What is the most dismal un-passenger friendly large railway station in UK

GreatAuk · 9 Apr 2019

I feel like all major stations have their pros and cons so might change my v mind about this, but my two contenders would be :

Leeds - very busy for the size of circulation space and years ago my sister was pulled out of the queue to buy tickets in the station (having got off a train from a station with a closed ticket office) by an aggressive member of staff and accused of trying to avoid paying. Come to think of it there was always a massive queue at the internal ticket office too.

Bristol Temple Meads - the platforms themselves and the train shed are fine, but basically everything else isn't (Tbf it's about a year since I used it regularly now though). There were always queues at the ticket machines, the entrance is ridiculously small for a major station, limited retail offering, and the steps down to the tunnel from the entrance feel like an entrance to a public toilet rather than the main access to all the other platforms, and they just get really congested at busy times. They also had a really long queue to buy tickets inside the gate line too, although I never had to use that facility. The trains were also crowded and unreliable to top it all off.

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Bald Rick · 9 Apr 2019

bramling said:
London Bridge post rebuild. The concourse area is vastly improved, but the platforms are awful - especially on a cold rainy windy day as I recently found out to my discomfort. The old station was must better. Reading is similar too - spot a pattern here?!

The platforms at the old London Bridge were appalling on a cold wet and windy day too. But they were narrower and more crowded.

Bald Rick · 9 Apr 2019

Clapham Junction for me. Woeful.

Closely followed by Bank.

Requeststop · 9 Apr 2019

Surprised no one has mentioned Plymouth. The only good thing about it that trains leave there for Cornwall.

A round of applause for anyone who can say anything positive about the station.

31160 · 9 Apr 2019

Gotta be Blackpool all day long, and twice on Sunday bloody awful place filled with awful staff

frodshamfella · 9 Apr 2019

I'm not keen on Crewe, always seems freezing there.

Southsider · 9 Apr 2019

LancasterRed said:
Edinburgh Waverley and Glasgow Central are confusing to navigate. Now not much can be done about these but they're not great termini.

London Euston for reasons described previously. I'm no fan of Waterloo either although at least you know the platform (and can go on said platform) in advance.

I have to ask what’s difficult to navigate about Glasgow Central? Numbered consecutively from left to right with a clear departures board viewed from a bright, open concourse. Low level platforms at the top of the numbering range, well signposted and in the logical position. I think it’s one of the best.

Bletchleyite · 9 Apr 2019

Southsider said:
I have to ask what’s difficult to navigate about Glasgow Central? Numbered consecutively from left to right with a clear departures board viewed from a bright, open concourse. Low level platforms at the top of the numbering range, well signposted and in the logical position. I think it’s one of the best.

Yeah, I couldn't really understand that one either. OK, there's the Low Level station, but that's a separate station in a sense and you only need to know about it if you need specific local services, like say in Liverpool.

I also love the "old fashioned" features of Glasgow Central.

Bletchleyite · 9 Apr 2019

frodshamfella said:
I'm not keen on Crewe, always seems freezing there.

Crewe is grim, I agree. I don't agree with the Basford Hall idea (as it'd be further from the town centre, it's bad enough for that as it is, and also worse positioned with regard to junctions), but it really does need flattening and rebuilding. Something a bit like Rugby would be a good way to do it - now that was a transformation of what was around 2000 a really horrible, run down mess.

(Platform 12, to be fair, has been done using the same construction system as Rugby, but it needs all of it doing including the indoor waiting areas).

Spamcan81 · 9 Apr 2019

theshillito said:
I don't know if BHM is any different, but I've had trains at Euston be at completely different platforms to those on RTT.

Have had the same at Kings Cross on occasion. Recently RTT said my train would be departing from P9 only to see it appear on P3 on the departures board.

Bletchleyite · 9 Apr 2019

Spamcan81 said:
Have had the same at Kings Cross on occasion. Recently RTT said my train would be departing from P9 only to see it appear on P3 on the departures board.

