Least favourite stretch of railway line in the UK?

[Galvanize]

Redhill-Tonbridge:
Have done that stretch on a diverted London-Hastings service. The train was delayed, so ended up being stuck behind a stopping service all the way to Tonbridge. Although you can see the base of the North Downs on the horizon, the immediate scenary is just much the same, being almost flat and straight makes it so dull! It just seems so long, you THINK your almost in Tonbridge and...oh, only just passed through Edenbridge FFS!

Wolverhampton-Stafford:
You're just leaving the rather depressing looking Wolverhampton, thinking your about to enter the countryside. Even then it just looks really boring, field after field after field, but before long the train is on the approach to Stafford!

Ely-Kings Lynn:
Did this section of track on a railtour back in 2006, and even that was boring. Once you've seen the fens for 30 seconds, thats it. Even more annoyingly, I still need the last bit of the line to Kings Lynn station, so that means doing it on a 365! Michael Portaloo got a cab ride on the last section of the line into Kings Lynn, if I was him, I would of tried to save it for a more scenic journey!

 

[MidnightFlyer]

I find Barking-Pitsea via Grays to be a bit depressing... Not much to look at, just an urban wasteland on the Thames Estuary.

 

[Mojo]

Agreed above with Kings Norton to New Street on an XC train; because they go so darn slow seems to take ages.

Acton Main Line to Paddington also seems to take an age.

Aylesbury to Marylebone is also a snore.

 

[Drsatan]

I would choose Southampton Central - Southampton Airport. After the sharp curve after the train's left Southampton tunnel, the line's pretty dull until Southampton Airport.

I find Basingstoke to Woking fairly dull since the line is either hemmed in by trees or in a cutting, hence there isn't much to see.

I was on a charter train last year which went through Bolton to Manchester Victoria. It was depressing seeing all the derelict factories - a reminder that Britain will never be a manufacturing nation.

 

[Ivo]

The North Downs/Waterloo-Reading line from Reading to Wokingham Junction is exceptionally dull. As you approach Reading it gets a bit better (you pass a road and then run parallel to the GWML, which at least provides some movement to look at) but aside from that it's just murky trees and ugly buildings. The stations also look awful (there's one - I forget which - that has a very old serif-fonted SWT logo and a rather worse for wear mural on the up platform.)

There are plenty of worse lines than this bit. By urban standards, I feel it is actually quite neat. You have a decent run from Wokingham to Winnersh, then up above ground level for Triangle, from which you can actually get some half-decent views if you try hard enough, and then through Earley is not bad by urban standards either. If anything, the Reading end is the dull bit.

I should say though that the Triangle bridge has seen better days (last I knew, the brickwork was quite clearly damaged; when I go there in a couple of weeks' time, I will check again and flag it up if need be).

 

[Supersaint]

Theres probably worse ones, but one I was dsappointed with is the West Coastway from Brighton to Southampton.
All the way along the coast, yet you barely get a glimpse of the sea!

Agree, It's so Slow with "Southern Trains" stopping at Every station, they use to run a Saturday Summer Service to Exeter only stopping at the main stations but that stopped a good 20 years ago.
I worked it out that it Maybe quicker to travel to Clapham Junction-Brighton from Southampton than traverling direct from Southampton
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I would choose Southampton Central - Southampton Airport. After the sharp curve after the train's left Southampton tunnel, the line's pretty dull until Southampton Airport.

I find Basingstoke to Woking fairly dull since the line is either hemmed in by trees or in a cutting, hence there isn't much to see.

I was on a charter train last year which went through Bolton to Manchester Victoria. It was depressing seeing all the derelict factories - a reminder that Britain will never be a manufacturing nation.

Have to disagree here, you have St Marys Stadium on the Right shortly followed by Northam SWT Depot, then the old sidings at Mount Pleasant (No sidings anymore) track going into 6 from 4 for a 1/2 mile, St Denny’s Junction just after. From there it is a little Dull.
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Basingstoke to Reading I find a little frustrating as every time I’ve gone on a Cross Country Service it only seems to travel 25-40mph ! Always find Just before you get to Bramley Station interesting though as over the last 25 years seen sidings gone through to houses being built on the site.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Agree, It's so Slow with "Southern Trains" stopping at Every station, they use to run a Saturday Summer Service to Exeter only stopping at the main stations but that stopped a good 20 years ago.
I worked it out that it Maybe quicker to travel to Clapham Junction-Brighton from Southampton than traverling direct from Southampton
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---


Have to disagree here, you have St Marys Stadium on the Right shortly followed by Northam SWT Depot, then the old sidings at Mount Pleasant (No sidings anymore) track going into 6 from 4 for a 1/2 mile, St Denny’s Junction just after. From there it is a little Dull.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Basingstoke to Reading I find a little frustrating as every time I’ve gone on a Cross Country Service it only seems to travel 25-40mph ! Always find Just before you get to Bramley Station interesting though as over the last 25 years seen sidings gone through to houses being built on the site.

