Best and Worst Major Interchange Stations

[AlbertBeale]

On the occasions I've used London Bridge since the rebuild, I've found it a real pain to find my way around. Clapham Junction has improved a bit in recent years (from a low starting point of course...).

And of course St P is now about 5 separate stations (once you take the different batches of Underground lines into account), and I know many new visitors find it difficult to "get their head round". Even if you do know your way round it, it's still a hell of a hike - and sometimes a confusing one, such as from the ticket office to the Midland platforms, when you have to walk half-way down the train shed in the wrong direction before there's an "up" escalator. (Still, making St P difficult to get round at least means it's a good "twin" for Paris Nord at the other end of the Eurostar line.)

 

[Wtloild]

Two options for interchange on the same route that are both awful but for opposite reasons:

• Salford Crescent: very narrow, busy, draughty platform with zero facilities.
• Bolton: it's a trek when you're only using one platform. When you're interchanging between two, it's a double-trek.

I'd second Carlisle as a good'un.

 

[AGH]

New Street was a mess made worse save for the grand Central roof which is excellent. Still struggle to change there or exit and notably my through tickets are change at Wolverhampton now more often

Just visited Stratford this week for the first time. I suppose in due course if a regular you get used to it but as a newcomer wow confused.

Baker Street on the underground was an experience recently. Bit mad.

Reading is much improved and I find Temple Meads only mildly annoying being dropped so far down a platform when alighting from a Cross Country train.

Manchester Oxford Road is a mess when late platform changes are called. Getting to Platform 1 when busy is nuts.

I liked Preston. Big wide platforms and easy to get around.

 

[ijmad]

Kings Cross / St Pancras counts as a an 'interchange' for ticketing purposes right? The walk from Platform A (St P) to Platform (0) Kings Cross is not the greatest experience, up two staircases, across a concourse, then outdoors and across a road. Honestly I'm surprised that at some point during two eye-wateringly expensive upgrades they didn't think to add a link bridge at the upper level of St Pancras and/or extend the underpass used for the tube all the way to the Thameslink platforms.

 

[Mikey C]

Kings Cross / St Pancras counts as a an 'interchange' for ticketing purposes right? The walk from Platform A (St P) to Platform (0) Kings Cross is not the greatest experience, up two staircases, across a concourse, then outdoors and across a road. Honestly I'm surprised that at some point during two eye-wateringly expensive upgrades they didn't think to add a link bridge at the upper level of St Pancras and/or extend the underpass used for the tube all the way to the Thameslink platforms.

The Thameslink platforms are a slight faff to get to and from, but it's hardly a busy road, and it's quite a pleasant walk really, as the area has been nicely landscaped

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[swt_passenger]

Kings Cross / St Pancras counts as a an 'interchange' for ticketing purposes right? The walk from Platform A (St P) to Platform (0) Kings Cross is not the greatest experience, up two staircases, across a concourse, then outdoors and across a road. Honestly I'm surprised that at some point during two eye-wateringly expensive upgrades they didn't think to add a link bridge at the upper level of St Pancras and/or extend the underpass used for the tube all the way to the Thameslink platforms.

The LU concourse level underpass would be impossible to extend west at its present level, because of the culverted River Fleet.

 

[coppercapped]

Point taken about the toilets - I will look for them on the island next time. Otherwise I was actually being nice about Reading so maybe time to put your reading glasses on!

How did you know? I collected my new varifocals from the optician yesterday - my, an improvement!

I realise now(!) that you were being complimentary, although I liked the old GWR station it was much too small for the number of passengers and the track layout was much too constrictive for the traffic. The new station is logical, easy to navigate and the extra space has meant that the frenetic crush that used to hold sway has eased considerably.

Any snags which may still exist are more to do with site limitations[1] - although the bridge would be a lot more welcoming in wet, windy and cold weather if it were better protected. This has been discussed on these forums in the past, but the bottom line is that if the bridge at deck level becomes 'enclosed' then a whole extra raft of fire safety precautions become necessary from extra emergency exits onwards at a cost of several tens of millions.

