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Shabbiest stations

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bailey65

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Which stations do you think could do with a serious make over i would say that the scruffiest staions i know of are great yarmouth,exeter central and hampton court all badly in need of a paint brush.
I presume that stations that are out of the way a bit not near london and the south east or that are generally quiet like branch lines are less likely to get any tlc.
It must be difficult for network rail with a finite amount of money to look after thousands of stations and they can't be blamed for vandalism.
 
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MidnightFlyer

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Byfleet & New Haw?
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Which stations do you think could do with a serious make over i would say that the scruffiest staions i know of are great yarmouth,exeter central and hampton court all badly in need of a paint brush.
I presume that stations that are out of the way a bit not near london and the south east or that are generally quiet like branch lines are less likely to get any tlc.
It must be difficult for network rail with a finite amount of money to look after thousands of stations and they can't be blamed for vandalism.

Great Yarmouth's getting some clean-up work done AFAIK, plus Hampton Court wasn't that scruffy when I visited (albeit that was a couple of years ago now).
 
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DavidBrown

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Which stations do you think could do with a serious make over i would say that the scruffiest staions i know of are ... exeter central...

Exeter Central has just had several million pounds spent on it with a whole new ticket hall and waiting rooms on the platforms. Whilst the Ticket Hall is a vast improvement, the footbridge and platforms still resemble a public toilet and are in major need of a complete overhaul.
 

CC 72100

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Exeter Central has just had several million pounds spent on it with a whole new ticket hall and waiting rooms on the platforms. Whilst the Ticket Hall is a vast improvement, the footbridge and platforms still resemble a public toilet and are in major need of a complete overhaul.

Was going to say that - the ticket hall has recently been re-done, can't really comment on the platforms as the last time I used it it was quite late at night and I was only getting off a train there, not spending time waiting for one
 

VTPreston_Tez

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Anything between Liverpool Street and Turkey Street. The stations look very old and ruined, notably Bethnal Green and Turkey Street, maybe Seven Sisters.
 

Urban Gateline

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Was going to say that - the ticket hall has recently been re-done, can't really comment on the platforms as the last time I used it it was quite late at night and I was only getting off a train there, not spending time waiting for one


I've been there and quite like the aged look of the platforms, the footbridge that leads to the smaller exit is quite nice and modern though, but I've never understood the point of that exit, there's remotely monitored barriers there which presumably make it rife for fare evasion!
 

gnolife

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Reddish South is pretty shabby.
As are several stations on Mid Cheshire (namely Ashley, Lostock Gralam and Greenbank)
 

ashworth

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Wakefield Kirkgate although I wonder whether the improvements in the pipeline will be enough!
 

MK Tom

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Bow Brickhill and Kempston Hardwick. Even in the context of the Marston Vale line those two are awful, especially given the former serves a decent chunk of south east MK equating to around 30,000 people in the immediate vicinity.
 

BestWestern

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Gloucester. Major station, absolute dump. 'Improvement works' hastened by fire-lighting scum destroying the ticket office, but not much seems to have happened yet. Current ticket office is a Portacabin out the front.
 

sbt

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I was going to say that! Quite incredible when you consider that that area of Surrey is just a little affluent...

West Byfleet was awful for many years, until the recent upgrade.

Its not that wonderful now, with no shelter from the wind (and windblown rain) on Plat 2/3 (important as WB is on an embankment) other than the new bridge, gradients on parts of the platforms that cause your feet to disappear from under you in icy weather and weeds already breaking up the platform surface in places. The 'overhead cover' is totally inadequate for the number of passengers using it in the morning (imagine penguins huddling together under a scrap of modern corrugated tin equivalent). At least the old rotten and structurally unsafe platform shelter used to act as a wind break.

I suspect many commuter stations get left tatty because:

a) Intensive use makes it difficult/expensive to schedule works.

b) Commuter rail usage is regarded as insensitive to such things.
 

33109

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Can't believe nobody's mention man victoria yet, complete & utter mess especially where there's still remains of the canopy over the metrolink platforms. Also crewe half the canopy is missing and waiting rooms/toilets are in need of some major tlc, but worst of all for me has gotta be birmingham new st. Always so dark & dingy in there, in winter the platforms are freezing & in summer you roast to deat<D
 

swcovas

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I don't know the place at all but Byfleet and New Haw station building looks quite nice in the photos I've just looked at. Guess I'm missing something?
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Port Talbot pretty bleak. Improvement plans in the pipeline......not sure if started yet.
 

tsr

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Between the parallel lines
I've always thought North Camp could be made a bit smarter. It's quite well used, and although it never seems to be too dirty, it could do with a spruce-up. There are often weeds and overgrown bushes, there's a random block of concrete on the Eastbound platform, and any flowers planted are generally dead. The last time I was there, the ticket office was closed and there was a broken vending machine left outside it. Not too bad, you might think, but the vending machine had already been there for six months!

The footpath away from the Eastbound platform, the situation with crossing the road and the cycle path on the other side of the road all feel unsafe for various reasons.

Also, there are no clocks to speak of, which means that you can feel a bit uncertain if you can't find your phone in your rucksack and you aren't wearing a watch... fortunately, though, there are announcements before a train arrives, and the level crossing is a good clue.

In addition, there are no buses serving the station at lunchtime, it seems.

Bow Brickhill and Kempston Hardwick. Even in the context of the Marston Vale line those two are awful, especially given the former serves a decent chunk of south east MK equating to around 30,000 people in the immediate vicinity.

Millbrook is rather spartan. It has pretty poor lighting, a completely rubbish entrance, a help point (IIRC) but no other information systems... I could go on.

The bus only comes every Thursday afternoon (or something), and, as a result, it is not in any way connected to the village of Millbrook, unless you like walking!

EDIT: Since this is a thread about "Shabbiest stations", I should clarify that the lack of a proper entrance is probably the shabbiest thing about Millbrook.
 
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Can't believe nobody's mention man victoria yet, complete & utter mess especially where there's still remains of the canopy over the metrolink platforms. Also crewe half the canopy is missing and waiting rooms/toilets are in need of some major tlc, but worst of all for me has gotta be birmingham new st. Always so dark & dingy in there, in winter the platforms are freezing & in summer you roast to deat<D

Absolutely - Manchester Victoria is a disgrace, especially when compared to Piccadilly.
 

CC 72100

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Gloucester. Major station, absolute dump. 'Improvement works' hastened by fire-lighting scum destroying the ticket office, but not much seems to have happened yet. Current ticket office is a Portacabin out the front.

This. Can't say I've noticed the portacabin though, although it offers slight improvement on the bus station over the road!
 

12CSVT

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Absolutely - Manchester Victoria is a disgrace, especially when compared to Piccadilly.

Can't believe how Manchester Victoria got into such a state when most of it was just about rebuilt in the 1990s
 

sevenhills

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Can't believe how Manchester Victoria got into such a state when most of it was just about rebuilt in the 1990s

Is there any patern to these posts?

I understand some are the responsibility of Network Rail, and others not. My local. Morley station is poor, run by Northern Rail.
 
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