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

[Busaholic]

Strood.

And not just the station!

 

[themeone]

I think the grimmest station I've encountered is Bethnal Green. I last used it some years ago, so maybe it's been improved, but it was really dismal - no indicators, announcements, or staff, with just a vandalised shelter for passengers. The only nice thing was you get quite a good view of the nearby City of London.

Southampton Central also seemed rather underwhelming, though admittedly I had to spend over an hour there earlier this year.

The midland line part of St Pancras is fairly bleak - hardly any seating or facilities, and shunted right to the rear of the station - even the Thameslink platforms there seem nice by comparison. It would also be good to have a lift or some easy way of transferring from Thameslink to the midlands services, but I've never found one.

 

[MalHT]

I think the grimmest station I've encountered is Bethnal Green. I last used it some years ago, so maybe it's been improved, but it was really dismal - no indicators, announcements, or staff, with just a vandalised shelter for passengers. The only nice thing was you get quite a good view of the nearby City of London.

I've used Bethnal Green a bit lately and it doesn't strike me as that bad. This is the West Anglia/Chingford Branch though, so the standards aren't high. There are working indicators now and some okay shelter. Wouldn't want to be waiting any longer than necessary there, but I didn't feel unsafe.

 

[overtonchris]

Having just been there for the first time in a couple of years (4 times in 2 days) I'd like to nominate Motherwell. An utter mess of a station - and the Samaritans posters don't exactly lift the feel of depression there.....station staff are good though.

 

[jamesontheroad]

Lowestoft - we cycled into Lowestoft a few weeks ago around sunset. Saw a domestic taking place in the street, two (approx) 13 year old boys walking down the street, hurling abuse at us and smoking. The station is literally a shell of what it one was, no facilities out of hours. I crossed the street to the Wetherspoons to use the Lav and found a customer collapsed from the drink on the floor of the toilets.

Great Yarmouth - despite a bit of regeneration cash being spent, still in a horrid location. The seventies shed has a decent cafe serving mugs of tea, but don't look up. I lost count of the dead birds that have fallen on the mesh netting suspended below the bird-poop-encrusted roof structure.

Teeside Airport - barely any trains, and a candidate for prosecution under the Trades Description Act if you think you can stroll the terminal with your luggage.

Argyle Street - of all the low level stations in Glasgow, these is my least favourite. Built under the street before it was pedestrianised, so from the platform you have to descend below the tracks to then take the escalator up to street level.

Portrush (NI) - just the horridest station in the horridest town. The platform has a prime view of the lamest roller coaster you could imagine. Even a four year old would be disappointed.

Mossley West (NI) - possibly worse than Portrush, with fewer stopping trains and no roller coaster to distract you. Take a Union flag with you for safety.

Manulla Junction (RoI) - worth including as a station you don't want to find yourself at without a train because it has no entrance or exit, you can only alight to connect from the main line to Westport or the branch to Ballina.

Opening it up internationally, New York Penn is horrid. The passenger concourse is cramped and confusing, and you can only expect to be allowed down to the dark, narrow and industrial looking platforms a few minutes before you leave.

Finally, the Amtrak station in Detroit is easily the worst / most dangerous station I've used. You probably know the stunning old station nearer to downtown in Corktown (which also has trackage continuing through the tunnel to Ontario in Canada) but when Amtrak left they moved to this horrid box in the New Center district. The only railway station I've ever used with a metal detector and security guard at the entrance. Although the Northern Lights bar a few blocks west is a decent place to wait, and there's a White Castle fast food restaurant nearby, the neighbourhood is sketchy after dark. Horrible toilets and staff behind bullet proof glass. Sadly anyone who can avoid taking the train to or from Detroit does, leaving the clientele overly representative of those members of society who can't drive or fly (in my limited experience, usually due to alcohol or drug dependence). A sad sad way to arrive in or depart from this still beautiful city, especially if you're going anywhere other than towards Chicago or Northern Michigan, as these services require a bus to Toledo.

 

[Starmill]

I have to agree about Lowestoft. Looks incredibly sad and forlorn and then I boarded the train and got shouted abuse at!

 

[MalHT]

Opening it up internationally, New York Penn is horrid. The passenger concourse is cramped and confusing, and you can only expect to be allowed down to the dark, narrow and industrial looking platforms a few minutes before you leave.

I've heard Penn Station likened to Euston with similar disdain. The backstory of "knock it all down and start again" in the 1960's sounds much the same; would you draw the same comparison?

 

[Deerfold]

I have to agree about Lowestoft. Looks incredibly sad and forlorn and then I boarded the train and got shouted abuse at!

And that was just the Guard?

 

[cavie78]

Wakefield Kirkgate. The first time I went through I wondered why we'd stopped at an abandoned station... Hopefully the redevelopment will improve matters.

