Least scenic lines

[VTPreston_Tez]

Bethnal Green to Liverpool Street via Greater Anglia wins for me.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

The ECML South of York has very little of interest alongside in my opinion. Additionally, a full run (from Leeds) on the S&C has nothing besides Kirkstall Abbey to catch the eye until you get to Salt's Mill.

 

[Sidious]

I'd be inclined to go for any of the fenland runs. P'boro to Sleaford, Grantham to Skegness, P'borugh to Ely or Ely to Lynn.

They are all boring.

Christian O'Connell's side-kick Ritchie is a railway enthusiast and they will likely send him on the run chosen. He has done a number of railway related things for the show.

 

[SeanG]

I think we need to distinguish between 'scenic' and 'interesting'.

For instance, an industrial landscape may not win any nature awards but has many things to look at which people find interesting.

Conversely, some people may find empty countryside boring.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

 

[TheBoyFromTheN]

Doncaster - Scunthorpe....

the blooody bus!

 

[ATW Alex 101]

Merseyrail Wirral line Ellesmere Port and Chester branches. Absolutely nothing and just boring. Plain boring, probably the worst line in Britain. The only good bit is passing through the disused Upton-by-Chester station near Bache.

 

[Polarbear]

Merseyrail Wirral line Ellesmere Port and Chester branches. Absolutely nothing and just boring. Plain boring, probably the worst line in Britain. The only good bit is passing through the disused Upton-by-Chester station near Bache.

Yep - I'll second that. Most of the run between Chester & Hooton is in a cutting & you can't see much anyhow.

Upton by Chester was my local station until it's closure. :roll:

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

The only good bit is passing through the disused Upton-by-Chester station near Bache.

Where for a few weeks in 1963 I was the station master (well, leading porter/ticket clerk/general factotum - summer student job).
You are right though. The Chester-Birkenhead line is either in a low cutting or between avenues of tall trees most of the way.
And on the few occasions it breaks cover the view is nothing worth looking at...
Bromborough station is quite nice with some original features.
The sandstone cuttings are impressive as well (Little Sutton, Green Lane etc).

 

[Ivo]

Bristol Stapleton Road (or is it Lawrence Hill?)

Lawrence Hill is first out of Temple Meads - not that it matters because it's still dull to Stapleton Road. By the time you get to Severn Beach though (if you're going that way), you go through so many different landscapes that the line deservedly gets called "one of the most scenic lines in Europe"!

Merseyrail Wirral line Ellesmere Port and Chester branches. Absolutely nothing and just boring. Plain boring, probably the worst line in Britain.

There's a lot worse out there than Birkenhead to Chester (Haven't done Ellesmere Port so couldn't comment.)

 

[ChiefPlanner]

Park Royal - West Ruislip takes some beating ...(drab , untidy , graffiti ridden)

 

[Sun Chariot]

I was beaten to the case for Waterloo-Bank. So I'll go with Stourbridge Jcn to Stourbridge town.

 

[3141]

It's a long time since I travelled on Barking - Gospel Oak, but my recollection is that some sections of that are unscenic, especially when in cuttings.

 

[Statto]

Most of Merseyrail Northern Line. I'd say Liverpool to Manchester via Chat moss & Warrington, also Liverpool to Wigan via St Helens is not very scenic either.

Manchester to Manchester Airport & Stockport, not too fussy on Leeds to Huddersfield either.

 

[MacRae13]

Somebody in another thread here recommended Glasgow Central to Stranraer as a nice journey, so I gave it a go a couple of months back.

God it was boring. And terminated in the most depressing station I've seen. I really feel sorry for the locals having to walk to that place. I read they're talking about opening a more central station, near the old one which was closed down - that'd be much better for the township.

 

[Chapeltom]

Most of Merseyrail Northern Line. I'd say Liverpool to Manchester via Chat moss & Warrington, also Liverpool to Wigan via St Helens is not very scenic either.

Manchester to Manchester Airport & Stockport, not too fussy on Leeds to Huddersfield either.

I commute along the Manchester to Liverpool via Warrington line when I'm at Uni, I've always enjoyed the journey. Much better than Bolton to Salford Crescent which is a horrible drag.

 

[Hyphen]

Doncaster - Scunthorpe....

the blooody bus!

I was going to nominate Doncaster to Grimsby as boring boring boring - it's all just FLAT, and the train always seems deathly slow considering how straight the lines are.

Luckily for me I've not had to sample the highlights of the bus journey - with the line closed my employer has just hired a car for 24 hours each time I've needed to visit our Grimsby facility.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Most of Merseyrail Northern Line. I'd say Liverpool to Manchester via Chat moss & Warrington, also Liverpool to Wigan via St Helens is not very scenic either.

Manchester to Manchester Airport & Stockport, not too fussy on Leeds to Huddersfield either.

