Best sited stations for town/city centre.

[bastien]

Actually, credit where it's due, Clifton Down is slap bang in the middle of one of Bristol's livelier areas. Lots of good shops, cafes, bars round there.

 

[Mikey C]

Can't complain about the location of Sheringham, very central (both the old station now used by the North Norfolk Railway and new NR station)

 

[Meerkat]

Charing Cross (London) has been mentioned, but I would add that it is actually defined as the centre of London (or rather the actual Cross in the station forecourt is), with all national road distances to London measured from it, and therefore I nominate it as the winner!

To be pedantic I believe the distances are measured from Charing Cross roundabout at Trafalgar Square - where the actual Cross was, not where it is now.
Not that it makes a lot of difference.

 

[route101]

Wigan Wallgate and NW are very close to the shopping area.

 

[HowardGWR]

Actually, credit where it's due, Clifton Down is slap bang in the middle of one of Bristol's livelier areas. Lots of good shops, cafes, bars round there.

The only problem is that it isn't at Clifton Down!

 

[bastien]

The only problem is that it isn't at Clifton Down!

Good job it's not, really! It's an idea for another thread though: Which stations are in the middle of a field?

 

[urbophile]

Good job it's not, really! It's an idea for another thread though: Which stations are in the middle of a field?

Bidston!

 

[Cherry_Picker]

To be pedantic I believe the distances are measured from Charing Cross roundabout at Trafalgar Square - where the actual Cross was, not where it is now.
Not that it makes a lot of difference.

Yep. To fine tune it further it's the statue of Charles I which is on the Charing Cross station side of the roundabout. Obviously the name Trafalgar Square dominates the area now, but it was all known as Charing Cross 200 years ago. The railway station was built after Trafalgar Square was finished but I'm guessing that most people who were around at the time still knew it all as Charing Cross.

 

[John Griffiths]

Some folks said Newcastle, but it's a plod along Grainger St with the shops becoming more naff the further down. One of the ideas for the metro was better connections as the commercial area moved further north

That is true but a city centre is more than shops. The Central Station is well sited for the castle, the Quayside, very many pubs and restaurants, the Lit & Phil, the Arena, Centre for Life, both cathedrals, etc etc.

 

[John Griffiths]

Goole is right in the town centre.

 

[Ken H]

Good job it's not, really! It's an idea for another thread though: Which stations are in the middle of a field?

Garsdale

 

[gazthomas]

Colwyn Bay, though there is no compelling reason to go there

 

[Essan]

I vote for Rannock. Everywhere in Rannock is within 100 yards of the station

Depends. The actual village of Kinloch Rannoch is 16 miles away!

Corrour also fails on that score since the lodge it was built to serve is also several miles away at the far end of Loch Ossian.

Tulloch probably counts though!

Fort William is quite good, being nicely positioned (by accident, not design) between the High St and the main supermarket for the region, Morrisons.

 

[CapitalStar378]

Both Cardiff Central and Queen Street are slap bang in the centre, has to be the city centre best served by rail. Both 2 mins walk from the main streets.

 

[Parallel]

Both Cardiff Central and Queen Street are slap bang in the centre, has to be the city centre best served by rail. Both 2 mins walk from the main streets.

Cardiff has a great rail network, not only two stations bang in the centre but also one at the Bay and other numerous suburban stations. Exeter is the same but on a smaller scale.

 

[NeilNX]

Lichfield city is pretty central. Not more than 5 minute walk to shops and theatre.

 

[Arrpi87]

Sittingbourne. Not a whole lot in the town but what there is is just across a road from the station entrance. Plus, a new entertainment complex and hotel are being built less than 100m away.

 

[randyrippley]

Market Street is the main shopping street in Carnforth which the station leads directly to, with some added bits on New Street/A6.

describing it as a "main shopping street" is being a bit charitable.........

 

[randyrippley]

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.

Of course, Yeovil Town station was ideally placed.........bloody Beeching

 

[backontrack]

Inverness, York, Lincoln, Edinburgh Waverley, Carlisle and Aberdeen all spring to mind.

 

[Western Lord]

Of course, Yeovil Town station was ideally placed.........bloody Beeching

Ideally placed as regards the town, not ideally placed as regards the rail network.

 

[Y Ddraig Coch]

Most of the North Wales coast from Conwy is great for being close to the towns they serve Conwy, Llandudno Junction, Colwyn Bay, Rhyl, Prestatyn, Flint, Shotton.

Deganwy and Llandudno also.

I haven't been back through all 200 posts but Liverpool lime street and central i'm sure have been suggested are also great for being minutes away from everything you need.

 

[yoyothehobo]

Altnabreac could be better...

 

[HowardGWR]

Ideally placed as regards the town, not ideally placed as regards the rail network.

Not if you wanted the shops and town hall /courts etc and coach stop. A hefty lug up the steep hill. What was particularly central about Yeovil Town then?

 

[Western Lord]

Not if you wanted the shops and town hall /courts etc and coach stop. A hefty lug up the steep hill. What was particularly central about Yeovil Town then?

Somebody else suggested it.

 

[AlanFry1]

Liverpool James Street

 

[MarkyT]

Not if you wanted the shops and town hall /courts etc and coach stop. A hefty lug up the steep hill. What was particularly central about Yeovil Town then?

Closer than Pen Mill surely, and definitely more so than Junction. Pretty good for the bus station and Middle Street and Vicarage Walk shops. For towns and cities above a certain size, no single station site is ever going to to adequately cover all of the centre, let alone the entire settlement within trivial walking distance. And where exactly is this mythical centre of so many towns and cities today anyway? Just because a historic market square / town hall / cathedral exists in a particular position, that doesn't mean most commercial activity or employment is based around there.

 

[randyrippley]

Not if you wanted the shops and town hall /courts etc and coach stop. A hefty lug up the steep hill. What was particularly central about Yeovil Town then?

Actually........when it was built it WAS the terminus for all the Southern National services and the main stop for the Royal Blue coaches.
It was close the the shops on Middle Street, while the municipal centre around the Borough was only around a quarter of a mile away.

 

[randyrippley]

Ideally placed as regards the town, not ideally placed as regards the rail network.

ideally placed if the line to Taunton had been kept open and doubled. Not as a local service, but as an alternative long distance route relieving the LSWR route

 

[lancastrian]

Bolton Station is only a 5 minute walk to the Town Centre, that includes having to wait to get across Great Moor Street, because of all the buses that block the road with the new 'improved' Bus Station.