Most Depressing Stretch of Line on the Network

[Bletchleyite]

West London really isn't that bad, especially when you compare it to other parts of London (South & East)
I'd much rather live in Greenford than many other places in London

It's yours, then. I wouldn't trade it for Harlesden, but until you get past Slaaaa everything out that way is just continuing grimness.

I'd go for any of South London over that.

To be fair, it all gives credence to the idea that unless you can live in Zone 1 or 2 there is nothing to be gained and everything to be lost from living in London.

 

[Mikey C]

I can't think of any UK rail lines which are depressing, as to me most of them have enough to keep me interested, and the dereliction of the 80s has generally been tidied up a bit

 

[Greetlander]

Woodhead from Hadfield to Penistone

 

[cactustwirly]

It's yours, then. I wouldn't trade it for Harlesden, but until you get past Slaaaa everything out that way is just continuing grimness.

I'd go for any of South London over that.

To be fair, it all gives credence to the idea that unless you can live in Zone 1 or 2 there is nothing to be gained and everything to be lost from living in London.

That's the same with all lines out of London tbh, except maybe the SWML or Waterloo to Reading line

 

[ABB125]

I always find Worcester Shrub Hill depressing. I think it must be the fact that it sees around 4 trains in a typical hour (not including reversals) for such a large station site (yet only has 2 platforms in use). Maybe the fact that so much of the site is unused is the reason.

 

[Bobdogs]

For me, the most depressing stretch of line over recent years has been the stretch of line southbound from Hereford to Newport. Now, don't get me wrong, it's certainly pretty countryside. But I've been on the train from Wilmslow and my bum is now aching, and it just seems like the pretty countryside goes on and on and on, and we still seem to be a long time away from my intended destination (usually Cardiff). I've run out of things to read and I'm hungry now, I just want the train journey to be over!

Be grateful you're not on a 15x going to Milford Haven. Newport to Cardiff and on to Swansea is totally underwhelming.From Gowerton onwards towards Carmarthen you have great views across to the Gower and Carmarthen Bay. Thereafter, further west, apart from occasional views of the Preseli hills, any views are blocked by line side vegetation. I don't know if this has improved following recent clearance works.
I left the city over 20 years ago to live in the countryside and when ever I return, it's always by train The journey from Wolverhampton to Birmingham is the most interesting part .

 

[PeterC]

The run into Liverpool Street from about Chelmsford. Particularly if looking out of the left hand windows. Mile after mile of horrid suburbs, dreary housing estates, run down maisonette blocks and dodgy garages etc. Made doubly worse by the slow trundle on the congested railway, so you get plenty of time to gawp at it all.

That used to be the intersting side from a railway point of view:
Road Machines monorail at Brentwood Sewerage Works
Speedlink wagons at the warehouse at Gidea Park (now flats)
Coal wagons at the junction of the Upminster branch (now flats)
OHLE maintanance trains at Romford
At various uses for the yard at Goodmayes over the years and the banana warehouse, usually with a solitary wagon.
Milk wagons at Ilford if you weren't distracted by the depot on the other side
Coal yard at Manor Park
Narrow guage at Stratford (and a lot more on the BR side on your right of course)
Commercial boat trafic on the Lea
Aggregates at the depot overlooking the Regents Canal
Finally a peek into the Underground at Shoreditch.
All gone now of course and a much less interesting journey.

 

[urbophile]

Liverpool Lime Street to Edge Hill. Dank, mouldy, smelly and horrible.

Not much of a view admittedly. But how do you know it's smelly? If you're on an air-conditioned train you won't, and if you're on a Pacer the smell of the train itself would blot out anything.

I love the sense of mystery as you approach the city from the south. First, a distant view of the cathedrals and other landmarks across urban rooftops, then after Edge Hill the visual anaesthesia of the tunnels interspersed with rock-faced cuttings and occasional vegetation. The cuttings themselves encourage meditation on the city itself, built on solid rock with the brick infill as a reminder of Georgian and Victorian expansion. Then arriving into the light of Lime Street's vast train sheds with the sublime St George's Hall immediately opposite.

Got carried away a bit there. But that is one of my favourite bits of railway. Least favourite are those approaching most provincial towns which are surrounded by endless boring housing estates and occasional retail sheds. No way of knowing from the architecture (as if!) which part of the country you are in.