Also the Salisbury-Andover stretch I found disappointing in places, A few years back, I caught a Virgin Cross Country service on a Sunday afternoon that had been diverted from Southampton-Basingstoke to run Romsey-Salisbury Triangle & on to Basingstoke, lots of cuttings & overgrown scenery 75% all the way !

 

[Striker]

:roll:

I think you'll find he was joking. :roll:

Now, funnily enough, on Eurostar I actually time them through the tunnel from portal to portal ( in the vain hope of one day getting a passage at the theoretical minimum transit time ) and I use the crossover caverns as my intermediate timing points!

God. With this amount of excitement the journey must fly by.

Thinking about it I would have to say around urban areas, especially those in need of help, can be boring, but slightly more depressing, such as around Ardwick etc in Mancheser, Wolves-Brum, and definitely East Glasgow (where the enemy lives!). I don't follow the argue that Swindon-Didcot and Peterborough-St Neots are boring as they pass through tedios countryside - would you rather have that or pass through urban wasteland?

Matt

Surely there's more to look at in an urban wasteland rather than pretty countryside?

I was on a charter train last year which went through Bolton to Manchester Victoria. It was depressing seeing all the derelict factories - a reminder that Britain will never be a manufacturing nation.

I think you missed the word "again" off at the end of that sentance.

 

[At_traction]

Primrose Hill tunnel to Kilburn High Road. A cutting between slum tenaments, where the tenants main recreation appears to be throwing second hand nappies and syringes out of the window.

Yes, but you wouldn't have time to pore over minutiae like cr*ppy nappies or drug paraphernalia if you let your eyes feast over trackside Modernist sculptures. If the sun isn't completely blocked, that is. At least there's something so overwhelmigly and dwarfingly different like that to see in that particular cutting (for us that way inclined ).

 

[313103]

Well for me it has to be Stratford to Richmond, Clapham Junction to Willesden Junction and Gospel Oak to Barking. When you have to go and down it sometimes up to 8 return journeys a day it can become very tedious and very boring with nothing of interest to look at.

 

[Zoe]

GWML Plymouth to Royal Albert Bridge. It's a very depressing ride through the western Plymouth urban area but at least that changes when you actually get to the bridge.

 

[ushawk]

Mines the South London Line (Inner), its just dull. Yes there is stuff to look at but its drab and boring.

 

[MidnightFlyer]

Surely there's more to look at in an urban wasteland rather than pretty countryside?

Not really, at least with countryside, it's tranquil and relaxing, whereas in urban wastlend, it can be rather depressing, and up here, a reminder of an industry lost... Compare Preston-Lancaster with Bolton-manchester and you'll see what I mean.

 

[chris89]

For me it has to be.

Wolverhampton - Stafford, Just seems to me to drag for ever, and bad i've just noticed (last monday) A new looking prison that has been built. But then when i have been Northbound to Edinburgh, it has been very foggy/ Raining or not having a seat on the right hand side.

Wolverhampton - B'ham NewStreet: Due to how rundown everywere looks on that route.

 

[duffman82]

Exeter Central - Honiton, i thought it was pretty bland.

 

[W-on-Sea]

I find Barking-Pitsea via Grays to be a bit depressing... Not much to look at, just an urban wasteland on the Thames Estuary.

Barking to Tilbury itself is certainly really grim, post-industrial wasteland. Quite unique for the south of England, really, just the scale of what you are passing through. I think the worst stretch, actually, is the bit through Tillbury itself.

Conversely, I think the stretch from where the built-up bit of Tilbury ends - until at least the other side of East Tilbury - is surprisingly attractive. The former Bata Works (originally a shoe factory, now a business centre) - really quite an elegant modernist structure - dominate the view as you approach East Tilbury, there's an imposing Norman church with fine tower in West Tilbury, just by where Low Street halt used to be, and for part of this stretch you're crossing a really lovely stretch of marshland, with some lakes to take in too. Particularly good at this time of year, when there are so many migratory birds there.

Believe me, I grew up nearby, and certainly had (have) an inbuilt prejudice against what one might find in Thurrock: it was a quite some surprise to find some beauty there, amid all the industry and really grim small towns and estates and main roads that characterise (so much of) the borough.

 

[Ivo]

Believe me, there are plenty of worse lines than the LTS route. Although I have to say that the Dagenham Dock area does take some beating!

 

[FLHH East Anglia]

Peterborough to Grantham. Just dull and it's always further than you relly feel it ought to be. Also, in the opposite direction, getting into Peterborough seems to take forever.

I allways used to think that myself,until i signed the route to Doncaster,now because i know where i am i split it into sections and it don't seem nowhere near as far which is real good when coming home in the early hours!:roll:

 

[me123]

My award has to go to Airdrie-Charing Cross (Glasgow). The line passes through some of the most deprived areas in the United Kingdom, and even manages to miss the best parts of them. It was once described by an Australian visitor as like "passing through a nuclear wasteland". And, when you're passing through the abandoned caravan parks, it's not a bad description. To add to the fun, you also get to make stops at the lovely Easterhouse and Carntyne stations. Always a bit of an adventure after dark.

