Stations to avoid and why

[norbitonflyer]

Newark Northgate, where I have spent far too much time because GNER/East Coast/whatever refused to honour connections from Lincoln. The facilities are basic and inadequate for the number of interchange passengers using it. (I always tried to travel via Spalding instead if I could). After a gap of nearly 40 years, direct daytime services were finally re-instated in the timetable last October - six months too late to be any use to me.

Dishonourable mention for Kingston - the only station I know where you need an umbrella and wellington boots to use the subway. Facilities on the London-bound platform are pretty basic for such a busy station.

 

[Bletchleyite]

What sort of "low level criminality" is Sheffield station full of? I never really noticed it before and I've been there a few times. The bit outside maybe, but the station itself?

 

[Iskra]

What sort of "low level criminality" is Sheffield station full of? I never really noticed it before and I've been there a few times. The bit outside maybe, but the station itself?

Aggressive and organised begging mainly, where they seem to operate in packs with one distracting the staff while the others accost the general public. The dispersed waiting rooms seem to attract some interesting characters too, to the point you can't relax/let your guard down in them. I've used stations all over the country and go through Leeds station more often than I do Sheffield and nowhere do I come across as many persistent issues. I think the lack of ticket barriers means the undesirables have free reign over the station and there aren't enough security staff to cover the whole station.

 

[QQQ]

Aggressive and organised begging mainly, where they seem to operate in packs with one distracting the staff while the others accost the general public. The dispersed waiting rooms seem to attract some interesting characters too, to the point you can't relax/let your guard down in them. I've used stations all over the country and go through Leeds station more often than I do Sheffield and nowhere do I come across as many persistent issues. I think the lack of ticket barriers means the undesirables have free reign over the station and there aren't enough security staff to cover the whole station.

I use it a lot, and this is not my experience at all.

The major stations I actually dislike are Manchester Piccadilly 13/14 (the rest is fine) and Birmingham New Street (not as bad as it used to be, but platform level is still grim and the layout is confusing).

 

[Trackman]

In fairness Colwyn Bay has improved over the past year or two.

There has been significant investment in the promenade area since the Pier collapsed/demolished. A new water sports and posh bistro have opened plus extra sand has been ‘imported’ and the beach is fabulous.
Very pleasant seafront walk from Colwyn Bay to Rhos on Sea, then via the Little Orme (view the seals) to Llandudno - allow 2-3 hours.

Conwy County Council have relocated at huge expense to posh new offices in the centre of town, five minutes walk from the station, this has spurned a range of new coffee shops, bars (including the excellent Bay Vaults micropub!) and restaurants. The remainder of the shopping options are very limited with people choosing Llandudno or Chester instead.

I've done that walk down the seafront.
I think it was the old tramway. It's a pleasant walk and very busy during tourist season.
Don't stray into the bike lane though, you'll get a mouthful!

Back to station: I think there is nothing wrong with it, lovely old benches and a model toy train thing. Although the men's toilets don't bode well for visitors, last time I went it was lit blue- you know what that means. In fact I wonder if there is a thread on railway stations with blue lit toilets? I think Man Vic was one too.

The station I avoid at all costs is London Bridge. I'll use Charing Cross as a first preference even if it does involve a wait.
I don't like it, never have done - even more so after the rebuild.

 

[LancasterRed]

Morecambe. Minimal signposting, a depressing walk to the town centre and no facilities for a town that passes itself off as a seaside destination.

The whole area needs a revamp. It's run down.

Shout out to Preston for having beggars and overpriced tat when there's a Maccies and Poundland 2 minutes away

 

[yorksrob]

Morecambe. Minimal signposting, a depressing walk to the town centre and no facilities for a town that passes itself off as a seaside destination.

The whole area needs a revamp. It's run down.

Shout out to Preston for having beggars and overpriced tat when there's a Maccies and Poundland 2 minutes away

I always feel that Preston has the potential to be such a good station.

 

[LancasterRed]

I always feel that Preston has the potential to be such a good station.

Avanti have promised upgrades IIRC. Personally I'd expand the shopping centre and make the station, mail terminal and shopping centre one big building. There's definitely lots of potential I agree.

 

[yorksrob]

Avanti have promised upgrades IIRC. Personally I'd expand the shopping centre and make the station, mail terminal and shopping centre one big building. There's definitely lots of potential I agree.

I must admit, I've not been to the shopping centre. I've tended to hang around the buildings on the main island platform when waiting for a connection.

 

[185143]

Most stations on the West Anglia Inners out of LST, up to and including Hertford East. I felt safer patrolling Basra for 4 months in a Snatch Landrover.

Funny you should say that. I did the stations on that line in the dark on bonfire night. It felt and sounded like being in a warzone. Never have I been so glad to get to London!

