Grubbiest or most dilapidated station on the network in 2023

[Dr Hoo]

Has to be Pokesdown, it's pretty horrible

Yes, so bad that Network Rail have security staff to make sure that no-one is able to photograph the squalor (but quite happy to allow people to smoke dubious substances next to them.)

 

[Lemmy99uk]

Stafford’s got to be up there surely? The miserable 60s brutalist style makes it pretty grim

I love the design of Stafford station. My second favourite west coast station after Coventry (although I’ve not been there since the redevelopment).

I understand ‘grubbiest and dilapidated ’ to mean run down and dirty, not simply a style that I dislike.

 

[Iskra]

I used Batley for the first time since the recent blockade yesterday, and the staircase down into the subway on the Leeds-bound side was festooned with flakes of paint that had fallen from the roof. I don't expect any significant improvements until the work starts on replacing said subway with an accessible bridge.
The great work done by the Friends of Batley Station group (planters and the like) contrasts starkly with the bits they can't do anything about.

It’s a lot better than it used to be, it was very run down in the late 00’s- to a similar standard as Wakefield Kirkgate was, which would have won this thread at that time.

 

[SJL2020]

Ardwick.

 

[Iskra]

Ardwick.

Good shout

 

[paulmch]

Essex Road station is pretty dingy, as are most of the stations on the Northern City line.

 

[GN Boy]

Essex Road station is pretty dingy, as are most of the stations on the Northern City line.

Agreed. I feel for my colleagues that drive down there three times a day!

 

[Bletchleyite]

Ardwick.

Is it grubby? The footbridge is dilapidated, as is the area around it, but I always thought it a bit of a quaint "railway garden".

As for mentions of Man Vic, as is well known I really hate the place, and the through station is a bit mucky with diesel fumes, but it's mostly not dilapidated, just badly designed.

 

[Whistler40145]

Stafford’s got to be up there surely? The miserable 60s brutalist style makes it pretty grim

I'd also include Wigan North Western and Warrington Bank Quay being of similar build

 

[cin88]

Moorside. It slightly angers me every time I drive past that they've left it in such a shabby state since the fire.

Preston is quite shabby and downright awful in the PCD (where the Red Star/post depot was), although I quite like it in the sense that it's like a timeshot of late BR running down.

Crewe is as everyone says, not nice at all.

Avanti's stations in general to be honest, they haven't really had much improvement since the days of Virgin.

 

[Liverpool 507]

Ashburys, St Helen’s Junction, Edge Hill etc to name a few

 

[D6975]

Has to be Pokesdown, it's pretty horrible

Beat me to it - it's a thoroughly depressing place.

In the same area, unless it's been massively improved over the last few years, I'd say Stapleton Road. When I went there once it felt very dirty and run down and didn't really feel like the place you'd want to be at night

Much improved as part of the four tracking of Filton bank. it's still a well dodgy area though, you get drugs dealers operating from the Northbound platform exit.

 

[Sheridan]

Although platform 2 at Holyhead has recently had its roof refurbished, platform 1 (the one most Avanti services use) is in a right state, as shown in photos.

Photos show moss and vegetation growing on a wall, peeling and missing signage, a permanently boarded up door panel, and general neglect.

 

[32475]

Perth Station has to be given an honorary mention especially for platforms 3&4. This part of the station replicates aged aristocracy which has fallen on hard times. Think of Miss Haversham surrounded by a ghostly, gloomy and darkened atmosphere of cobwebs, pidgeon droppings, flaking paint and asbestos roof coverings amid gothic stonework, beautiful joinery, the magnificent clock and you get the picture!

 

[faltskog36abba]

Not the worst admittedly, but Chester feels quite run down. Half the roof is missing, which I think may be WW2 damage. Coupled with the poor facilities you might expect in a station where lots of people change trains, it could be much improved.

I agree with Chester, It felt a bit neglected when I was last in the Station.

 

[Peter0124]

Avanti's stations in general to be honest, they haven't really had much improvement since the days of Virgin.

Carlisle is an exception to that. I really enjoy sitting at the benches in the fake grass.

 

[Mzzzs]

Hornsey or Harringay stations are in bad shape although some work has been done to improve them.

