Stations far from their town/city centre

[craigwilson]

I think an addition to the thread would be bl++dy dreary walks from stations to the town/city. Here's three examples of how Town Planning is a pathetic prefession...discuss.

Durham...Follow your nose to the Town, and you end up crossing a pathetic curly footbridge to the back of a cr+p shopping centre...a very poor entrance to a delightful city!

Doncaster...what do the planners do...put a fenced off, multi-lane speedway in front of the station, with no obvoius way of following your nose...grim.

Peterborough...each time I've visited this dump, I've ended up in the bus station, going down a narrow width escalator!! WTF is that about? and you know the quality of the environment in your average bus station.

Seem to recall Dundee is similarly divided from where you suppose the City to be. You need to cross a high-speed road on a ghastly wind-swept footbridge, unless 'they' have 'repaired' that ghastly approach to the City. I recall, as a kid, arriving at Dundeed West and entering a bustling urban square...seemed like the big city when you lived in Perth...poor post-war planning again.

There will be many more excuses for urban planning, I welcome all contributions...and ideally from any urban designers, planners, landscape architects out there who have any ideas on how to improve our impoverished urban scene...and the walking routes from station to the bleedin obvious goal...the Town centre!!

Stevenage must also be a contender here; on one side you have the leisure park, on the other you have a long dreary walk over the A602 through a tunnel in the side of the Gordon Craig theatre, followed by a looooong, flat ramp that drops you out right at.....Stevenage bus station!!

 

[bnm]

IIRC Yeovil Junction is in Dorset (the County Border runs through the station)

Yeovil Junction station is now wholly in Somerset. The boundary was moved in 1995. Prior to 1995 the boundary followed the Stoford Brook which flows just west of the platforms at YVJ with the station buildings being on the Dorset side of the brook.

Since 1995 the boundary is directly east of the line from Pen Mill to the point where the Weymouth Line goes under the West of England Main Line. Here the boundary turns west to run just south of the whole of Yeovil Junction station and its environs, picking up the Stoford Brook further west.

 

[blakey1152]

I'm going to add Weybridge here
After visiting the station for a bus rally a few years back I found it was an insanely long walk to the town centre!!!

Chris

 

[Bedpan]

Hemel Hempstead & Tring - 2 miles and 3 miles from respective town centres...

Its only a mile by road from Hemel station to the Marlowes shopping centre, less to Debenhams.

Esher station always seems to be in an odd place, although a suburban station and less than a mile from the town centre its almost surrounded by a racecourse, common land and a gold course, so there can't be many people living within a ten minute walk.

Also, Effingham Junction is more than 1.5 miles from Effingham and Cobham and Stoke D'Abernon is more than 1.5 miled from Cobham town centre although to be fair it is in Stoke D'Abernon.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Every time that this thread surfaces under a new identity, I always nominate.......


Upholland

 

[221129]

Tiverton Parkway is a good 7 miles away from the town centre and about 20 mins on the bus

 

[DaveNewcastle]

Alnmouth

Surely the problem with Alnmouth station isn't simply that its a long way from Alnmouth?
Its just got the wrong name. Its in Bilton. And if that was too obscure, then it would be better named Lesbury, which is still a lot closer than Alnmouth!

Another candidate has to be Battersby; well known for its layout where all trains have to reverse, but its not in any habitation.
Or Gleneagles?

Tring

I forgot about that recently. I called for a taxi from Tring Station and on being told I'd have to wait half an hour, I just started to walk. And walk. And walk.

 

[Jonny]

Glenrothes is bloody miles away (3.5)

Markinch is closer; IIRC it used to be called Markinch for Glenrothes
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

That's long gone. Although when it was taken down, part of it was left for months afterwards - http://www.flickr.com/photos/adman_as/460390423/ (not my pic).

Anyway, Livingston I think qualifies on both criteria on this thread...twice. Neither of its stations are near the town centre, and both involve dreary walks (mind you, the whole town is pretty depressing).

Also, that Dundee footbridge saved me many a road crossing when I was at Dundee Uni and going to/from the station.

 

[OuterDistant]

I love it when this comes up, because our city is a bit of an anomaly!

