UK's worst stations.

F Great Eastern · 17 Aug 2017

Nottingham isn't nice but it isn't that bad, just some of the areas around it and near Broadmarsh etc and the walk from the city center to the station is very run-down and very glum and honestly one of the most depressing walks I've ever had from a city center to a station.

Birmingham New Street should nowhere near be in that list, granted it's not great at platform level but above platform level it's 100x better than it was and the standard of information even at platform level is miles better than it was.

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yorksrob · 17 Aug 2017

F Great Eastern said:
Birmingham New Street should nowhere near be in that list, granted it's not great at platform level but above platform level it's 100x better than it was and the standard of information even at platform level is miles better than it was.

It was missing a good station bar last time I looked.

F Great Eastern · 17 Aug 2017

So it lacks a bar which makes it a bad station? Really?

yorksrob · 17 Aug 2017

F Great Eastern said:
So it lacks a bar which makes it a bad station? Really?

For a station of that size and import, I would expect there to be one, yes.

Also, where it was previously an underground car park with a shopping centre on top, its now an underground car park with a rather more grandiose shopping centre on the top.

At least Nottingham feels architecturally like a well built railway station.

3141 · 17 Aug 2017

I think these surveys have some use over a period of time, when you can see whether a station has risen or fallen in the passengers' opinions. I don't rate them as far as a single report goes, and it's impossible to tell if everyone who was surveyed made their judgements in the same way. For example, someone who just missed their train, or whose train ran late, may mark the station down. Or someone who is very much into healthy eating may rate catering facilities poorly in response to seeing Macdonalds or Subway, and they're unlikely to have made a note of all the catering outlets and worked out what percentage offer healthier options.

It's the same with surveys that ask you if rail travel provides value for money. Most of us don't know enough about the cost of running train services to be able to answer that at all. If you've just paid full fare to stand in the rush hour you probably answer differently from a person who had a choice of seats at 11.30 when travelling on an advance fare with a railcard.

61653 HTAFC · 17 Aug 2017

Outside of my current area, I always felt that Highbridge and Burnham was very spartan and windswept. Wouldn't fancy a 2 hour wait there on a freezing Sunday! Berrylands is similar but with the added er... bonus... of the neighbouring sewage works! Not to mention the wooden platforms of course.

LeeLivery · 17 Aug 2017

Nottingham is quite a lovely station but does indeed lack businesses. London Bridge is becoming a jewel. Clapham Junction will always score badly; I'm surprised Stratford isn't there.

If anything it's the TfL Rail/AGA Lea Valley stations which are horrible. Gatwick is bad, the station usage has outgrown its design and obviously not rail related but, being right at the end of the runway, you can smell the jet fuel on the coast end - pollution must be off the charts.

I'd also put Northern City platforms on a quite bad list. A great example of NSE area, but isn't looked after.

HLE · 17 Aug 2017

Bletchleyite said:
It is, but because "up top" is now quite nice there's no great need to spend any time there. Treat it more like Euston without the mandatory scrum and it's fine.

As for the rest I wouldn't mark those ones down particularly. If you want some grim stations, take your pick of West London GWR stations which have really been allowed to rack and ruin.

I'd argue Euston is more gloomy than New Street.

J-2739 · 17 Aug 2017

yorksrob said:
I dislike Barnsley station. Too much like something off of Brookside for my taste.

Heeeeeyyyyy!!!!

F Great Eastern said:
So it lacks a bar which makes it a bad station? Really?

So your telling me that you don't like having a good drink after a long journey?? Typical Southerner!!

(I'm just joking, of course)

61653 HTAFC · 17 Aug 2017

yorksrob said:
For a station of that size and import, I would expect there to be one, yes.

Also, where it was previously an underground car park with a shopping centre on top, its now an underground car park with a rather more grandiose shopping centre on the top.

At least Nottingham feels architecturally like a well built railway station.

Your last sentence pretty much hits the nail on the head: it's never a good sign if the railway itself feels like an afterthought. New Street is guilty of this, as is Euston. Nottingham I'd say definitely isn't.

dvboy · 17 Aug 2017

yorksrob said:
It was missing a good station bar last time I looked.

There is an All Bar One at the main station entrance. Also it's not like Birmingham is bereft of drinking establishments.

yorksrob · 17 Aug 2017

dvboy said:
There is an All Bar One at the main station entrance. Also it's not like Birmingham is bereft of drinking establishments.

That's a bit "chrome and dresscode" for my taste. Surely Birmingham NS deserves something more akin to the Euston Tap ?

Tetchytyke · 17 Aug 2017

Anyone on this thread, or in this survey, who hasn't said Angel Road is the worst station has clearly never been to Angel Road.

trash80 · 17 Aug 2017

yorksrob said:
That's a bit "chrome and dresscode" for my taste. Surely Birmingham NS deserves something more akin to the Euston Tap ?

No dress code at the All Bar One, they let me in last Saturday and i look like an extra out of Mad Max.

yorksrob · 17 Aug 2017

trash80 said:
No dress code at the All Bar One, they let me in last Saturday and i look like an extra out of Mad Max.

