Blackpool North: The most unfriendly station in the country?

[The DJ]

Blackpool North shouldn't even be open and it is down to Blackpool Corporation who put immense pressure on BR to close Blacpool Central (because they wanted the land). Beeching had recommended the closure of Blackpool North but Blackpool Corporation weren't having it. Pictures on Wikipedia seem to indicate the layout is fit for purpose so I am assuming the problems are only with the staff operating the station. Perhaps politely worded complaints from affected forum members to Northern Rail and copied to Network Rail might have some eventual effect.

 

[Karl]

it's a shame really. It's a lovely town. I love a day out in Blackpool. I was even born there in 1960. I soon got out though Preston North End for me now!

Can you imagine? If your Mum and Dad weren't together? Where would we be now? We wouldn't be here!!! We are lucky.Thank you Mum and Dad!

 

[bramling]

Blackpool North shouldn't even be open and it is down to Blackpool Corporation who put immense pressure on BR to close Blacpool Central (because they wanted the land). Beeching had recommended the closure of Blackpool North but Blackpool Corporation weren't having it. Pictures on Wikipedia seem to indicate the layout is fit for purpose so I am assuming the problems are only with the staff operating the station. Perhaps politely worded complaints from affected forum members to Northern Rail and copied to Network Rail might have some eventual effect.

I'm not sure the station is really fit for purpose. Apart from the fact that its poorly located and the immediately environs are laid out in a way which encourages problems, the arrangement with the gateline and "waiting room" simply doesn't offer a good experience. The waiting room is simply to small to accommodate large numbers of people, especially when queues form at the sliding doors. Likewise passengers essentially have the choice of stand in a queue or find one of the (few) places to sit and then end up being last on the train. It doesn't help that they have the habit of opening the doors at the last moment, for whatever reasons.

Ideally the best place for passengers to be is sitting on their trains, however the station seem to find every reason why this isn't possible. If busy London commuter stations can work in that way, so can Blackpool North.

Being stuck out the way at the end of what is to all intents and purposes an insignificant branch line clearly means the passenger experience at Blackpool North isn't high on anyone's priority list, which is no doubt why some of the antics are allowed to persist. Sorting out the passenger experience simply isn't worth the bother. It's unfortunate as it doesn't give the best impression of Blackpool, but then sad though it is to say this perhaps reflects the place as a whole.

 

[Karl]

From that I'd guess they're actually proud of their own reputation?

I certainly got sort of that impression.

 

[Ianno87]

From that I'd guess they're actually proud of their own reputation?

I certainly got sort of that impression.

Possibly more "canteen culture" with the "well its our (sic) station and we'll do it our way".

 

[pdeaves]

Maybe this thread demonstrates the real reasons why this decision happened: https://www.railforums.co.uk/thread...plans-to-run-london-blackpool-service.208930/ (only joking).

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Ugh. Any other station in the country would take that as a sign that behaviors need to change. Blackpool, for some strange reason, doesn't.

They've probably now sacked the few staff who were being praised a few pages ago for behaving in a proper customer friendly manner haven't they...?!

 

[Karl]

It's shocking

 

[Revaulx]

Blackpool North shouldn't even be open and it is down to Blackpool Corporation who put immense pressure on BR to close Blacpool Central (because they wanted the land). Beeching had recommended the closure of Blackpool North but Blackpool Corporation weren't having it. Pictures on Wikipedia seem to indicate the layout is fit for purpose so I am assuming the problems are only with the staff operating the station. Perhaps politely worded complaints from affected forum members to Northern Rail and copied to Network Rail might have some eventual effect.

Blackpool had massive rail overcapacity by the early 60s. What they should have done is retain the old North, which was the right size and in perfectly good condition, and retain Central rebuilt as a two-platform terminus for the Lytham line. That would have released a huge amount of land for the Corporation to nothing with for the next 60 years without the need to terminate miles from anywhere at South.

 

[furnessvale]

Blackpool had massive rail overcapacity by the early 60s. What they should have done is retain the old North, which was the right size and in perfectly good condition, and retain Central rebuilt as a two-platform terminus for the Lytham line. That would have released a huge amount of land for the Corporation to nothing with for the next 60 years without the need to terminate miles from anywhere at South.

Your suggestions would not have released enough land for BR to sell. At the time all this was happening, the name of the game was "railways are the past and are being run down. Minimise government expenditure by maximising land sales."

Remember such absurdities as selling off Morecambe Promenade and Windermere stations, building a halt further away from town with minimum facilities and flexibility.

 

[mmh]

Your suggestions would not have released enough land for BR to sell. At the time all this was happening, the name of the game was "railways are the past and are being run down. Minimise government expenditure by maximising land sales."

Remember such absurdities as selling off Morecambe Promenade and Windermere stations, building a halt further away from town with minimum facilities and flexibility.

And I think similar was proposed in plenty of places. As a kid a recurring idea was that Llandudno Station would be replaced with a halt on the outskirts of the town, allowing town centre land to be sold and the road bridge over the track to be removed. But then recession came and thankfully nothing ever happened. It would have been complete folly as all that would have happened is facilitating the closure of the line, which I suspect was the real motivating factor.

 

[Llandudno]

The Blackpool North thread, over 700 posts!

Does anyone who can do something about the ‘issues’ at Blackpool North read this forum?
How many posts before anything is done, is it like a House of Commons petition and you need 100,000 signatures (posts) before it is discussed in parliament!

 

[Malcmal]

They're well aware of this thread.

When I was marched off the platform after photographing my train I mentioned this thread. He knew about it. Terrible.