 

[mm333]

I last used Sellafield when walking along the beach from Seascale in 2019 and it was a rusty, dilapidated place. Very grim. But if 99% of your passengers are people who work on the site, there’s little incentive to do it up.

 

[AlterEgo]

Is Drayton Park still a dump?

 

[LLivery]

Barking. Worst station in London.

 

[RPI]

Polsloe Bridge is pretty dire, the prefab concrete platforms have been deteriorating for decades with temporary waist height lighting on the back of the fence. They've just spent months and probably tons of money strengthening the platforms and replacing the fence, when really it should have been demolished an replaced, its quite a busy little station too! The shelter is also pretty bad and the train departure screen is on the approach path 10ft below the platform!

 

[Mzzzs]

Is Drayton Park still a dump?

Still is a dump along with most stations on the northern city line.

 

[alistairlees]

Perhaps a shorter list would be: “which stations are not dilapidated?”

 

[BJames]

Barking. Worst station in London.

Although thankfully improvements planned/underway:

(Geoff Marshall's video on "Barking Station is being Upgraded")

 

[GoneSouth]

Perhaps a shorter list would be: “which stations are not dilapidated?”

Perhaps you’re right and to be honest when I created the thread I did think maybe I ought to create a more positive one as well that reflects the stations that have been beautifully restored, charmingly redecorated or spruced up for a new golden era of rail travel, but then I thought it would be a short discussion, mostly around tidying up existing stations now on the Elizabeth Line

Somebody else feel free to start that one if you like.

 

[JD2168]

2 possible examples:
Bridlington Station, no lifts or escalators to cross the tracks, bridge over tracks paint peeling off & generally in a poor condition, toilets that at times don’t work, plus the floor on the concourse is generally wet at most times. Contrasts largely with the refurbished area at the front which is very smart.

Cleethorpes, lack of roof over most platforms, poor toilets you need a key/code from the desk, just feels really drab when using it.

These two places being tourist attractions should be better than this as it paints a poor impression for passengers as they get on or off the train.

 

[Ken H]

Although platform 2 at Holyhead has recently had its roof refurbished, platform 1 (the one most Avanti services use) is in a right state, as shown in photos.

Photos show moss and vegetation growing on a wall, peeling and missing signage, a permanently boarded up door panel, and general neglect.

View attachment 129301View attachment 129302View attachment 129303View attachment 129304

This just shows a problem with water penetration. Suspect the roof or downpipes need attention. But its by the sea so salty air will degrade everything.

 

[Basil Jet]

Swale is other-worldly, and very noisy and polluted with the dual carriageway in the sky. I think calling it dilapidated is praising it, perhaps lapidated would be more honest.

Sheerness is rather unpleasant in a post-war-new-town sort of way.

Angel Road, now closed of course, would have been a great candidate.

 

[Iskra]

2 possible examples:
Bridlington Station, no lifts or escalators to cross the tracks, bridge over tracks paint peeling off & generally in a poor condition, toilets that at times don’t work, plus the floor on the concourse is generally wet at most times. Contrasts largely with the refurbished area at the front which is very smart.

Cleethorpes, lack of roof over most platforms, poor toilets you need a key/code from the desk, just feels really drab when using it.

These two places being tourist attractions should be better than this as it paints a poor impression for passengers as they get on or off the train.

Cleethorpes is getting renewed soon. The out of use dilapidated platforms don’t help the image. Has a decent pub though.

 

[Trainfan2019]

As much as I love Crewe station, it's definitely a contender for grubbiest dilapidated station.

Once you get on platform 12 and get to see all the long abandoned overgrown bay platforms looking unwanted and wasting away. Between the main platforms there are weeds and bits just left from however long ago.

If arriving at Crewe platforms 1-4 in heavy rain you have to use an umbrella under the roof where there is no roof, just empty roof girders. I have a video of rain pouring in on platform 1 like water out of a neverending water jug.

Then there is the horses landing area which no-one really knows exactly what it is. Part staff car park, rail replacement buses area, deliveries, viewpoint over the freight avoiding lines, entrance to station if gates unlocked (via the long term temporary wooden tunnel onto platform 12) and even a waiting room although I've never been in. All looks so very tired as if time has stood still for a few decades.

However, all the above is part of the charm of Crewe for me. It just doesn't make a great first impression to visitors.