Fair doos

Do they do cask there now ?

trash80 · 17 Aug 2017

Not sure, i only had bottles... Siren Liquid Mistress which i recommend, except for the price though luckily i wasn't paying!

yorksrob · 17 Aug 2017

trash80 said:
Not sure, i only had bottles... Siren Liquid Mistress which i recommend, except for the price though luckily i wasn't paying!

If they did one of Timothy Taylor's Landlord that would do me fine !

HowardGWR · 17 Aug 2017

Arctic Troll said:
Anyone on this thread, or in this survey, who hasn't said Angel Road is the worst station has clearly never been to Angel Road.

Well quite. I've only looked at it with Google and it scared me to think of just standing on it. I imagine that BTP could provide data that would confirm which station is the most dangerous to be actually at.

This personal safety surely is the overwhelming factor above any stuff about ticket machines, coffee bars and the like.

Strathclyder · 17 Aug 2017

Out of all the stations I've used, Coatbridge Central certainly ranks high on the list of stations I'd prefer not to have to board/alight at past sunset. Sparse, windswept, neglected & overall not a very pleasant station; much prefer Sunnyside myself.

Despite this, one positive development is that passenger entries/exits at CBC climbed to 54,788 in the 2015/16 financial year (up from 2014/15's 51,620), thanks in no small part to the introduction of through trains to/from Dalmuir via Glasgow Central in December 2014. Perhaps this steady rise in patronage will eventually bring on a little 'spring-cleaning'; make it a little more appealing to the prospective traveler...

Peter0124 · 17 Aug 2017

Dalmarnock station in Glasgow is dark and has gunk leaking out of the walls.

Andyh82 · 17 Aug 2017

Arctic Troll said:
Anyone on this thread, or in this survey, who hasn't said Angel Road is the worst station has clearly never been to Angel Road.

I was once looking at cheaper hotels to stay in for a visit to London, and one on the list was the Premier Inn there, and the website advertises the closeness to Angel Road station as a plus point. I then investigated and realised getting from the hotel to the station seems to involve either crossing, going under or walking alongside a dual carriageway, there are no buses, and the station has a very limited service that doesn't even go to London. I went with Borehamwood instead.

NSE · 18 Aug 2017

Arctic Troll said:
Anyone on this thread, or in this survey, who hasn't said Angel Road is the worst station has clearly never been to Angel Road.

Hah, I'd imagine thats because no one has actually been to Angel Road in order to comment haha

eastdyke · 18 Aug 2017

The survey, carried out by independent watchdog Transport Focus, asked around 30,000 passengers nationally for their views on the railway. According to the Transport Focus survey 'the latest figures put Birmingham New Street at a record third place in the national rankings of customer satisfaction at all of Britain’s major stations'
Same survey, different spin?
https://www.networkrail.co.uk/feeds...are-happy-with-birmingham-new-street-station/

Clansman · 18 Aug 2017

Mount Flordia station is definitely not suited for handling large volumes of passengers on event days at Hampden Park. The island platform is too small, and the sole exit is too narrow. Could be doing with being lifted, both embankments surrounding the station dug up, and a large island platform being built with large exits at either side of the station to make it fit for purpose.

Dundee station is also a dump just now. Hopefully, once the new entrance is done, the rest of the station will get a facelift as well.

PHILIPE · 18 Aug 2017

Peter0124 said:
Dalmarnock station in Glasgow is dark and has gunk leaking out of the walls.

It only had a facelift in 2013 for the Commonwealth games in 2014

D6975 · 18 Aug 2017

Liam said:
Sunderland station is rather depressing. Hidden away under a shopping centre so it's dark and enclosed. The entrance wasn't so easy to find from the street and I don't really understand why it's marked out as 4 platforms even though it's clearly just two long ones.

It's to get Metro passengers to the correct part of the platform.

Poolie · 18 Aug 2017

Hartlepool is ok, but the new barriers will be entertaining viewing on CCTV

Surely Sunderland must be the biggest station in the country without any 'facilities'......could be the start of another thread......

Tetchytyke · 18 Aug 2017

Poolie said:
Surely Sunderland must be the biggest station in the country without any 'facilities'......could be the start of another thread......

Does the staircase count as a toilet?

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/www.mi...aught-defecating-railway-station-10777282.amp

Tracked · 19 Aug 2017

Arctic Troll said:
Anyone on this thread, or in this survey, who hasn't said Angel Road is the worst station has clearly never been to Angel Road.

I was going to say Hatfield and Stainforth, for the station and the walk up to it from the main road, but I'd not seen Angel Road before. And a London area station too, suddenly it's not quite as grim up North :lol:

Ardwick?

greyman42 · 19 Aug 2017

Liam said:
Sunderland station is rather depressing. Hidden away under a shopping centre so it's dark and enclosed. The entrance wasn't so easy to find from the street and I don't really understand why it's marked out as 4 platforms even though it's clearly just two long ones.

I agree. Sunderland is an absolute dump.

UK's worst stations.

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