The little yellow 'Caution wet floor' pyramids are a lot cheaper...!

[1] For example it was not possible to arrange that escalators and stairs pointed straight at Platforms 1 to 3 from the bridge because of the need to have a safety overrun behind the buffer stops clear of obstructions for these platforms. Hence the need to double back under the bridge towards 1 to 3 if coming off the bridge.

Edit: Added [1] and corrected spelling and meaning in second paragraph.

 

[Dr Hoo]

Kings Cross / St Pancras counts as a an 'interchange' for ticketing purposes right? The walk from Platform A (St P) to Platform (0) Kings Cross is not the greatest experience, up two staircases, across a concourse, then outdoors and across a road. Honestly I'm surprised that at some point during two eye-wateringly expensive upgrades they didn't think to add a link bridge at the upper level of St Pancras and/or extend the underpass used for the tube all the way to the Thameslink platforms.

Are you unable or unwilling to use the escalators or lifts?

Having to use 'two staircases' for interchange is par for the course at the great majority of stations

 

[jfollows]

Birmingham New Street - I agree with most of the comments. Potty and confusing except for the footbridge at the Wolverhampton B/C end which I therefore use all the time. Is it surprising that I used to have work colleagues who were terrified of changing trains there?

Crewe I find really good, perhaps because it's familiar. It's usually possible to watch trains arriving and there are two nice footbridges, plus free gents toilets.

Stratford confused me in its latest incarnation.

London Bridge downstairs was completely confusing, I was just trying to find the underground station entrance.

Reading seemed OK the one time I've been there in its latest form.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

I vote for Derby as one of the best, but there is a bit of bias there... Nottingham can involve a lot of walking.

One that hasn't been mentioned is Smethwick Galton Bridge. Changing from the Stourbridge Line towards New Street is a piece of cake - straight down the stairs. But going the other way requires an ascent to the top level - and if the tiny lift is out of order or there are several people waiting for it, then there are a LOT of stairs to climb. And then you have to cross the footbridge and drop down to Platform 1...

I'm not sure how Smethwick Galton Bridge could be improved other than bigger lifts- the orientation of the two platforms on each level will always mean that some transfers are easier than others. I suppose if they were islands it would be easier, but way more complex to build. My only real issue is that when switching levels it's easy to get disoriented if you're from outside the area and haven't visited before!

 

[HowardGWR]

Newport is entirely unpleasant and the fact this is due to an 'improvement' made for a golf tournament, is even more regrettable.

 

[6Gman]

Preston isn't too bad, but the stairs to the footbridge are narrow. It's a longish walk from 3C, but that will be filled in to extend the main island, and the new platform 0 on the old parcels island will be an even longer walk away. It's not strictly within the terms set by the OP, but I find the interchange with the X2 bus to Southport from the Fishergate Hill stop just outside the station front to be very convenient (much more so than when the stop was outside the HSBC further up the street). I have made that connection in less than 4 minutes.
My own pet hate is changing stations at Wigan. It would be a help if each station had a departure indicator for the other. Then you would know if you needed to run or could take your time.

Would be useful for those of us "in the know" but I fear we would soon have "normals" waiting for the Southport train at North Western and the Glasgow train at "Wallgate".

"But it said on the screen there was a Southport/ Glasgow train!"

 

[Parallel]

Another vote for Shrewsbury here if you are either arriving/intending to board a train leaving on Platform 3 with a tight connection.

Newport also isn't a great station for interchanges, the footbridge is at the far end of the platform so again, does take time when in a rush.

Salisbury has a very long slope/subway if you're looking to get between the island platform and Platforms 4 or 6.

---
Birmingham New Street for me depends which end of the station you arrive at - not usually many issues for me if I can use the B end of the platforms. I find many of the Avanti stations excellent.