Although, to be fair, once you get to the Western side of the North Clyde Line, things improve dramatically. You've got all the Clydeside regeneration buildings passing through Finnieston (the science centre, the BBC building, The Tall Ship, the new transport museum, the Clyde itself...). Perhaps not the best view from a train anywhere, but I just love it. (And, if you're lucky, you'll see a Seaplane landing!)

I find a lot of dull lines do tend to be redeemed all in all. For example, the Whifflet-Carmyle line is pretty dull. But, when you're passing Polmadie depot, Rutherglen junctions, seeing the new M74 getting closer and closer to completion and, to top it all off, crossing the Clyde on that wonderful entrance to Glasgow Central, it really does make up for it.

 

[Bedpan]

I wanted to have the opportunity to go round Edinburgh Suburban Line for years, and when I finally got the chance it was a total let down. Nothing to see at all except for cuttings and the backs of buildings obstructing the view of Arthur's Seat.
I dibn't agree about West of Plymouth or Wolves to Birmingham, and some others mentioned. The first is on an embankment and you have the opportunity of seeing the water, and ships in the dockyards etc, and there is a good view of the canal and the possibility of passing narrowboats etc on the latter. Just because a landscape is industrial or squalid doesn't make it uninteresting, its when there's nothing at all to see that I find it boring.

 

[OuterDistant]

Wolverhampton-Stafford:
You're just leaving the rather depressing looking Wolverhampton, thinking your about to enter the countryside. Even then it just looks really boring, field after field after field, but before long the train is on the approach to Stafford!

At least there's Penkridge halfway along - quite a nice town!

 

[Hydro]

In and out of London Bridge on the Southern lines to Croydon. Nothing really wrong with it, but I have been up and down, up and down, up and down testing it all morning, and I just want my PNB because I'm starving. Thus it is my least liked stretch of line at the moment.

 

[b0b]

I find a lot of dull lines do tend to be redeemed all in all. For example, the Whifflet-Carmyle line is pretty dull. But, when you're passing Polmadie depot, Rutherglen junctions, seeing the new M74 getting closer and closer to completion and, to top it all off, crossing the Clyde on that wonderful entrance to Glasgow Central, it really does make up for it.

I read somewhere they're considering electrifying Whifflet to Carmyle and then diverting the service via the Argyle line. Could make it horrible.

 

[shinkansen1966]

in the opposite direction, [Grantham -> Peterborough] getting into Peterborough seems to take forever.

So it's not just me who thinks that ! Why is that ?

 

[matchmaker]

My award has to go to Airdrie-Charing Cross (Glasgow). The line passes through some of the most deprived areas in the United Kingdom, and even manages to miss the best parts of them. It was once described by an Australian visitor as like "passing through a nuclear wasteland". And, when you're passing through the abandoned caravan parks, it's not a bad description. To add to the fun, you also get to make stops at the lovely Easterhouse and Carntyne stations. Always a bit of an adventure after dark.

It's not a bad as it was in the 1960's. You now longer have the plumes of drifting smoke and smell from the dying heavy industry that used to be on both sides of the line! Plus the most mis-named signalbox - Heatheryknowe. No heather for miles..........................:roll:

 

[scotsman]

Central Low Level - Exhibition Centre

 

[me123]

I read somewhere they're considering electrifying Whifflet to Carmyle and then diverting the service via the Argyle line. Could make it horrible.

Oh yes, that'll be lovely! All the good bits taken away and rerouted via the lovely Dalmarnock and Bridgeton.

 

[47741]

Hi Folks. I've finally got round to posting something:

Mine would have to be Stalybridge - Guide Bridge - Ardwick on TPE. Diverge from the main line at Stalybridge onto a sinuous former freight line. Very very slow. Join a former mainline at what was once a major junction at the much reduced and now razor wire-encrusted Guide Bridge. Crawl behind a Hadfield/Glossop stopper all the way to Ardwick, having plenty of time to observe the following, and mourn this country's total lack of forward planning:

- huge, elaborate OHLE gantries built for 4,6 and 8 lines, now carrying two piddly wires.
- Berne gauge bridges built with intercontinental freight in mind
- station ramps and other clutter blocking the former slow line trackbeds
- detritus all over the embankments
- the rusty footbridge at Ardwick
- Ardwick
- poor old Mayfield

 

[At_traction]

Central Low Level - Exhibition Centre

And just to elaborate, even though it might be clear as the sky for a Scot: in Glasgow.

 

[ChrisTheRef]

Without a doubt it's Wolverhampton to Birmingham New Street.

Gray, bleak, run down, depressing. Puts me off living anywhere near the West Midlands completely.

The run from Deansgate from Piccadilly also does little to excite me. I could also probably run it faster than the trains do it.

 

[colpepper]

- huge, elaborate OHLE gantries built for 4,6 and 8 lines, now carrying two piddly wires.
etc...

There's something uniquely depressing about the gaps where railway infrastructure used to be. Railway platforms spaced for four lines and containing two, twin line tunnels with single track, boarded up signal boxes, points that no longer go anywhere, that sort of thing.

The absent space seems to reinforce its former glory and mock its present condition though we should be grateful there's anything running at all I suppose.