Was the platform on RTT bold or not? Before it goes bold, it is just based on data RTT has collected on actual departure platforms (so it'll show what is most common). When it's bold it comes from the signalling system feed so generally is correct, though there are a few stations where there is a disconnect and they are often wrong - as I mentioned London Victoria is one. In my experience bold platforms at Euston are 100% correct - I have never, ever seen it wrong, and I use the station often enough.

With RTT it is very important to understand how it works and what a particular piece of data means - it really is an expert's tool, not one that a random non-rail-understanding member of the public should be exposed to.

yorksrob · 9 Apr 2019

Requeststop said:
Surprised no one has mentioned Plymouth. The only good thing about it that trains leave there for Cornwall.

A round of applause for anyone who can say anything positive about the station.

Plenty of platform capacity for the service ?

yorksrob · 9 Apr 2019

Bletchleyite said:
Crewe is grim, I agree. I don't agree with the Basford Hall idea (as it'd be further from the town centre, it's bad enough for that as it is, and also worse positioned with regard to junctions), but it really does need flattening and rebuilding. Something a bit like Rugby would be a good way to do it - now that was a transformation of what was around 2000 a really horrible, run down mess.

(Platform 12, to be fair, has been done using the same construction system as Rugby, but it needs all of it doing including the indoor waiting areas).

Crewe is a very nice station with a lick of paint. Plenty of cover as well.

Please don't flatten it.

duffield · 9 Apr 2019

whhistle said:
..
Birmingham - concourse is okay but the platforms are still as danky as it was when it was built.
...

I think that's a bit harsh. The platforms seem better lit and have been opened out in places to feel less cramped, and there are some reasonable seating areas. Not great, but not as grim as it was.

61653 HTAFC · 9 Apr 2019

Birmingham New Street may be bad, but it's far better than the underground main station in another European "second city" beginning with B...

Imagine New Street's platforms (only darker) paired with the most cluttered, disorganised ~~concourse~~ overpriced shopping mall on top. Now imagine you're visiting a city famous worldwide for architecture and culture and this hell-hole is your first sight.

Welcome to Barcelona Sants!

(It beats Brum on air quality, but that's about all)

Clip · 9 Apr 2019

Preston - whilst the whole shed looks pretty and all that its just a windswept cold corner of Lancashire that really needs something better than the crap footbridge and subway to move around the platforms.

Dougal2345 · 9 Apr 2019

61653 HTAFC said:
Birmingham New Street may be bad, but it's far better than the underground main station in another European "second city" beginning with B...

Imagine New Street's platforms (only darker) paired with the most cluttered, disorganised ~~concourse~~ overpriced shopping mall on top. Now imagine you're visiting a city famous worldwide for architecture and culture and this hell-hole is your first sight.

Welcome to Barcelona Sants!

(It beats Brum on air quality, but that's about all)

I can't quite agree with that myself... the platforms at Sants always seem clean, brightly lit and everything's painted white, IIRC - though there are perhaps too few escalators and lifts. As you say, no problem with the air quality, although it can get pretty hot down there in summer.

The concourse level is fine too, clean and bright, plenty of space around the platform gates and so on. The only negatives are that as it's a roughly square building I'm never quite sure which side to leave from - I always seem to choose the wrong set of doors. Oh, and the smokers clustering outside cause some localised air quality issues...

It's not 'architecture' as such, it's a very utilitarian station, but it does the job very well. But it's a shame the standard gauge doesn't continue to Franca, which is a lot prettier.

ijmad · 9 Apr 2019

I know it's not normally thought of as a large railway station, but Canada Water is busier than East Croydon, Cannon Street and Edinburgh Waverley, and is terrible place with nothing apart from four dismal concrete platforms and a few escalators.

quantinghome · 9 Apr 2019

GreatAuk said:
Leeds - very busy for the size of circulation space and years ago my sister was pulled out of the queue to buy tickets in the station (having got off a train from a station with a closed ticket office) by an aggressive member of staff and accused of trying to avoid paying. Come to think of it there was always a massive queue at the internal ticket office too.

Agreed. While the current station building was a big improvement on the cattle shed it replaced, the grey... everything, and poor ventilation system gives the place a grimey feel. If it was served entirely by electric trains and had a clear roof with trusses painted light blue, it would do wonders for the place.

