:

alexl92

Established Member
Joined
12 Oct 2014
Messages
2,268
Lime Street is relatively quiet at Tuesday lunchtime and that is a city centre terminus. My use of Virgin first class on Pendos would suggest no one uses it. We all know that isn't how it always is though. :D The fact there are aircraft departure notifications next to the train ones isn't that confusing, the fact most of them rarely work is annoying though.

If you're not used to the station though, you expect the first screen you see to be the railway departures rather than the airport ones! Both times I went, the rail departures screen wasn't working but one of the airport ones was!
 

fowler9

Established Member
Joined
29 Oct 2013
Messages
8,367
Location
Liverpool
If you're not used to the station though, you expect the first screen you see to be the railway departures rather than the airport ones! Both times I went, the rail departures screen wasn't working but one of the airport ones was!

Fair enough mate. At the end of the day though at the mo they have 5 screen facing 2 ways in the main area. Most of them aren't currently working. I think it is more the fact that the screens aren't working than that they are confusing. God knows why they haven't fixed them, some of them have been off for a while.

On the plus side it is well staffed.
 

Alan White

Member
Joined
15 Apr 2015
Messages
77
The facilities at Stratford (SRA) are poor: a room the size of a cupboard, dimly lit, on a different level to the platforms, hidden behind the escalators. This at a busy interchange between GA, Underground, Overgound and DLR that was, a couple of years ago, a high-profile transport hub for many visitors. Not a good advert, I think.
 

trainophile

Established Member
Joined
28 Oct 2010
Messages
6,186
Location
Wherever I lay my hat
Fair enough mate. At the end of the day though at the mo they have 5 screen facing 2 ways in the main area. Most of them aren't currently working. I think it is more the fact that the screens aren't working than that they are confusing. God knows why they haven't fixed them, some of them have been off for a while.

On the plus side it is well staffed.

If you forget to check the boards when you go through the main gates to the upper platforms, and find the single board in the top vestibule is not working, and the ones by the stairs down to the platforms show "Welcome to Liverpool South Parkway", often the only way to find your required platform is using a phone to check on NRE Live Trains. Or re-tracing your steps back to the lower level, which isn't ideal with luggage and perhaps not long until your connection's departure.

The only staff I ever see outside of the ticket office or gatelines are cleaners, who are always very pleasant and chatty, but they can't be expected to know details of train movements.
 

fowler9

Established Member
Joined
29 Oct 2013
Messages
8,367
Location
Liverpool
If you forget to check the boards when you go through the main gates to the upper platforms, and find the single board in the top vestibule is not working, and the ones by the stairs down to the platforms show "Welcome to Liverpool South Parkway", often the only way to find your required platform is using a phone to check on NRE Live Trains. Or re-tracing your steps back to the lower level, which isn't ideal with luggage and perhaps not long until your connection's departure.

The only staff I ever see outside of the ticket office or gatelines are cleaners, who are always very pleasant and chatty, but they can't be expected to know details of train movements.

If you are on the bridge over platforms 1-4 and all the the information systems for each platform aren't working and also the board covering all of those platforms by the lifts isn't working (These all normally seem to work by the way), and you get all the way down to the main concourse and through the barriers without meeting a member of staff (By whom there are further info boards) then you could have a point.

The main 10 info boards in the main concourse seem to have some bizarre problem at the mo which has not been sorted. To get to them without walking in from outside or not having passed several other sources of information (including staff) is unlikely.
 

trivran

Member
Joined
23 Apr 2012
Messages
184
The facilities at Stratford (SRA) are poor: a room the size of a cupboard, dimly lit, on a different level to the platforms, hidden behind the escalators. This at a busy interchange between GA, Underground, Overgound and DLR that was, a couple of years ago, a high-profile transport hub for many visitors. Not a good advert, I think.

Nasty they are too, and to my knowledge closed for quite a few years! That or it was decided to deter your olympic visitor from discovering the state of them..
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Top