 

[AlbertBeale]

Baker Street on the underground was an experience recently. Bit mad.

I love Baker Street - maybe because I've known it for decades, from even before I was old enough to frequent the bar that used to be there years ago (on the upper level). It is a bit fiddly if you don't know it, but I find it conceptually straightforward, in the sense that the platform layout makes sense (in terms of the constraints of the track layout) and I can easily hold an image of the station layout in my head. Though coming up from the deep tubes, and having to check the screens to make a judgement about which sub-surface platform to make a run for... that's always felt like fun.

 

[D6975]

Definitely New St. Getting from one platform to another used to be simple. Now there's a chance that you can't get directly to the platform you want without either going through the barriers twice or taking a lengthy detour.

 

[Dr Hoo]

Definitely New St. Getting from one platform to another used to be simple. Now there's a chance that you can't get directly to the platform you want without either going through the barriers twice or taking a lengthy detour.

Yes, I entirely agree with you, back in about 1970 with a fraction of the number of train services and passengers, and if you were able bodied and didn't need to use a lift.

Have people forgotten how crowded it had become into the 2000s?

Did people not miss trains like I did, queuing to get through the single barrier line?

Did people not miss connections because of the convoluted access to the single lifts via that terrible stygian subway?

Do people not understand that the new layout 'diffuses' passenger movement so that those actually accessing Birmingham city centre don't have to share the interchange bridge?

Do people not appreciate that there are now places to wait 'out of the way', not at platform level, in relative comfort, adjacent to toilets and refreshment facilities?

 

[BayPaul]

Yes, I entirely agree with you, back in about 1970 with a fraction of the number of train services and passengers, and if you were able bodied and didn't need to use a lift.

Have people forgotten how crowded it had become into the 2000s?

Did people not miss trains like I did, queuing to get through the single barrier line?

Did people not miss connections because of the convoluted access to the single lifts via that terrible stygian subway?

Do people not understand that the new layout 'diffuses' passenger movement so that those actually accessing Birmingham city centre don't have to share the interchange bridge?

Do people not appreciate that there are now places to wait 'out of the way', not at platform level, in relative comfort, adjacent to toilets and refreshment facilities?

I'd agree it is much better than it was, and that it is probably close to as good as it is likely to get. I still think that it is awkward, non-intuitive, confusing, dark and dingy. The features you describe are more ways of mitigating concerns, rather than being good things in their own right. It has probably gone from terrible to bad - a big improvement, but still unsurprising that so many people are calling it the worst!

 

[Djgr]

Yes, I entirely agree with you, back in about 1970 with a fraction of the number of train services and passengers, and if you were able bodied and didn't need to use a lift.

Have people forgotten how crowded it had become into the 2000s?

Did people not miss trains like I did, queuing to get through the single barrier line?

Did people not miss connections because of the convoluted access to the single lifts via that terrible stygian subway?

Do people not understand that the new layout 'diffuses' passenger movement so that those actually accessing Birmingham city centre don't have to share the interchange bridge?

Do people not appreciate that there are now places to wait 'out of the way', not at platform level, in relative comfort, adjacent to toilets and refreshment facilities?

As a consistent and persistent lover of Birmingham New Street you are in a small minority. Reflect on why others think differently. (They might not all be wrong!)

 

[Robertj21a]

Yes, I entirely agree with you, back in about 1970 with a fraction of the number of train services and passengers, and if you were able bodied and didn't need to use a lift.

Have people forgotten how crowded it had become into the 2000s?

Did people not miss trains like I did, queuing to get through the single barrier line?

Did people not miss connections because of the convoluted access to the single lifts via that terrible stygian subway?

Do people not understand that the new layout 'diffuses' passenger movement so that those actually accessing Birmingham city centre don't have to share the interchange bridge?

Do people not appreciate that there are now places to wait 'out of the way', not at platform level, in relative comfort, adjacent to toilets and refreshment facilities?

So, it's better than it was.

