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Stations you don't want to go to/be at

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Gathursty

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I spent 45 minutes at Kirkby (Merseyside) today. The old woman going through the bins and tracksuit-wearing youths deciding to slip through fences to take a shortcut over the line adding to the time spent at this terminus made me wonder what other places on the network you'd rather avoid and why.
 
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BestWestern

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Bridgwater (near Taunton) comes to mind, chav central. Same with Cosham, in Portsmouth.

Port Talbot Parkway sits in what arguably looks to be one of the grimest towns on the network, and isn't a place I'd choose to visit. Sticking with South Wales, and as another thread has already pointed out, Newport is an awful station; it manages to offer both poor quality newbuild facilities and run down old facilites side by side.
 
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user15681

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Swale, for how remote and isolated it is. It's very unpleasant on a foggy night, having been left there myself. You wouldn't have to worry about running into other people, it's just a bit in the middle of nowhere. (same applies for Berney Arms, for similar reasons)
 

Darren R

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Would that be at the Liverpool end (with third rail) or the Wigan end (without third rail)?

Why - is there a Passport Control mid-way along the platform to keep the two ends seperate? :D (Not saying there shouldn't be, mind! :lol:)

Manchester Victoria is pretty grim later at night, especially if there's no event happening upstairs. (And if there is something going on upstairs, it's grim in an entirely different way - especially to the unwary traveller who times it badly!)
 

Crossover

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Southport, though it looks grandish, felt positively hideous when I visited last autumn !
 

W-on-Sea

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Pitsea is not lovely, but Grays (above all, in terms of the characters who hang out there) is very much worse.
 

61653 HTAFC

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Another planet...
I find that if the place the station serves is a bit grim, the station itself is an oasis (Dewsbury, Doncaster and Barnsley being the examples that spring to mind) but if a place is actually worth visiting- the station is the worst part of the trip (Manchester Picc AND Vic; Leeds; London Euston and Bristol TM being prime examples).
 

RichmondCommu

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Anywhere in the high Pennines on a freezing winters night is never great! I have done this at Dent on several occasions and that’s with someone waiting in the station car park!
 

SS4

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London Euston, only once have I enjoyed been there and that was for an early morning service when it was quiet enough to hear the tube trains underneath! Most of the time (especially on the concourse) it's crowded, noisy and there is a veritable stampede when the platform is announced
 

NathanPrior

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Wigan North Western, strange/scary bunch those Northerners.

Gillingham/Chatham is like an episode of Jeremy Kyle most of the time.

Luton, just generally try to avoid the area.

Coventry looks shockingly bad from a train, wouldn't like to get off there in a hurry.
 

snowball

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Why - is there a Passport Control mid-way along the platform to keep the two ends seperate? :D (Not saying there shouldn't be, mind! :lol:)
From what Gathursty said about fences I concluded they were not crossing within the station. I therefore wondered whether they were risking electrocution in addition to just being hit by a train.
 

Gathursty

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Would that be at the Liverpool end (with third rail) or the Wigan end (without third rail)?

The Wigan end, near Headbolt Lane, where the train I was waiting for did a slow crawl into the platform because of chavvy kids creating their own crossings over the track.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Wigan North Western, strange/scary bunch those Northerners.

Oi! :P
 

davetheguard

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Swale, for how remote and isolated it is. It's very unpleasant on a foggy night, having been left there myself. You wouldn't have to worry about running into other people, it's just a bit in the middle of nowhere. (same applies for Berney Arms, for similar reasons)

At least at Berney Arms there's a reasonable pub a short walk across the field to ease the wait.
 

318259

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Charing Cross in Glasgow. It's not the clientele (there are ticket barriers) - it's the station itself.

Charing Cross is in a deep trench, below street level. About 30% of the station is open-air, and it's quite light and pleasant. But the other 70% is in a tunnel below a 60s concrete building. It has narrow platforms, bright yellow walls, and really dim mercury lighting.