 

[Dr Hoo]

Aggressive and organised begging mainly, where they seem to operate in packs with one distracting the staff while the others accost the general public. The dispersed waiting rooms seem to attract some interesting characters too, to the point you can't relax/let your guard down in them. I've used stations all over the country and go through Leeds station more often than I do Sheffield and nowhere do I come across as many persistent issues. I think the lack of ticket barriers means the undesirables have free reign over the station and there aren't enough security staff to cover the whole station.

Definitely describes Sheffield. The ‘you can never let your guard down’ comment is an apt one.

 

[yorksrob]

Definitely describes Sheffield. The ‘you can never let your guard down’ comment is an apt one.

I don't think I've ever had my guard up at Sheffield.

 

[gc4946]

Platforms 13 and 14 at Manchester Piccadilly.
If your train uses platforms 1-12 the main concourse is OK, but it's far more tedious accessing platforms 13-14 since their dedicated Fairfield Street entrance closed (used it years ago!) and you now have to walk much further to access them.

 

[Jamesrob637]

The city isn't up to much either, being a bit 60s concrete, but there is a Subway within a reasonable walking distance at least.

Lived there for 15 years and only like to go back for quick family visits - would never live there or have my primary residence there again.

A lot of smaller stations in Eastern Europe are so desolate and neglected. Really like going back to Communist times. Especially if you are fortunate enough to see a Lada or Trabant parked nearby!*

*other marques are available

 

[Gathursty]

Walkden, Ince and Orrell are known for youths hanging about there at a late hour.
Whenever I've been to Ardwick (daytime, early evening, midnight-ish) there's been not a soul around for better or worse.
Further afield, I've seen yobs at Northfleet and Stevenston.

 

[Jamesrob637]

Walkden, Ince and Orrell are known for youths hanging about there at a late hour.
Whenever I've been to Ardwick (daytime, early evening, midnight-ish) there's been not a soul around for better or worse.
Further afield, I've seen yobs at Northfleet and Stevenston.

For it being the "Garden of England", Kent has some pretty rough towns. More so than most of the Home Counties. That said, Kent folk are generally friendlier and more open than many indigenous South East folk.

 

[bramling]

For it being the "Garden of England", Kent has some pretty rough towns. More so than most of the Hone Counties. That said, Kent folk are generally friendlier and more open than many indigenous South East folk.

Kent is unusual in the south-east in having had a mining industry until relatively recently, and parts of east Kent still bear the scars of its loss. Then one can add to that the usual issue of coastal deprivation, and a further issue of (until HS1 at any rate) poor commuting times to London, both by rail and road. There are some lovely places particularly many of the villages found for example in the area bounded by Sevenoaks, Tonbridge, Ashford, Folkestone, Canterbury and Maidstone, but by the same token places like the Medway Towns are surprisingly rough considering where they are.

I think it’s a step too far to say there aren’t rough places elsewhere in the south-east though. A few in Essex for starters like Clacton, and even the stereotypical south-east market towns can be surprisingly rough at times.

What there isn’t is the noticeable deprivation found in some northern parts. There’s very little in the south-east that would compare to parts of, just to give an example off the top of head, Blackburn or Blackpool for example.

Swinging this back towards the topic in hand, some of the semi-rural Kent stations can be quite rough particularly in the evenings. Aylesham, Walmer, Deal, Chartham, Sturry, Minster are a few which spring to mind, doubtless there’s others. They’re not terrible, but are the sort of places where you might turn up in the evening to find groups of kids sitting over the edge of the platform and that sort of low-level nuisance crime.

 

[yorksrob]

Having spent my formative years in Kent, although it has some ropey areas, I can't think of any stations I would particularly avoid. Most of them have a nice building/s anyway (albeit not always open).

 

[sk688]

Swindon station is a proper hole , changing trains there is a terrible experience , but the general station and surronding area just feels incredibly run down and horrid , especially in the evenings

 

[Trainfan2019]

Oh dear; I always seem to disagree with yorksrob.

Sheffield always seems to be a miserable station to change at; usually cold, infested with pigeons, hard seats, logged with diesel fumes, pricey drinks in the 'Tap. Platform 2c for the Hope Valley takes the biscuit for a major city station.

I'll grant that the toilets are adequate and canopies reasonable (for vertical rain only) other than for Platform 2c, of course.

I will usually try to return from The South to the Hope Valley via Manchester Piccadilly, which is so much better even if it can add an hour to the journey.

When I often end up with 50 minutes to kill at Sheffield for a 'connection' I will usually pop into the City Centre if it is daylight. (But even then, knowing that someone got hacked to death with a machete outside a Sainsbury's Local in broad daylight hardly burnishes the steel city's welcome credentials.)

