Llandudno
Established Member
- Joined
- 25 Dec 2014
- Messages
- 2,199
Enjoyable walk yesterday on the scenic Macclesfield canal with some pals and used two of the stations on the route, Kidsgrove and Congleton to access the canal.
Kidsgrove station is a quite a large grotty station, with four platforms and a run down, rusty footbridge to access three of the platforms, there doesn’t appear to be any step free access to those platforms. The entrance area to the station is scruffy and generally unloved, mind you Kidsgrove town centre didn’t look any better, so perhaps the station is in keeping with its surroundings, and as for the adjacent Railway pub…
Fast forward to Congleton, a well heeled Cheshire town and the area surrounding the station ‘Hightown’ is very smart with a fantastic pub opposite the station, Queens Head, excellent food and local ales…but Congleton station is a dump, a tiny concrete overhang for a waiting area, the station is dreary, paint peeling off all the buildings and the even the electronic PIS display wasn’t showing train departure information, and the electronic clock on the display unit was 20 minutes fast!
More alarming was the fact that the station footbridge from the ticket office (when open) and presumably the TVM was cordoned off and intending passengers had to retrace their steps to the main road and use the road bridge to access the UP platform. I timed it as 4 minutes to walk briskly to the UP platform, there are no signs at the station approach/entrance indicating that the footbridge was closed.
The railway is facing many challenges to encouraging passengers to return, but the likes of Kidsgrove and Congleton stations are not great adverts for using public transport.
Which other stations on our network give a very poor first impression and don’t due justice to the town they serve…?
Kidsgrove station is a quite a large grotty station, with four platforms and a run down, rusty footbridge to access three of the platforms, there doesn’t appear to be any step free access to those platforms. The entrance area to the station is scruffy and generally unloved, mind you Kidsgrove town centre didn’t look any better, so perhaps the station is in keeping with its surroundings, and as for the adjacent Railway pub…
Fast forward to Congleton, a well heeled Cheshire town and the area surrounding the station ‘Hightown’ is very smart with a fantastic pub opposite the station, Queens Head, excellent food and local ales…but Congleton station is a dump, a tiny concrete overhang for a waiting area, the station is dreary, paint peeling off all the buildings and the even the electronic PIS display wasn’t showing train departure information, and the electronic clock on the display unit was 20 minutes fast!
More alarming was the fact that the station footbridge from the ticket office (when open) and presumably the TVM was cordoned off and intending passengers had to retrace their steps to the main road and use the road bridge to access the UP platform. I timed it as 4 minutes to walk briskly to the UP platform, there are no signs at the station approach/entrance indicating that the footbridge was closed.
The railway is facing many challenges to encouraging passengers to return, but the likes of Kidsgrove and Congleton stations are not great adverts for using public transport.
Which other stations on our network give a very poor first impression and don’t due justice to the town they serve…?