The City of Stoke-on-Trent is actually a federation of six towns, formed in 1910 IIRC, and given city status in 1925. The station named Stoke-on-Trent is in the town of Stoke-upon-Trent (locally shortened to "Stoke"), which is the administrative centre. The commercial centre is Hanley, a mile away, and this is where road signs saying "city centre" will take you. (Hanley did have a station until 1964, when the Potteries Loop Line lost its passenger service.)

The upshot of all this is that a station named "Stoke-on-Trent" is a bit like if London Euston was just called "London". Technically correct, but a bit misleading if you're an outsider looking for the city centre.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Oh yes, and to add insult to injury, Stoke station is 10 minutes' walk from Stoke-upon-Trent, the town it's supposed to serve! Most people know the area that it's in as Shelton, which in turn is over a mile from where the famous Shelton Bar steelworks used to be. God knows how anyone find there way around here!

 

[tbtc]

Seem to recall Dundee is similarly divided from where you suppose the City to be. You need to cross a high-speed road on a ghastly wind-swept footbridge, unless 'they' have 'repaired' that ghastly approach to the City. I recall, as a kid, arriving at Dundeed West and entering a bustling urban square...seemed like the big city when you lived in Perth...poor post-war planning again

On another thread, there was an argument that a problem with Dundee's station was that it was too far from the centre of the city. I didn't think it was that far; maybe five minutes or so on foot

The reason I brought this up in the other Dundee thread was the unwelcome -ness, when you arrive in Dundee, of dealing with the dual carriageways/ roundabout (which the station redevelopment presumably won't solve).

It's not *that* far, but it's not a great first impression to the city.

Cheltenham station is a long way from the centre of the town

A lot of the suggestions are either (1) rural places where it wasn't economical to divert the railway to serve the village (Dent etc) or (2) places which have been built *after* the railway (Glenrothes etc).

But Cheltenham is a good example of a big place that has been around for longer than the railway. Same goes for Swansea (which you also mentioned, but I forgot to quote!) and Leicester (always further out of the centre than I remember!).

Also, despite being a small place, I should mention Carstairs, which is so far away from Carstairs Village that a whole separate settlement grew up around the railway (called Carstairs Junction). I guess there are other places where a junction station was built more to act as an interchange between lines than for the sake of the locals (Crewe is a bit of a walk IIRC, but the station is where the lines intersect which I guess was the priority.

Doncaster...what do the planners do...put a fenced off, multi-lane speedway in front of the station, with no obvoius way of following your nose...grim

Doncaster (my home town), out of the station, and straight into the bus station and shopping centre

I think Doncaster station is a lot closer to the centre of the town than it was a few years ago - the new Frenchgate centre has shifted the "gravity" of the town to the station area, the two bus stations have been replaced by one next to the train station, the station is now closer to town than it was (unlike central Swansea which appears to be moving away from the station).

Similarly, Westfield at Derby means its now a shorter walk from the station to the main shops (than it was a few years ago).

 

[anthony263]

Port Talbot Parkway isn't far from the town centre!

Swansea is quite interesting. As with many places, the city centre has moved over the years. The shopping area is now located much closer to the old Swansea Victoria station, but in the old days High Street, which leads up to the station was a main shopping street. There isn't much on High St now though.

It's also a bit of a walk from Llanelli station to the shopping area. I'm not sure that defining the centre in relatiobn to the shops is necessarily correct though!

Yes Port Talbot town centre is just across the road.

Yes Swansea High street is a mess although the council are trying to get their act together and I have walked from Llanelli station to the town centre so I do agree that it is a bit of a walk - so much so I caught the bus on the way back

 

[D1009]

Tiverton Parkway is a good 7 miles away from the town centre and about 20 mins on the bus

Tiverton Parkway is on the site of the original station named Sampford Peverell. It was reopened because of its good road connections.

 

[tbtc]

Yes Port Talbot town centre is just across the road

How did it get its "Parkway" name? I was surprised at the short walk to/from town when I was staying down there a few years ago.

 

[Ivo]

I'm surprised no-one has mentioned Bristol TM yet. It is on the edge of the city centre, but is in excess of one mile from the main shopping area, as well as the main local bus interchange and the bus station, and for those heading to the western part of the central area around the University it is nearly two miles.

 

[anthony263]

How did it get its "Parkway" name? I was surprised at the short walk to/from town when I was staying down there a few years ago.

Too be honest I have wondered that and I don't really have an answer.

Could it because it has a very large car park and frequent bus links particulary to places such as Margam, Maesteg & Sandfields for example?

