Best sited stations for town/city centre.

[6Gman]

Newcastle, Scarborough, Hull, Doncaster, Harrogate, Liverpool Lime Street, Macclesfield, Blackburn

Isn't there a rather steep hill between station and town centre?

 

[RPI]

I'd say Penzance, Redruth, Newquay, Teignmouth, Dawlish, Honiton and Axminster are pretty good.

 

[Sir Felix Pole]

Isn't there a rather steep hill between station and town centre?

Indeed, 108 steps to be precise, a famous local landmark!

 

[Jessicas Dad]

Only if you walk very slowly...bus station is next door and is linked to the Thistle Shopping Centre!

I made it 10 minutes because it might take that long to get to the cinema If you miss that out then 5 minutes is nearer the mark, and possibly less depending on your walking speed!

 

[Bevan Price]

Good in the East Midlands are: Mansfield, Lincoln, Sleaford, Matlock, Bingham, Bulwell, Oakham (it's flat), and I'm struggling to think of more....
Interestingly all 3 East Midlands Cities stations- Derby, Leicester & Nottingham are NOT convenient for their City centres. Nor are Chesterfield, Loughborough, Beeston, Burton on Trent, Long Eaton, Ilkeston, Alfreton, Hucknall, Newark Castle, Newark Northgate, Retford, Worksop, Grantham, Gainsborough Lea Road, Melton Mowbray, Market Harborough, Hinckley, Stamford......

Matlock Bath is also convenient for the nearby shopping & "touristy" areas.
The old Long Eaton station was convenient for that place - but they closed it, and renamed the former Sawley Junction to Long Eaton.
Ilkeston is at/near the site of the former Ilkeston Junction station - the branch to the town centre was closed even before Marples-Beeching. And then the latter closed the other Ilkeston station (not far from the town centre) along with the Derby Friargate to Nottingham Victoria line

 

[Esker-pades]

Kildonan. Usefully situated for all the house that it serves.

 

[dgl]

Weymouth is not to bad, the beach can been seen form outside the front of the station, plus there is a KFC and McDonalds within 5 mins walk.
Also the Dorchester stations are not too bad, both being with 10mins of the main shopping centre.
Southampton is also not too bad, esp. for Westquay/IKEA, 15mins walk easily.

 

[Meerkat]

Surely a fifteen minute walk is not particularly adjacent?!

 

[Taunton]

Notably the Scottish cities all have better sited central stations than some elsewhere.

The GWR, alas, has the booby prize for having built so many off-centre main stations. Even in London their terminus was the one furthest out. Paddington is not in the centre, it's in postal district W2, and separated by quite a residential belt from anywhere that could be considered Central London.

 

[Busaholic]

I'd say Penzance, Redruth, Newquay, Teignmouth, Dawlish, Honiton and Axminster are pretty good.

If only Newquay offered what you could term a train 'service'!

 

[Mikey C]

In terms of Kent seaside stations, picking three of the top of my head Margate is very convenient for the sea, Broadstairs is pretty good whereas Ramsgate is more remote!

Across the river, Southend Central lives up to its name, whereas Victoria is further out but still not bad.

 

[Typhoon]

In terms of Kent seaside stations, picking three of the top of my head Margate is very convenient for the sea, Broadstairs is pretty good whereas Ramsgate is more remote!.

Agreed! Many of the Kent seaside stations are a bit of a distance from the sea however Westgate isn't too bad or, indeed, Deal (but neither are as good as Margate).

 

[tsr]

Other convenient stations:
Chichester
Crawley (for the town centre shops and some of the offices)
Gatwick Airport (you may laugh, but comparing it to some airports...)
West Croydon (you usually spend longer walking inside the station than you do to get to anything local, not that there’s much you would want to do round there)
Sutton
Redhill
Oxted (the station actually cuts the “new” bit of town in half)
Tonbridge (for the town centre and some schools)
Hastings
Watford High Street
Chalfont and Latimer
Chorleywood
Lapworth
Leominster (despite being on one side of the town)
Shrewsbury
Paignton
Starcross
Tenby
Carlisle (sort of - depends where you need to get to)
Other random ideas available...

I would question York.

I wouldn’t. It’s not at all far to go before you feel like you’re in the centre of the place, even if some of the tourist attractions are a little way further on.

I'd say Penzance, Redruth, Newquay, Teignmouth, Dawlish, Honiton and Axminster are pretty good.

Axminster doesn’t feel that near the town centre purely due to the large car park and awkward pedestrian crossings at that roundabout, but it sure doesn’t take long to walk to.

Kildonan. Usefully situated for all the house that it serves.

If we’re going down that route... Corrour? Tulloch? Even Buckenham?

Surely a fifteen minute walk is not particularly adjacent?!

I would agree. I live a brisk 10 minute walk from my local station and I wouldn’t exactly describe that as “nearby”. A 15min walk may be far enough for someone to get a taxi if they have something awkward and heavy to carry, or for somebody to get completely drenched if it’s raining. Not exactly overpoweringly convenient, really.

 

[Gathursty]

Hindley is a 10 minute walk to the high street proper.
Atherton is a 15 minute walk to the high street proper.
Pemberton is a 20 minute walk to the high street proper.
Upholland is a 25 minute walk to the main bit of Upholland.
Rainford is about 35 minutes walk from Rainford.
Bryn is fine.
Ince is about a 5 minute walk to the centre of Ince.