Getting from the street level to the platforms of Charing Cross involves a lot of stairs. But the stairwells aren't straight. Each stairwell has 3 or 4 90 degree turns - a different direction each time. It's really easy to run into somebody if you're going up or down the stairs in a hurry.

There's also a problem with the sewers in the tunnel just to the west of the station. Travelling through Charing Cross is like a stench-lottery. On a good day, the aroma of Charing Cross has vague undertones of sewage. On a bad day, the smell is horrific.
 

Tetchytyke

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I hate London Euston, because it's dark and grim and there's nowhere to wait with any sense of comfort. Not to mention the stampede for the train, which is always announced about 30 seconds before departure.

I made the mistake of getting off a train at Angel Road to get to the Ikea once. I only made the mistake once. If I ever have to go down that narrow passageway underneath the flyover again, it'll be too soon.

I think we need a special mention of Wakefield Kirkgate.
 
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Buttsy

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At least at Berney Arms there's a reasonable pub a short walk across the field to ease the wait.

And a lack of undesirables (unless you don't like walkers)

My pet hate station is Sw***on, mainly because it serves that town and it's six-fingered occupants...
 

Parallel

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Port Talbot Parkway - Just not nice... The town, the station etc.

Briton Ferry - Was there recently, another pretty grim place, after shouting at people on the platform, youths were chasing each other around the train after they got on.

Trowbridge - Probably doesn't help there's a skate park right next to the station which groups of kids sometimes shout abuse at people walking past. Also seems to be the white cider capital of the west country.

Cwmbran - Just no.

Filton Abbey Wood - All the long and narrow paths and bridges to get to the station and platforms, and the fact it's so open can make you feel vulnerable, definitely late at night!
 

LowLevel

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Skegness in the summer time when the bin bag brigade come out to play!!
 
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Dudley Port - Even at 15:00 in the afternoon there is an uneasy feeling at the Port. That and the whole island is so narrow I am worried that a passing Voyager or Pendo is going to sweep me into the canal with all the air turbulance!

London Euston - Another vote I'm affraid. The lack of waiting areas for such a large station is an annoyance; luckily whenever I have been I haven't had to wait too long for a train or Tube.

Shifnal - Had to wait for a replacement train there once back in the days of Central Trains after the stopper from Salop to New Street had broke down. It looked as if the place hadn't had a lick of paint since privatisation.
 
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A short while back I was on the last train of the day up the Conway valley which, fairly unusually, made a request stop at Pont-y-Pant for a passenger to alight. This was a young woman of (I think) Chinese ethnicity, so not a local, and dressed in ordinary street clothes, so not a walker/hiker/climber. She seemed utterly baffled by and unprepared for her situation - it was after dark so there is nothing to be seen apart from the station lights, she didn't appear to have a torch and mobile phone signals in the area are at best hit-and-miss. After a lengthy conversation with the conductor she made her way gingerly out of the station and we departed. I can only imagine that some local holiday accommodation unhelpfully advertises Pont-y-Pant as the nearest station without explaining what is involved in alighting there.
 

merlodlliw

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Holyhead on Sunday morning,having to wait eight hours or so to escape.
If only id known about Bus Eireaan to Chester

Check-in Dublin, Busáras (IRL) 19.15
Dep. Dublin, Busáras (IRL) 20.05
Dep. Dublin, Ferryport (IRL) 20.15
Dep. Holyhead, Ferry Terminal (UK) 01.00
Dep. Bangor, Garth Road Bus Station) (UK) 01.35
Arr. Chester, Bus Exchange, Stand 7 (UK) 03.00
Arr. Liverpool, Coach Station, Norton Street (UK) 03.40
Arr. Manchester Airport, Bus Station (UK) 05.15
Arr. Manchester, Chorlton Street (UK) 05.45
Arr. Bradford, Metro Interchange (UK) 06.35
Arr. Leeds, Coach Station Dyer Street (UK) 07.00
 

Sheepy1209

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No stations in particular, but I regularly have to use Platform 14 at Manchester Piccadilly, and number 1 at Preston. Both are narrow, often crowded, cold and shabby zones of despair on what feels like the edge of the known world.
 
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