I do look forward to when they re-build the station perhaps even add an additional platform or two to allow stoppers to be overtaken there especially with the loops and three/four track section towards Margam & the steelworks

 

[moonrakerz]

Cam & Dursley station isn't exactly on the door step.

(How about Ryanair's airport distances from the places they are called I think some of them are over 50 miles away )

 

[Train Pilchard]

Livingstone is a bleedin nightmare, particularly Livi South. Seen as it's a fake plastic new town you'd think they would have put it nearer the railway. Hate the place.

 

[GregorExplorer]

East Kilbride seems another contender, again with it being a new town (spit) it's a case of "could do better".

 

[daniel3982]

Sheffield is a really good example of how they have improved the walk from the station to the town centre (which used to be a nightmare).

Milton Keynes is officially in the city centre but it's really a mile up the hill to the main shopping area.

Darlington is a fair distance away, and the recommended walk sends you up back alleys behind houses and to a pretty horrible ring road and then car park to get there.

Hartlepool is miles away from proper Hartlepool being located in the old West Hartlepool.

Thirsk is fair old distance from the town centre, as is Lancaster.

 

[Terrafire]

Chester station is a pretty dismal walk from the city centre.

 

[starrymarkb]

Cam & Dursley station isn't exactly on the door step.

(How about Ryanair's airport distances from the places they are called I think some of them are over 50 miles away )

In the case of "Vienna" they use Bratislava, which is in Slovakia.

Mind you in the case of Basel in Switzerland the city's airport is in France (Basel is right on the border!)

 

[Welshman]

I've been resisting the urge to retell the whiskery old joke about the passenger complaining why didn't they build the station nearer the town and the laconic porter replying they probably thought it better to build it nearer the railway line..........

But I've failed. Sorry.

 

[mirodo]

Clapham Junction. Originally so named because at the time Battersea, the area it is actually in, was considered the poorer neighbour to Clapham. Google Maps makes it a 1.6km/30 min walk from CLJ to Clapham Common tube station at the top of Clapham High Street.

And while we're on stations with "Junction" in their name, it's a fair walk from Loughborough Junction to Loughborough town centre!

 

[caliwag]

There's Howden in East Yorkshire...about one and a half miles to the town. There was one in the heart of the town, but, err, they closed it. It was on the Hull and Barnsley, and for a while it ran as a long branch line from Paragon station.

 

[Bellwater]

Diss, Great Yarmouth, Thetford and Ely are all a fair hike.

 

[ntg]

Hatfield on the Great Northern route...serves the older part of town but the extensive business park, university campuses and shopping center are no where near it. There are bus services between them but they are in no way coordinated with train times...there was a branch line that bisected the town and would have served them all adequately, now cycle path.

 

[daniel3982]

Clapham Junction. Originally so named because at the time Battersea, the area it is actually in, was considered the poorer neighbour to Clapham. Google Maps makes it a 1.6km/30 min walk from CLJ to Clapham Common tube station at the top of Clapham High Street.

And while we're on stations with "Junction" in their name, it's a fair walk from Loughborough Junction to Loughborough town centre!

Same as St. Helens Junction, which is useless for getting to St. Helens!

 

[hluraven]

Knockholt is 3 miles from the village, and used to be called Halstead for Knockholt, despite being 2 miles from Halstead as well.

The station is in London and the village is in Kent, so it also straddles borders. It is basically only used as a commuter parkway station as it is in zone 6 and has free parking, I'm not sure anyone who uses it actually comes from the village.

 

[fairysdad]

I'd possibly like to nominate Bournemouth... it's quite a distance from the station to the main shopping area of the town, even moreso for the seafront (which I'd assume a lot of visitors to Bournemouth would be wanting to go to).

May I bring closed stations into the mix? I'm thinking mainly of the old Barnstaple-Taunton line; not necessarily the full-on out of the way stations like Bishop's Nympton & Molland station which was sited between the two settlements about 2-3 miles from each, but say South Molton station which was about a mile away from the town - even now the old site of the station is still quite a distance from the town itself.

 

[emoaconr]

Llandudno Junction once was a junction in a small hamlet for services to Llandudno... but that small hamlet has swallowed the surrounding area and the placename itself is now 'Llandudno Junction'.

Buckley is another station around here that its station (also a former "Junction") is ridiculously far away.