Neither of those I've bolded are great, but they do have their moments. Old Roan to Maghull on the Ormskirk line is quite pleasant though not exactly breathtaking. The Huddersfield line is rather nice between the Western portal of Morley tunnel until Batley- the run through Dewsbury is a bit grotty I'll give you that. Once you're West of Ravensthorpe it's rather pretty until you get to Stalybridge though (tunnels and the ugly Tesco at Huddersfield notwithstanding).

 

[MCR247]

To me it's Liverpool St -Tottenham Hale, but not just because of the 'scenery,' because of how slow the speeds are as that just makes it worse

 

[BestWestern]

Cardiff to Newport/Severn Tunnel Jcn is pretty dull. Just a freightliner terminal to add excitement. Bristol Parkway to Gloucester is also rather boring in my opinion, once you clear Westerleigh Jcn anyway. Long, flat, nowt much going on out there.

 

[WestRiding]

most of the east coast main line, its not horrible but very uninspireing scenery.

 

[Urban Gateline]

most of the east coast main line, its not horrible but very uninspireing scenery.

I guess that comes down to personal judgement like someone said earlier, not everyone likes endless fields and countryside scenery! However I love the views on it compared to some of the more suburban lines in my area!

 

[phil281]

Has to be HS1. Fences and tunnels all the way zzzzzzzzzz

 

[A0wen]

Surely Finsbury Park to Moorgate has to be a contender?!

 

[Trainfan344]

Disagree strongly with both of these. Peterborough to Lincoln is great, when the sun is out and the fields are full of tulips and misty hills can be seen looking west it is like being on holiday :P

Ipswich to Cambridge is really pretty I think, it is hilly for East Anglia, and is pretty for quite a lot of it's length. Crossing Newmarket Heath is certainly nice. The rolling stock situation is much improved, with almost all services being worked by 170s, which GA keep MUCH cleaner than NXEA ever did. This line is certainly prettier than the East Suffolk line.

Adam

Oulton Broad Swingbridge is nice, apart from that the line is boring.

 

[trentside]

I've got to agree about Birmingham to Wolverhampton, and throw Lichfield Trent Valley to Birmingham into the mix as well.

Having spent a lot of time travelling around south London in recent months, I found little of merit on the loop services through Slade Green via Sidcup - the route through Bexleyheath had a couple of interesting sections, but I can't say I really enjoyed them.

 

[6Gman]

The first few miles from Chester toward North Wales (once you're out of the city itself) is pretty grim! Tatty industrial estates, burnt out cars and general air of dereliction.

Have had to reassure American tourists more than once that - yes, they are on the right train!

 

[61653 HTAFC]

The first few miles from Chester toward North Wales (once you're out of the city itself) is pretty grim! Tatty industrial estates, burnt out cars and general air of dereliction.

Have had to reassure American tourists more than once that - yes, they are on the right train!

I think the Waterloo-Reading line is rather under-rated in scenic terms, but the stretch between Feltham and Staines is hideous in a similar way, with burnt-out vehicles and discarded old fridges seemingly behind every bush!

 

[David Goddard]

Edge Hill into Lime Street can not be described as scenic, but in terms of architecture has to rank quite highly.

 

[leytongabriel]

To me it's Liverpool St -Tottenham Hale, but not just because of the 'scenery,' because of how slow the speeds are as that just makes it worse

Different strokes....... Doesn't seem quite so bad to me, varied innercity stuff with London Fields and the marshes as green gaps. Its the bit north of Tottenham Hale up the Lea Valley which is drab without relief.

I'd put in a special plug for the bit of HS1 (and the parallel Barking -Grays line) which takes the unwary continental tourist through the landscape joys of Rainham.

 

[Ivo]

Having spent a lot of time travelling around south London in recent months, I found little of merit on the loop services through Slade Green via Sidcup - the route through Bexleyheath had a couple of interesting sections, but I can't say I really enjoyed them.

Sidcup? Bexleyheath? Neither compares to the Woolwich route in the "bad" stakes

I think the Waterloo-Reading line is rather under-rated in scenic terms, but the stretch between Feltham and Staines is hideous in a similar way, with burnt-out vehicles and discarded old fridges seemingly behind every bush!

It has so much contrast it's almost amazing. Mile after mile of forest between Martins Heron and Egham (or rather, near Martins Heron and near Egham), yet the area just inside the M25 feels worthless. Even the fields look like wasteland - wasteland deposited on aimlessly and thoughtlessly by modern society. And east of Feltham isn't exactly pretty either - just five miles from the "mile after mile of forest", and yet it's swamped with row after row of uninspiring terracing.

Bracknell to Reading shows some interest, but mainly because of the differences in atmosphere you feel from each locality: The modern mixture of aesthetically pleasing glass with not-so-pleasing concrete of Bracknell; the (comparative) traditions of Wokingham; the upstart village of Winnersh, and its enterprising development just a stone's throw away at the Triangle; the suburban predictability of Earley; and the ever-changing economic giant that is Reading...