 

[AlastairFraser]

Didcot, Theale,Newbury,Bramley,Hungerford,Ealing Broadway,Dawlish Warren and Teignmouth in GWR territory. Bracknell, Hook and Brockenhurst in SWR territory. Lewes,Littlehampton,Eastbourne,Rye and Uckfield in Southern territory

 

[Typhoon]

Other convenient stations:
...
Tonbridge (for the town centre and some schools)
...

And Tunbridge Wells? Half way down the hill from main shopping area and council buildings, half way up the hill from The Pantiles (quirky shops) and between two significant green spaces (the Common and Calverley Gardens).

Also Bexhill - on the edge of the shopping area, then the sea.

 

[PHILIPE]

Wellington (Telford)

 

[Bevan Price]

Notably the Scottish cities all have better sited central stations than some elsewhere.
.

I think I would exclude Perth from that Scottish list.

 

[bastien]

Brighton station is well located for the 'interesting' part of town. But quite a long way from the beach.

 

[Sheddyone]

Has Wetherspoons been refurbished yet, the last time I was in there it was dirty. A wrote to Wetherspoons about the dirt.

They're all like that, with one or two exceptions (that prove the rule). Minimum wage, zero-hours-contract, heavily overworked staff serving in a cavernous 'gin palace' with a reputation for the cheapest booze in town, thus attracting a significant proportion of the local nutters, alcoholics and homeless.

Happy Christmas everyone!

 

[curly42]

Totally agree regarding Wetherspoons - wouldn't use one if the beer was free. However,it's "horses for courses",as with so many things.

Regarding stations convenient to centres - Gloucester is excellent,just the opposite to its neighbour Cheltenham.

 

[route:oxford]

Dunblane.

Both the City Centre and Marks & Spencer are less than 5 minute walk away. The Cathedral can be seen from the station, but takes about 6 minutes to walk it.

Dunblane Surgery, Dunblane Primary and Dunblane High are around 4, 6 and 8 minutes walk respectively.

 

[HowardGWR]

It depends on what the OP means by 'centre'. If the meaning is 'comparison shopping', I doubt whether many people will be travelling by rail to access them, whether the station is handy for them, or otherwise, and depending whether the location has a local train service to it.
I'll try an example. Yeovil Pen Mill is far from the main shopping street, but does have a local rail service from Weymouth. Only folk north of Maiden Newton would consider shopping in Yeovil, as Dorchester West and Weymouth are more convenient to access from Maiden Newton. Ironically, there is a small out of town 'mall' adjacent to Pen Mill, so if you want Matalan and live in Yetminster, you could be interested! Unfortunately, Chetnole and Thornford are a good walk from the village they serve. Worse, the mall of course has a free car park, so that only car-less customers could possibly be rail-customers. All this is why local rail is so useless for many everyday activities.
It's different in city areas possibly. The Welsh valley lines are set up for comparison shopping and sports viewing in Cardiff. In Bristol, you have to get a bus at T.M. from wherever you came from locally, to Broadmead, so you would have bussed it throughout, most like, or drove with all the plebs to the ghastly O.O.T. dump at Cribbs Causeway. If I lived in Keynsham, I would get a train or bus to Bath, where the shopping experience is better than Bristol.

 

[Blinkbonny]

morecambe was better before they truncated the line. Now it seems to be in the middle of a car park

Exactly so. Used to step off the train straight onto the Promenade. Replaced with a glorified bus stop. (Though I do like the water poems along the path that you now have to take. Shows a bit of imagination.)

 

[RPI]

If only Newquay offered what you could term a train 'service'!

Far better than it was pre 2006 though

 

[imagination]

I would question York.

And I would question Aberdeen - it's one of those places which looks closer on the map than it does under foot. Almost none of the roads heading North from near the station actually provide a direct and convenient route to the city centre, and Market Street (the only exception) involves crossing a very busy junction and then going up a not insignificant hill.

 

[MB1]

And I would question Aberdeen - it's one of those places which looks closer on the map than it does under foot. Almost none of the roads heading North from near the station actually provide a direct and convenient route to the city centre, and Market Street (the only exception) involves crossing a very busy junction and then going up a not insignificant hill.

Both walking through the Trinity Centre or continuing along Guild Street and walking up Bridge Street are very direct routes to the city centre. Even the Market Street route is reasonably quick, and that "very busy junction" is traffic light controlled. Even without that, the station is attached to Union Square shopping centre, the bus station and a hotel.

 

[matacaster]

Ilkley and Keighley are pretty well situated.

 

[W-on-Sea]

Barking
Ilford
Stratford (London: on- Avon really not so much)
Basildon
Stevenage
Maidenhead
Slough
Feltham
West Hampstead
Harrow on the Hill (more for the modern town centre than the old hilltop village/school)
Woolwich Arsenal
Blackheath
Bromley South (and North)

 

[Statto]

Conway Park & Birkenhead Central, both 5 minute walk to Birkenhead Town Centre[although when you've been to Birkenhead Town Centre you wish you'd got off in Liverpool instead].