That doesn't stop it being still the worst interchange.

 

[Bletchleyite]

So, it's better than it was.

That doesn't stop it being still the worst interchange.

I quite like it to be honest. The main thing it needs is all the DMUs removing.

 

[1955LR]

So, it's better than it was.

That doesn't stop it being still the worst interchange.

I still cannot get my head round the need to have coloured zones at New Street. All I want for to find my train , is to have a platform number and a clear indication of the route too it . I met up with my brother at New street and he is a not a train user , took about 20 mins to find each other even talking to each other by phone.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I still cannot get my head round the need to have coloured zones at New Street. All I want for to find my train , is to have a platform number and a clear indication of the route too it . I met up with my brother at New street and he is a not a train user , took about 20 mins to find each other even talking to each other by phone.

You can ignore them, the displays show platform numbers in the conventional way and I find the signage clear enough even if the layout is slightly unintuitive.

 

[Horizon22]

The interchange at Paddington between the Hammersmith & City/ Circle and the higher numbered platforms of the main station isn't wonderful. Notwithstanding that platforms 13/14/15/16 all once used to be part of the same semi separate station, you now have to go almost to the main concourse, reverse, go upstairs and head through the TfL booking hall to reach 15 and 16.

By contrast at Maidenhead, some of the eastbound trains at peak hours will cross from the platform 3 line to the platform 4 line to make a cross platform interchange with the Branch shuttle to Bourne End in platform 5.

It is a bit of a trek, but at the far end of the platform you can at least hope over the stairs and the sail bridge in relative ease.

 

[Dr Hoo]

I still cannot get my head round the need to have coloured zones at New Street. All I want for to find my train , is to have a platform number and a clear indication of the route too it . I met up with my brother at New street and he is a not a train user , took about 20 mins to find each other even talking to each other by phone.

It is really very simple, although "need" is a bit of a vague word.

For many passengers with, perhaps, an hourly service to their destination such as Hereford or Peterborough, there will be no point in going to the platform immediately.

Why hang around in what is widely acknowledged (even by me) as a less attractive, noisy, darker, fume-affected, facility-free, subterranean environment when you can wait in relative comfort in the zones?

Holding passengers in the zones is also a useful policy in case of a platform change being necessary.

The zones are for everyone's benefit. By staying in a zone you are not in anyone's way and thus helping to keep platforms, barrier lines and the 'B' interchange bridge free for optimised passenger flow. It was congestion in the cramped (if relatively simple) old layout that did for it in safety and comfort terms.

I recognise that if you are travelling to somewhere with a very frequent service like Birmingham International or University you will want to go direct to the platform the the 'next' train. Strangely enough there is copious signage both within and outside the paid area to enable you to find it.

 

[BayPaul]

It is really very simple, although "need" is a bit of a vague word.

For many passengers with, perhaps, an hourly service to their destination such as Hereford or Peterborough, there will be no point in going to the platform immediately.

Why hang around in what is widely acknowledged (even by me) as a less attractive, noisy, darker, fume-affected, facility-free, subterranean environment when you can wait in relative comfort in the zones?

Holding passengers in the zones is also a useful policy in case of a platform change being necessary.

The zones are for everyone's benefit. By staying in a zone you are not in anyone's way and thus helping to keep platforms, barrier lines and the 'B' interchange bridge free for optimised passenger flow. It was congestion in the cramped (if relatively simple) old layout that did for it in safety and comfort terms.

I recognise that if you are travelling to somewhere with a very frequent service like Birmingham International or University you will want to go direct to the platform the the 'next' train. Strangely enough there is copious signage both within and outside the paid area to enable you to find it.

Simple, perhaps, but not intuitive to people who have been travelling around the country for years, not experiencing these concepts, and who don't know what the zones are for, other than they are important!