 

[gazzaa2]

Stratford to Ebbsfleet

 

[wolfman]

Worksop to Nottingham just nudges Medway towns as the most depressing and demoralising journey in the UK.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

One from the past. The pretty well 70-odd miles of gloom when you travelled sixty years ago over the Midland route from Trent through the Erewash Valley to Sheffield and Leeds.

It's long gone now, and was on the old Midland route through South Yorks, but there was a huge coke works (I think) somewhere near Barnsley that produced clouds of black smoke all day.
It was quite a landmark, but I imagine the locals are glad it's gone.

Some of the roofscapes across the north are both dramatic and depressing at the same time.
The streets around the viaduct in Accrington are awesome (those long terraces with sloping roof lines matching the hillside).
And then after the grand moorland scenery over Copy Pit summit, you are suddenly in abandoned mill country in the valley down to Todmorden.
In fact the Blackpool-York run is one of the best for variety of landscape and townscape along the way.
Liverpool-Nottingham is another.

 

[yorksrob]

Don't know if I'd go that far, but it is pleasant, and has a particular element of interest near Appley Bridge, the crossing of three modes of transport - motorway over railway over canal.

I must admit, I'd never noticed that. I'll have to look out for it next time.

 

[ALEMASTER]

Doncaster to Sheffield was not very scenic. And it's so slow!

Within that geographical theme, I like the contrasts on the approaches to Rotherham Central from the Sheffield direction on both the Northern route via the Holmes Chord and the Tram-Train route via Tinsley

 

[Recessio]

I don't doubt there's probably worse in the country, but of the parts I've travelled, the stretch around Newhaven Harbour/Town/Marine on the East Coastway are particularly awful.

There's a lovely old quaint station building at Seaford, but at Newhaven they've let identical buildings sadly fall into disrepair. Then not to mention the glamorous shots of light & heavy industry at the industrial estate, the awful port terminus for ferries to France, and until very recently, the awful state of the trackbed, and having to travel in a knackered 313 that often leaks when it rains...

 

[Fawkes Cat]

but until you get past Slaaaa

Where is this 'Slaaaa' of which you speak? If you mean 'Slough' ('swamp'), then you should be aware that it's a two-syllable (maybe one and a half syllables) word with two vowels in it - 'Sla-ough'.

 

[EdtheRedEngine]

I've always found the approach to Manchester Victoria on the Chat Moss line to be pretty joyless. The shared cutting with the M602 is an expanse of unlovely concrete facings, followed by a long section of desolation running through vast empty stretches fringed with stuff that might be interesting, but you'll never know because it's too far away to see. The fact the trains run past the outer wall of Salford Central rather than through platforms doesn't help.

I also find the approach to Southport to be rather bleak, but I suspect that's because I've never been to Southport and not felt some degree of ennui.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Nowhere in GB can even come close to the approaches into central Barcelona from the Vic/Ripoll direction. Even before you go underground it's nothing but ugly warehouses, elevated highways and crowded slums (something I thought wasn't a thing in Western Europe any more).

 

[LMS 4F]

The valley lines struck me as pretty grim in particular the Rhondda valley to Treherbet. The whole area was covered in Japanese Knot weed.

 

[faltskog36abba]

I've always found the approach to Manchester Victoria on the Chat Moss line to be pretty joyless. The shared cutting with the M602 is an expanse of unlovely concrete facings, followed by a long section of desolation running through vast empty stretches fringed with stuff that might be interesting, but you'll never know because it's too far away to see. The fact the trains run past the outer wall of Salford Central rather than through platforms doesn't help.

I also find the approach to Southport to be rather bleak, but I suspect that's because I've never been to Southport and not felt some degree of ennui.

My nephews loved that stretch of railway when they were kids, seeing what was the fastest train/car.

 

[WrongRoad]

Fulwell to Shepperton!!!

 

[M!T]

For me the most depressing thing on a train journey (rather than shabby surroundings) is never feeling that you've got any decent speed up...
Leeds to Birmingham. Takes an excruciatingly long time for the distance. Horrifically expensive too.
Leeds to Blackpool North. Even slower.

 

[R G NOW.]

