Bleakest / loneliest mainline station

[DustyBin]

Elephant & Castle.

Virtually no amenities, exposed platforms, steep staircases and monstrous high rise flats overshadowing it

That or Loughborough Junction offers a similar vibe.

Elephant & Castle isn’t a nice station at all. Having said that they’ve improved the area a lot compared to twenty years ago, back then the blocks of flats were awful and the whole place felt a little threatening to be honest. I’ve only ever been through Loughborough Junction but I agree it doesn’t look particularly inviting.

Away from London, Shieldmuir is a decent shout, and is genuinely bleak in that it’s isolated and there’s nothing there.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Elephant & Castle isn’t a nice station place at all.

Fixed that for you

 

[Cdd89]

The removal of the shopping centre signage at E&C recently implies that it used to be painted purple and yellow rather than white as it currently is. I can’t find any photos to validate that though!



I'd vote Loughborough Junction for the bleakest station in London. The disused Oyster validators covered with plastic that still haven’t been removed adds to the aura. I’d also nominate Berrylands for the reason mentioned upthread and also because it manages to feel temporary!

 

[fairysdad]

I can't really vouch for it myself having only been a kid when I was there, but if I were to ask my Mum this question, she would no doubt nominate Par, based on having an extraordinarily long wait for a Newquay train one time and nothing in the vicinity of the station. I also remember many long waits at Tiverton Parkway when I was a kid between our train coming in and our bus back home and remember it being somewhat bleak then as well, although I think it's got a bit better now with an open cafe (which wasn't there at the time) and a better bus service!

 

[DustyBin]

Fixed that for you

I can't argue with that!

 

[ChrisC]

Elephant & Castle.

Virtually no amenities, exposed platforms, steep staircases and monstrous high rise flats overshadowing it

Those dreadful steep staircases! I can remember really struggling to get my suitcase up those when I used E&C about 5 years ago when Thameslink trains were not stopping at London Bridge.

 

[tompatt]

Tiverton Parkway. The drone of the motorway in the background a subtle reminder that plenty of other people are heading towards where they want to go whilst you stand on the Down/Westbound platform without so much as a bus shelter.

Thankfully it's been a good couple of years since I last had any length of time at TVP on a winter's night!

Yep. Then there's the fact its nowhere Tiverton or anywhere useful for that matter.

The walk from the down platform to the station car park is an ordeal. The speed bumps are ridiculous

I'm also sticking my hand up for Tring. Nowhere near the town itself nothing to look at unless you're into retaining walls or ugly multi storey car parks. No facilities whatsoever.

 

[Ianno87]

Yep. Then there's the fact its nowhere Tiverton or anywhere useful for that matter.

The walk from the down platform to the station car park is an ordeal. The speed bumps are ridiculous

I'm also sticking my hand up for Tring. Nowhere near the town itself nothing to look at unless you're into retaining walls or ugly multi storey car parks. No facilities whatsoever.

I'd always understood the purpose of Tiverton Parkway was for folks in Cornwall to drive to (straight off the M5) then get the train the rest of the way, with the road journey from points in Cornwall to Tiverton Parkway being considerably faster than the parallel rail route.

 

[bramling]

I'd always understood the purpose of Tiverton Parkway was for folks in Cornwall to drive to (straight off the M5) then get the train the rest of the way, with the road journey from points in Cornwall to Tiverton Parkway being considerably faster than the parallel rail route.

Not just Cornwall but a substantial part of North Devon too.

 

[Y Ddraig Coch]

I always find Warrington bank Quay to be a bit grim on a cold and windy day. The Narrow platform seating and very open areas and general bleakness of the concrete block style buildings. Not a particularly pleasant change location

 

[Llandudno]

I always find Warrington bank Quay to be a bit grim on a cold and windy day. The Narrow platform seating and very open areas and general bleakness of the concrete block style buildings. Not a particularly pleasant change location

Yes and some of the connections returning to north Wales, look great on paper, but if the West Coast train is running a bit late then you are stuck there sometimes for the best part of an hour and the nearby pub is a bit grim.

At least the new Northern train can get you as far as Chester, which is a bit better to wait at

 

[chefchenko]

So many grim lonely stations out there but rugby and it’s fallen importance yet still vast platforms is up there , changing trains at kidsgrove can be grim and my hometown station of congleton is bleak bleak bleak but the fantastic pub the queens is next door

 

[DarloRich]

I'd always understood the purpose of Tiverton Parkway was for folks in Cornwall to drive to (straight off the M5) then get the train the rest of the way, with the road journey from points in Cornwall to Tiverton Parkway being considerably faster than the parallel rail route.

Not just Cornwall but a substantial part of North Devon too.

It was a very useful station when I lived in North Devon. A good quick run over the moors on the A361. it is a fairly simple station but it never felt bleak.