If I had been redesigning New Street, I would have been more tempted to build it inside out - putting the entire area between the A and B stairway lines within one large ticket barrier area (with multiple barrier lines in all 4 directions), so all platforms were accessed down stairs from the same area, and with the non-ticketed circulating space around the perimeter This would have given lots of circulating, retail, and holding space, but would have made the design of the station more similar to that of other large stations.

 

[Dr Hoo]

As a consistent and persistent lover of Birmingham New Street you are in a small minority. Reflect on why others think differently. (They might not all be wrong!)

As I've said, I was born and brought up there so have always understood the layout ever since I was a toddler being passed onto the footplate of pre-grouping steam locomotives for the experience whilst out with my grandfather.

But seriously, I've been a station manager (not at New Street) and worked at many other large stations including, for example, Glasgow Central and Edinburgh Waverley. Both of those are charming in their own way and have some great heritage features but for passenger interchange and multiple barrier entries and exits for through passengers they are both awful compared to New Street.

The original 1850s station was stupendous in its day, having the largest unsupported roof in the world and a single overhead bridge linking all platforms. At the conceptual and planning stage it was commonly referred to as 'Grand Central', the 'New Street' name only being applied in November 1852, when construction was already under way.

The engineer and designer of that great roof, E A Cowper, would have been enchanted to realise that his design concepts have still held good 170 years later.

If I had been redesigning New Street, I would have been more tempted to build it inside out - putting the entire area between the A and B stairway lines within one large ticket barrier area (with multiple barrier lines in all 4 directions), so all platforms were accessed down stairs from the same area, and with the non-ticketed circulating space around the perimeter This would have given lots of circulating, retail, and holding space, but would have made the design of the station more similar to that of other large stations.

Nice try but just not physically possible. By the very nature of the site and track layout Platforms 1 and 12 are right on the edge of the footprint. Hence access has to be within the perimeter, which is why it is like it is.

 

[43096]

The 16:25 to Aberystwyth usually leaves from 6B, I believe.

The 'B' end/Red Lounge bridge provides barrier free interchange between all platforms as noted frequently above.

If you need to enter Platform 6 from the 'concourse'/non-ticketed area there are no fewer than four sets of barriers providing access, all clearly signed as such.

There is no need for gymnastics. Just follow the indicators and signs.

This thread seems to be exposing that quite a few experienced rail travellers just seem to blunder around stations, thinking that they know the 'best way' but not actually referring to signage or maps, or (perish the thought) having a helpful conversation with a member of station staff .

The alternative view is that if experienced travellers find it an absolute muddle then god help the occasional traveller. How they are supposed to know the ‘B’ end is better for changing trains I don’t know. The railway (those experts at customer service) no doubt expect them to do the platform contraflow that always exists at New St if they arrive at the A end. I’ll repeat: it’s an utter shambles of a design that perpetuates the hell hole that it has always been.

It further adds to NR’s way finding project - getting this right (boringly right) is essential.

 

[Robertj21a]

Despite your obvious enthusiasm for New St, it's a view clearly not shared by many - as this thread rather confirms!
Sorry to tell you but it more than deserves any 'appalling interchange' category.

 

[BayPaul]

Nice try but just not physically possible. By the very nature of the site and track layout Platforms 1 and 12 are right on the edge of the footprint. Hence access has to be within the perimeter, which is why it is like it is.

Fair enough - Looking on Google Earth and the NR maps it looked achievable (maybe with a central staircase rather than A and B separate on 1 and 12), but I am sure the architect who built it knows far more about it than me!

 

[Strathclyder]

Dalmuir is something of a mixed bag, at least in my experience. Cross-platform interchanges (Plat. 2/3 & 4/5) are relatively straightforward as you'd expect, but Platfrom 1 to 4/5 (less so for 1 to 2/3) always feels like a bit of a hike when it really shouldn't, given the overall station footprint (maybe it's those staircases). And woe betide those of us who are less able-bodied if any of the lifts have conked out (have seen notices on the PIS at various stations on the North Clyde/Argyle Line over the years of at least one of Dalmuir's lifts being out of order).