Grand or Smart Stations To Arrive At In Contrast To The Town It Serves

[route101]

Having stayed on both sides I have to say that Glasgow Central has lost some of its character but also lost its gloom and diesel haze over the years.

The streets on either side are grim. Drop off/pickup by private car is an increasingly difficult and nasty experience.

But access to the station by shuttle bus or taxi to the frontage can still give a good impression.

Union St has gone down hill! Not a pleasant place to wait. I do like the density of the area (Buildings).

Kings Cross / St Pancras always feel a bit odd

'Right I've arrived in London!'

Step outside the station...several fast food outlets, a few bookies, oh...

Obviously once you get on the Tube you've got plenty of fantastic places to visit but you certainly need some sort of plan rather than just expecting everything the second you step off a mainline train!

I know someone who stayed just outside Kings Cross and never ventured far from the area. They weren't used to travelling and stayed close to the hotel, first time in London too.

 

[WesternBiker]

Having stayed on both sides I have to say that Glasgow Central has lost some of its character but also lost its gloom and diesel haze over the years.

The streets on either side are grim. Drop off/pickup by private car is an increasingly difficult and nasty experience.

I'm very fond of Glasgow - impressive architecture, culture and people - and Central station matches it in my view.

But... my abiding memory from a visit a long time ago (well, 1987) was walking back to my hotel along Bothwell Street (I was there for a job interview the next day) and being propositioned about every 30 yards... (and, for info, I did say no!!). Has it changed??

 

[NorthWestRover]

Most of the London termini are like that, Marylebone for example you step out into a fairly anonymous (though pleasant) street. Most people just go straight down to the tube.

Charing Cross being the exception to prove the rule.

 

[Peregrine 4903]

Charing Cross being the exception to prove the rule.

I think a lot of people get off at London Bridge, London Blackfrairs and London Cannon Street and don't go straight to the tube as well.

 

[NorthWestRover]

I meant in terms of coming out into a nice area.

 

[RH Liner]

Shames me to say it about the town I grew up in, but Darlington. Great station building, town not so much!

But Darlington is described in a nursery rhyme as ‘that pretty little town’:

When I was a little girl
About seven years old,
I didn’t have a petticoat
To keep me from the cold,
So I went into Darlington,
That pretty little town,
And there I bought a petticoat,
A cloak and a gown.

 

[greyman42]

I meant in terms of coming out into a nice area.

You would hardly describe the area around Cannon Street deprived or dodgy.

 

[bramling]

But Darlington is described in a nursery rhyme as ‘that pretty little town’:

When I was a little girl
About seven years old,
I didn’t have a petticoat
To keep me from the cold,
So I went into Darlington,
That pretty little town,
And there I bought a petticoat,
A cloak and a gown.

I wouldn’t say Darlington is that bad. The centre is a little run down in parts, but absolutely nothing compared to somewhere like Luton. Driving into Darlington the first impression would be “this place isn’t too bad”.

 

[cle]

Very few cities built their grand stations spilling out into their most picturesque or impressive squares and well-heeled areas. Remember that many were/are massive polluters, noisy, and in the days of coal and steam - even less appealing.

We can view the Circle line, frankly - as an original periphery. Victoria, I am surprised it got so close to Belgravia and the Palaces. Paris' termini are similarly located. For smaller places, see the locations of Cambridge and Oxford stations, for instance - on where placement would go in valued cities.

Where this grandeur sweep has happened, is down to geography. Thinking Marseille, Amsterdam of course, even Nice or Brighton. All coastal, most termini.

 

[greyman42]

I wouldn’t say Darlington is that bad. The centre is a little run down in parts, but absolutely nothing compared to somewhere like Luton. Driving into Darlington the first impression would be “this place isn’t too bad”.

Yes, people seem to have a bad impression of the place but it is OK. Probably a lot of the people who criticise it have never been there.

 

[gordonthemoron]

I wouldn’t say Darlington is that bad. The centre is a little run down in parts, but absolutely nothing compared to somewhere like Luton. Driving into Darlington the first impression would be “this place isn’t too bad”.

Darlo looks very nice if you arrive from the south on the A66(M), from other directions, less so. I used to live off Yarm Road, and worked at Stooperdale Offices. However, nowhere is that shabby in the place

 

[bearhugger]

Middlesbrough.

Funnily enough Middlesbrough is mentioned in the opposite thread to this one. The station is better than a few years ago, when the subway used to stink like a toilet and work is (admittedly very slowly) being done to improve it.

 

[D6130]

I wouldn’t say Darlington is that bad. The centre is a little run down in parts, but absolutely nothing compared to somewhere like Luton. Driving into Darlington the first impression would be “this place isn’t too bad”.

I've known Darlington since the mid-'sixties as a child, a teenager and an adult....and I have to say that it's not by any means the worst place I've ever visited. Sure enough, the area around the station is a wee bit run down and the town centre has suffered from the vicissitudes of 1960s and 1970s redevelopment, but it has a fine Early English Gothic parish church, dedicated to St Cuthbert and an excellent Victorian covered market, complete with "Big Ben"-style clock tower. More importantly, I've always found Darlo folk to be very friendly and hospitable and the town has an excellent selection of pubs, bars and restaurants - not to mention a superb arts centre - and, above all, it's a railway town and very sympathetic to people who have the railway's interests and those of the railway people at heart.

 

[Crisps]

Darlington arts centre closed a few years ago, a victim of council cuts.
I echo what other people have said - a grand Victorian station building in a not-particularly salubrious part of town, with two routes to town that aren’t ideal: a walk either down a busy, fume-filled road or along a less busy road but with a heck of a lot of smelly, greasy takeaways. Hopefully the planned £100m plus investment will improve matters. I work in Darlo, and yes there are worse places, even locally, but I wouldn’t live there.

 

[camflyer]

I'd disagree. Ever since Kings Cross and St Pancras stations and the surrounding area was done up. I'd say its become one of, if not the nicest part of central London.

I agree. Twenty years ago, Kings Cross was an area to avoid but now it's a nice (and safe) place to hang out with some decent bars and restaurants. Mind you, I passed through at midday last Sunday and it was like a war zone.

 

[td97]

Bolton. Quite a pleasant station now it's been tarted up. Only at the junction directly outside the station entrance will one find aggressive beggers (syndicates of organised crime groups) at the traffic lights, as well as at every other junction within a mile radius of the town centre.

 

[Robertj21a]

Yes, people seem to have a bad impression of the place but it is OK. Probably a lot of the people who criticise it have never been there.

Isn't Darlington the one some way away from the town centre? - I'm sure I recall walking it some years ago and it was much further than I'd realised.

 

[dan4291]

Isn't Darlington the one some way away from the town centre? - I'm sure I recall walking it some years ago and it was much further than I'd realised.

It's on the edge of the town centre, only about 5 minutes walk away though so not too far.