I used to use Sheffield station on a very regular basis at various times of day and various days. I can agree with it being usually cold but that's about it apart from odd occasions of beggars around. I have never felt unsafe at Sheffield. There's often been british transport police around anyway.

The only thing I don't understand about platform 2c is that nearly all passengers wait at the 'dead end' part of the platform where the shelter is. This is even in hot sunny weather under the shelter. They all then try to cram on that end of the train whilst I'm at the other end of the platform next to the bridge supports where I can be guaranteed a choice of seats.

 

[plugwash]

Platforms 13 and 14 at Manchester Piccadilly.
If your train uses platforms 1-12 the main concourse is OK, but it's far more tedious accessing platforms 13-14 since their dedicated Fairfield Street entrance closed (used it years ago!) and you now have to walk much further to access them.

There is a lift that takes you from fairfield street to the link bridge lounge, though it's not exactly prominent.

 

[Parallel]

I’m not a fan of some of the suburban Bristol area stations, mainly Stapleton Road, Bedminster, Parson Street and Lawrence Hill. I wouldn’t be especially keen to use some of the Severn Beach line stations after dark and Filton Abbey Wood and Patchway feel very desolate in the late evening.

 

[Sprinter107]

I’m not a fan of some of the suburban Bristol area stations, mainly Stapleton Road, Bedminster, Parson Street and Lawrence Hill. I wouldn’t be especially keen to use some of the Severn Beach line stations after dark and Filton Abbey Wood and Patchway feel very desolate in the late evening.

I dont like Bedminster, and wouldnt use it after dark. I dont like it in the day, that long subway approach puts me off. Stapleton Road and Lawrence Hill I'm not keen on either. Never had a problem at Parson Street though, I've used that quite often.

 

[2L70]

Shout out to Preston for having beggars and overpriced tat when there's a Maccies and Poundland 2 minutes away

I wouldn’t like to be on Preston Station on an evening, especially if I wasn’t from the UK.

 

[SoccerHQ]

Yes, but how many of them were major city interchange stations?

I really don't like Sheffield station it is cold, draughty, dull, the waiting rooms aren't pleasant, it's a hotbed of low level criminality, the walkways are inadequate, the one-way systems are confusing so don't get followed making it worse, the busiest platforms are narrow so easily blocked by waiting passengers and the retail/catering offering is pretty uninspiring.

Positives: Sheffield Tap, M&S, the bay platforms I usually arrive on are conveniently located, it looks good from the front.

Sheffield is no worse than likes of Bristol Temple Meads and Cardiff which are also major city interchange stations.

 

[185143]

I wouldn’t like to be on Preston Station on an evening, especially if I wasn’t from the UK.

I had no problem being there for about 4.5 hours waiting for the Lowland sleeper at 03:45 about a year ago. Well, apart from being sleep deprived and bored *hitless!

 

[SoccerHQ]

I’m not a fan of some of the suburban Bristol area stations, mainly Stapleton Road, Bedminster, Parson Street and Lawrence Hill. I wouldn’t be especially keen to use some of the Severn Beach line stations after dark and Filton Abbey Wood and Patchway feel very desolate in the late evening.

Montpellier is a funny little one aswell. Up a hill if you're coming from the main pubs on the Gloucester road. Also seems quicker if you're walking to it from the southern approach. Depends what pub you're in, can make it from Cat and Wheel in five minutes no problem but I remember being in the Bishops Tavern which is the North side and thinking I could make the train in five minutes.

Seemed a much steeper climb and also couldn't find the entrance until I saw a few people emerging from a corner of the road which told me I'd missed the train back to Temple Meads so had to do the half hour walk back there instead.

 

[bramling]

I dont like Bedminster, and wouldnt use it after dark. I dont like it in the day, that long subway approach puts me off. Stapleton Road and Lawrence Hill I'm not keen on either. Never had a problem at Parson Street though, I've used that quite often.

Another vote for Lawrence Hill and Stapleton Road. Both could certainly have the potential to be dodgy at certain times.

 

[gazthomas]

Stevenage on a weekend evening/night can be pretty intimidating

 

[bramling]

Stevenage on a weekend evening/night can be pretty intimidating

It’s a lot better nowadays than 10-15 years ago. In those days it was one of the first stations to get “bouncers”! The adjacent leisure lark is undoubtedly the major factor here.

I seem to remember a well-known footballer infamously got done for some kind of drunken misdemeanour on Stevenage station one evening a decade or so ago.

With hindsight, it’s perhaps incredible the leisure park was installed where it is, especially given much of the space is devoted to no more than car parking (with its notorious enforcement!). Nowadays that vast area of land would almost certainly have been used for housing.