I always find Warrington bank Quay to be a bit grim on a cold and windy day. The Narrow platform seating and very open areas and general bleakness of the concrete block style buildings. Not a particularly pleasant change location

I think this is the winner. The only toilet duck factory in the world with a station attached. Spent some awful cold evenings there.

 

[yorksrob]

I don't mind Warrington BQ station. Except when the refuse train parked up in the loop. Whiffy !

 

[Jamesrob637]

It was a very useful station when I lived in North Devon. A good quick run over the moors on the A361. it is a fairly simple station but it never felt bleak.



I think this is the winner. The only toilet duck factory in the world with a station attached. Spent some awful cold evenings there.

Nice to see someone else on this forum lived in Devon. Whereabouts?

Warrington will get better once Unilever factory shuts down I think Christmas time.

 

[yorksrob]

Nice to see someone else on this forum lived in Devon. Whereabouts?

Warrington will get better once Unilever factory shuts down I think Christmas time.

It's a shame in a way. It's always been a bona fide landmark of the WCML.

 

[Bletchleyite]

It's a shame in a way. It's always been a bona fide landmark of the WCML.

And sad to see employment lost. Is it moving somewhere else locally or going outside the UK?

 

[Jamesrob637]

And sad to see employment lost. Is it moving somewhere else locally or going outside the UK?

Could be all shifting to Port Sunlight.

Some of those Miseryrail stations are very bland, to keep to topic. However, services are frequent so you'll never have to wait long.

 

[Y Ddraig Coch]

They say a picture paints a 1000 words.... WBQ at its finest.

 

[Scotrail84]

Perth at night in winter. Dull, dark and very quiet and eerie especially if theres nothing moving about the station between the sidings and the fuel road or wash road etc.

 

[DarloRich]

Nice to see someone else on this forum lived in Devon. Whereabouts?

A couple of places around and including Barnstaple - it was easier to drive to Tiverton than take the train down to Exeter and then back up. ( i did use the Tarka line several times, especially when i lived out near Umberleigh/ Portsmouth Arms but it always felt a long drag after the run down from Newcastle )

 

[bramling]

It was a very useful station when I lived in North Devon. A good quick run over the moors on the A361. it is a fairly simple station but it never felt bleak.

The only thing is it's a nuisance getting from the station to the westbound A361, involving quite a bizarre route, essentially 2km of mileage covering the station approach road and then doubling back to the M5 roundabout. Likewise I remember staying once in the Travelodge on the opposite side of the M5, only a hundred yards or so from the station as the crow flies, yet again quite a convoluted route to actually reach the station.

 

[Bletchleyite]

They say a picture paints a 1000 words.... WBQ at its finest.

To add to the blandness (and also provide a bit of interest) it has (unless Avanti has stickered all over the top) BR style Rail Alphabet signage, this was because it was re-signed (!) just before Virgin was originally to hand over to FirstGroup after the failed competition.

 

[chefchenko]

Pretty sure pubs weren't back open for drink-in by then, were they?

Pretty sure the Yorkshireman didn’t reopen after lockdown 1

 

[Statto]

Could be all shifting to Port Sunlight.

Some of those Miseryrail stations are very bland, to keep to topic. However, services are frequent so you'll never have to wait long.

Agree on Merseyrail, those on the CLC are very bleak mostly in a cutting, Hunts Cross the worst of them but at least you don't have to wait long for trains

 

[Bletchleyite]

Agree on Merseyrail, those on the CLC are very bleak mostly in a cutting, Hunts Cross the worst of them but at least you don't have to wait long for trains

Sandhills was probably the worst of them all, I mentioned it upthread, but now it looks very much like a German S-Bahnhof with the proper overall roof of a style that you very rarely seem to get in the UK (but really should get more).

 

[Statto]

Sandhills was probably the worst of them all, I mentioned it upthread, but now it looks very much like a German S-Bahnhof with the proper overall roof of a style that you very rarely seem to get in the UK (but really should get more).

I quite like Sandhills, good views over the Mersey on a good day, hardly call Sandhills bleak.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I quite like Sandhills, good views over the Mersey on a good day, hardly call Sandhills bleak.

If you've ever been up there on a cold, rainy, windy day you will see what I mean (certainly before the full-length shelter was added). Also there used to be a lot more dereliction in the area around it than there is now - there is a lot more active business there than in the 80s and early 90s, and e.g. the canal basin has been considerably tidied up.

 

[Whistler40145]

Personally, neither Wigan North Western or Warrington Bank Quay are pleasant when it's raining

 

[Djgr]

Could be all shifting to Port Sunlight.

Some of those Miseryrail stations are very bland, to keep to topic. However, services are frequent so you'll never have to wait long.

But not Port Sunlight station, which is great