The tripling of passenger numbers since the rebuild hasn't helped. The bridge felt huge when it first opened; now it feels cramped. The heavy handed approach to ticketing is off-putting.

HaggisBotherer · 9 Apr 2019

I'm surprised nobody mas mentioned London Charing Cross. Used to be a lovely bright station with a really airy feel. Since they built the office block on it, it has felt like walking into a coffin.

Steamysandy said:
the best Scottish accordion music

Now there's an oxymoron if ever I heard one

37047 said:
I changed trains at Perth for the first time earlier this year - was struck by the size of it relative to how little was there. Definite sense of emptiness and time standing still.

For that very reason Perth is one of my favourite stations. I loved stations in East Anglia in the late 70s and early 80s for that feeling of time having stood still.

Bletchleyite · 9 Apr 2019

61653 HTAFC said:
Birmingham New Street may be bad, but it's far better than the underground main station in another European "second city" beginning with B...

Imagine New Street's platforms (only darker) paired with the most cluttered, disorganised ~~concourse~~ overpriced shopping mall on top. Now imagine you're visiting a city famous worldwide for architecture and culture and this hell-hole is your first sight.

Welcome to Barcelona Sants!

(It beats Brum on air quality, but that's about all)

The Brussels central stations are pretty grim, too.

Bletchleyite · 9 Apr 2019

HaggisBotherer said:
I'm surprised nobody mas mentioned London Charing Cross. Used to be a lovely bright station with a really airy feel. Since they built the office block on it, it has felt like walking into a coffin.

Also has the most grim, unsafe-feeling toilets (yes, I at 6' 4" and 19 stone feel unsafe) full of all sorts of unsavoury characters. The only solution is probably going to be to move them past the ticket barriers.

Thebaz · 9 Apr 2019

No-one mentioned Stockport yet! Never alighted there but every time I've passed through I've though it looks pretty grim and windswept.

Bletchleyite · 9 Apr 2019

Thebaz said:
No-one mentioned Stockport yet! Never alighted there but every time I've passed through I've though it looks pretty grim and windswept.

It's a bit old fashioned in places, but the ticket area is nice enough and it's well-maintained, being a VT station.

xotGD · 9 Apr 2019

What a contrast if travelling from London to Birmingham:

Euston to New St: From one dark hell-hole to another in a vomit-inducing EMU.
Marylebone to Moor St: Two characterful stations, and a big thumping 68 on the front of the train.

I'd also like to give a mention to Coventry and Wolverhampton. Totally devoid of character and both a depressing place to fester for a train.

ForTheLoveOf · 9 Apr 2019

xotGD said:
What a contrast if travelling from London to Birmingham:

Euston to New St: From one dark hell-hole to another in a vomit-inducing EMU.
Marylebone to Moor St: Two characterful stations, and a big thumping 68 on the front of the train.

I'd also like to give a mention to Coventry and Wolverhampton. Totally devoid of character and both a depressing place to fester for a train.

It has to be said, there are a few out there in the West Midlands that are very aesthetically pleasing, especially those that have been redone in old GWR style (though some have been let to dilapidate a little). For example the Shakespeare line stations, Moor Street, Leamington Spa, Worcester and so on.

HowardGWR · 9 Apr 2019

Has a major UK station escaped this thread?

I haven't seen Newcastle Central mentioned, so I assume it must be superb!

Bletchleyite · 9 Apr 2019

HowardGWR said:
Has a major UK station escaped this thread? I haven't seen Newcastle Central mentioned, so I assume it must be superb!

Yes, it is quite nice. Next?

MalaiseForever · 9 Apr 2019

quantinghome said:
The heavy handed approach to ticketing is off-putting.

What do you mean by this? I use Leeds multiple times every week and have never had an issue? If the barriers don’t work you can wave anything vaguely resembling a ticket and you will be let through. Also, the ticket office staff have always been friendly and helpful, in my experience.

trebor79 · 9 Apr 2019

Bletchleyite said:
Yes, it is quite nice. Next?

Yes, Newcastle is nice. Norwich is also quite pleasant.

What is the most dismal un-passenger friendly large railway station in UK

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