I always find Worcester Shrub Hill depressing. I think it must be the fact that it sees around 4 trains in a typical hour (not including reversals) for such a large station site (yet only has 2 platforms in use). Maybe the fact that so much of the site is unused is the reason.

I quite like Worcester shrub hill with its old Bango signal and the yards to the rear. Those sidings are used and it has 3 platforms. The one on the London end is used as far as I know. But have observed, when a Weymouth to great Malvern service gets terminated at shrub hill they seem to run them into the siding by the signal box. But once they did run it onto the line and back it into platform 3.

 

[ABB125]

I quite like Worcester shrub hill with its old Bango signal and the yards to the rear. Those sidings are used and it has 3 platforms. The one on the London end is used as far as I know. But have observed, when a Weymouth to great Malvern service gets terminated at shrub hill they seem to run them into the siding by the signal box. But once they did run it onto the line and back it into platform 3.

It just feels like it's a shadow of its former self (whatever that might have been, I'm not old enough to know!), yet at the same time I can't really envisage that it would be much busier than now at any point in time.
I heard that the old parcel lifts and footbridge (currently in a poor state) are being refurbished to replace the barrow crossing. Is this correct?

 

[Andy Pacer]

This may be controversial, but I feel depressed whenever I get east of Peterborough towards Ely and Norwich. Just all flat and boring!

 

[R G NOW.]

It just feels like it's a shadow of its former self (whatever that might have been, I'm not old enough to know!), yet at the same time I can't really envisage that it would be much busier than now at any point in time.
I heard that the old parcel lifts and footbridge (currently in a poor state) are being refurbished to replace the barrow crossing. Is this correct?

The station is listed due to the waiting room and was vey busy in the 1960's as my father was a manager there. Firstly a load of milk churns, then you had the kay and company mail order business with the constant stream of catalogues being sent. There was a large mail point, hence the parcel lifts. I had not heard about the lifts but I think that maybe they will be modified for passenger use.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

The station is listed due to the waiting room and was vey busy in the 1960's as my father was a manager there. Firstly a load of milk churns, then you had the kay and company mail order business with the constant stream of catalogues being sent. There was a large mail point, hence the parcel lifts. I had not heard about the lifts but I think that maybe they will be modified for passenger use.

I remember the Metal Box can factory just east of Shrub Hill, with a rail wagon alongside the main line being fed continuously by a stream of waste metal from a chute.
Can't remember when that closed.
Further east, there was also Metal Box's fancy head office in Reading, built on the track-bed into Reading Southern station after trains were diverted into General.
That's gone too, replaced by even newer skyscrapers!

 

[VT 390]

I always find Worcester Shrub Hill depressing. I think it must be the fact that it sees around 4 trains in a typical hour (not including reversals) for such a large station site (yet only has 2 platforms in use). Maybe the fact that so much of the site is unused is the reason.

I actually quite like Worcester Shrub Hill because of the fact it feels so empty and unused at times but I can see how this may be different for some people.

I heard that the old parcel lifts and footbridge (currently in a poor state) are being refurbished to replace the barrow crossing. Is this correct?

That bridge has now been removed, I actually think the station looks better now.

 

[eisenach]

Not dissimilar to the other side of Snow Hill, pretty much as far as Stourbridge, although the run down Old Hill bank offers a slightly less grim view.
Of course once you’re out past Stourbridge it’s pretty nice! Kiddy aside...

I agree with this. I went Stourbridge Junction to Marylebone last week. The bit of line from Rowley Regis to Smethwick, particularlay around the old Rolfe Street station, just seems to be used as an open air tip, with all kinds of rubbish tipped down into the cutting, including thousands of plastic bottles. It looks like deliberate fly-tipping on a massive scale.

 

[Philip]

Much the same applies between Longport and Kidsgrove - in fact it's a lot better than it was now the collieries, steelworks and pot banks have gone.
I find the old Trent & Mersey canal architecture at Kidsgrove fascinating, and the new (BR) Harecastle rail tunnel is much nicer and shorter than the old one, with the line now going through a park.

What was wrong with the old Harecastle? The old tunnel looks much more daunting and interesting than the 1960s concrete tube! Also the fact it was split into 3 different tunnels, separated by deep cuttings seems to add to the interest.

 

[BrumKev]

Birmingham to Wolverhampton for me although Im not a fan of Birmingham Snow Hill to Stourbridge Junction either!