Well look at it this way. If you want to tell them what pathetic, worthless losers they are then just post it here and they will read it in due course

Personally I hope the drunks puke on their shoes every single day ha ha

 

[C J Snarzell]

I once watched Roy Chubby Brown at the Blackpool Winter Gardens. I remember he ridiculed one poor chap in the audience for being miserable. I wonder if Chubbs uses the train to get from Middlesbrough? He'd definately have some fun at Blackpool North.

CJ

 

[Vespa]

I said it before, sweep the whole lot out of the station from managers to gate staff, a whole new set of staff with a more customer focussed approach, the other problem is the station ambience is not particularly welcoming, the cafe is very basic, the seats outside is smokers central.

It could be why Great Central changed their mind about running a service to Blackpool North.

In fact it's so bad I rarely use the train station unless absolutely necessary and prefer to use my car and park outside then walk in or tram.

With post covid fall in passenger numbers may well accelerate redundancies at the station.

 

[Malcmal]

If I was a skilled cartoonist I would love to do a sketch of a GC class 90 trying to enter Blackpool station platform with some jackass staff member demanding to see it's ticket before being allowed in!

 

[py_megapixel]

If I was a skilled cartoonist I would love to do a sketch of a GC class 90 trying to enter Blackpool station platform with some jackass staff member demanding to see it's ticket before being allowed in!

Imagine their reaction upon realising that the driver knows the TOPS number without their authorisation

 

[Dai Corner]

Imagine their reaction upon realising that the driver knows the TOPS number without their authorisation

I was imaging the GC guard looking at his watch, noting it was 30s to departure time and anxiously waiting for his passengers to be allowed onto the platform.

 

[C J Snarzell]

Many years ago, police forces across the UK would discipline problem cops and as punishment they would be put 'out to grass' in some depressing backwater station where there was no chance of any further career progression. Author Charlie Owen wrote some excellent books several years ago, based on this historic misconduct process. I'm wondering if Northern do this too - send all their bad apples to one station (Blackpool North).

 

[ainsworth74]

Okay. I, like every right thinking person, feel that the situation at Blackpool North is far from ideal and terrible reflection on the railway. However I'm going to have to ask that we reign in our criticisms of the staff slightly as I think it's going from justifiable and reasonable to being somewhat nasty in tone. By all means criticise away but if we can just be a bit more mindful about how we're phrasing our criticism please.

 

[Karl]

Have a bit of a preview

 

[stevetay3]

Maybe a boycott of the town may work,I can think of many places far better than Blackpool in the region. I do a north west rover nearly every year, based in either Morecambe or Carlisle, used to stay in Blackpool but not any more because of the above. If the economy of the town was to suffer as a result of all this something would probably get done.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Maybe a boycott of the town may work,I can think of many places far better than Blackpool in the region. I do a north west rover nearly every year, based in either Morecambe or Carlisle, used to stay in Blackpool but not any more because of the above. If the economy of the town was to suffer as a result of all this something would probably get done.

The economy of Blackpool would not suffer even if the railway closed outright. Most people arrive by car.

 

[stevetay3]

The economy of Blackpool would not suffer even if the railway closed outright. Most people arrive by car.

Very true unfortunately, most people arrive everyware by car.

 

[Jamesrob637]

Maybe a boycott of the town may work,I can think of many places far better than Blackpool in the region. I do a north west rover nearly every year, based in either Morecambe or Carlisle, used to stay in Blackpool but not any more because of the above. If the economy of the town was to suffer as a result of all this something would probably get done.

Southport is great. My ex didn't like the 2p machines on the pier - she said she didn't get enough fast action out of them but the town itself is nice. Pity it takes an age to get to by train, whether from Liverpool or Manchester/Wigan.

(Said ex did like the 2p machines in Blackpool but her favourite was Whitby where there are three amusement arcades right next to each other just past the world-renowned Magpie!)

 

[Bletchleyite]

Southport is great. My ex didn't like the 2p machines on the pier - she said she didn't get enough fast action out of them but the town itself is nice. Pity it takes an age to get to by train, whether from Liverpool or Manchester/Wigan.

Southport I find is a bit odd. It's a mix of olde-worlde seaside, cheap-and-nasty fairground and a bit of a rotting, ugly shopping centre and Brutalist concrete railway station. Could do with a bit of investment.

 

[trainophile]

Southport is my second home (literally!). However I have to agree that it is a bit run down nowadays. Now that I have a railcard I just use the flat as a base and go off somewhere for a couple of nights every time I am there. Must say it’s easier and cheaper to get places than from my main home in Hereford.

 

[Jamesrob637]

Southport I find is a bit odd. It's a mix of olde-worlde seaside, cheap-and-nasty fairground and a bit of a rotting, ugly shopping centre and Brutalist concrete railway station. Could do with a bit of investment.

Can't comment on the staff at Southport station though. Exeter staff used to be a bit hostile at times when I was a student there - then again Exeter like many cities turns into a minor extension of the Home Counties during term-time (not particularly a good thing) so the staff were probably trying to match their I-am-better-than-anybody attitude. They forgot that not everybody who studies at Exeter comes from within an hour of the capital!

 

[Bletchleyite]

Can't comment on the staff at Southport station though. Exeter staff used to be a bit hostile at times when I was a student there - then again Exeter like many cities turns into a minor extension of the Home Counties during term-time (not particularly a good thing) so the staff were probably trying to match their I-am-better-than-anybody attitude. They forgot that not everybody who studies at Exeter comes from within an hour of the capital!

The staff are just typical Merseyrail - do their job, not unpleasant, usually Scouse, don't give a monkey's about anything beyond their little yellow empire. Very little difference, really, from when it was BR.

 

[stevetay3]

I like Southport, the only problem there is the distance out to the water.