Clapham Junction is seriously grim.

Manchester Oxford Road - always feel on edge if I have to go there on a night.

 

[strowger]

Johannesburg Park. The station itself is reasonable enough but the entire area outside is a no-go area. It's extremely dangerous even to walk out to a taxi.

Even once "safely" in a car, the area around is even more depressing than Rochdale.

 

[HarleyDavidson]

Just thought of a few more... Any station within the M25, with the exception of the principal ones. Then there's Fratton, Hilsea,Cosham,Bedhampton,Petersfield,Liss,Liphook & Farncombe on a Friday & Saturday night.

 

[Busaholic]

Bedminster.

 

[Gathursty]

Someone really should keep a spreadsheet or chart to see which stations keep coming up as I'm sure I've seen Wakefield and several Greater London stations mentioned already. Thanks for resurrecting the thread btw

 

[HarleyDavidson]

We really shouldn't be having such a discussion.

It shows you what a sad state of affairs things have become, when passengers & staff alike don't feel safe on stations and some stations are so badly maintained that it makes people feel unsafe. Very poor indeed.

 

[Parallel]

Bedminster.

Stapleton Road is another fairly grim one.

 

[GatwickDepress]

Clapham Junction is seriously grim.

I have to admit, I am surprised at Clapham Junction being mentioned. It's hardly the nicest station in the world, but grim isn't the word I'd use to describe it.

It is rather eerie at three o'clock in the morning though, seeing the busiest station in the country devoid entirely of life.

 

[HarleyDavidson]

Outside "The Junction", might be a tad grim, but the station has improved considerably with enhanced lighting and new stairs & lifts. I haven't any worries about being there.

 

[jamesontheroad]

I've heard Penn Station likened to Euston with similar disdain. The backstory of "knock it all down and start again" in the 1960's sounds much the same; would you draw the same comparison?

I'd also liken it to Birmingham New Street.

At some point in the fifties/sixties/seventies, the engineers and architects (and no less importantly, the management of railways) decided that everything to do with trains, platforms, tracks, etc was dirty and smelling and undesirable, and that passengers would be better kept away from them as long as possible. Additionally, this meant that stations like Penn could realise the huge value of the air space above them. Madison Square Gardens is built right on top of Penn.

This strategy also tried to make rail travel more like air travel. Amtrak (and it's predecessors) biggest problem in the sixties and seventies was the growth of cheaper, faster and more comfortable air travel. That's why the biggest stations were rebuilt around the idea of lounges that lead to doorway-style 'gates' to platforms, rather than the European model of open platforms in big train sheds.

 

[GodAtum]

St Pancras Thameslink is lonely but safe during the night.

 

[ian959]

I'd also liken it to Birmingham New Street.

At some point in the fifties/sixties/seventies, the engineers and architects (and no less importantly, the management of railways) decided that everything to do with trains, platforms, tracks, etc was dirty and smelling and undesirable, and that passengers would be better kept away from them as long as possible. Additionally, this meant that stations like Penn could realise the huge value of the air space above them. Madison Square Gardens is built right on top of Penn.

This strategy also tried to make rail travel more like air travel. Amtrak (and it's predecessors) biggest problem in the sixties and seventies was the growth of cheaper, faster and more comfortable air travel. That's why the biggest stations were rebuilt around the idea of lounges that lead to doorway-style 'gates' to platforms, rather than the European model of open platforms in big train sheds.

Fully agree with that! Penn is the worst railway station I have ever been to in the world. Filthy, dark hole that makes Euston and New Street look like bright airy stations...

 

[balne-wonderer]

Probably already mentioned but one of the few times i've felt uneasy was in the pitch black at Kirkgate, walking through that subway

Just not nice at all.

 

[Hadders]

Back in April I went to see a rugby match at the AJ Bell stadium in Salford, the nearest station being Patricroft which is a 30 minute walk away.

The walk back to the station after the match didn't feel the safest and Patricroft station after 2300 with a 20 minute wait isn't the most inviting of places.

The guard seemed surprised that there was someone waiting for the last train of the day!

 

[Deerfold]

We really shouldn't be having such a discussion.

It shows you what a sad state of affairs things have become, when passengers & staff alike don't feel safe on stations and some stations are so badly maintained that it makes people feel unsafe. Very poor indeed.

Ideally we shouldn't have these stations, but many of them are like their surrounding areas. Different people have different thoughts about the same stations too.

Just thought of a few more... Any station within the M25, with the exception of the principal ones. Then there's Fratton, Hilsea,Cosham,Bedhampton,Petersfield,Liss,Liphook & Farncombe on a Friday & Saturday night.

Almost any within the M25? Really? I've only felt unsafe at a handful of stations within this area. There's certainly a lot more with staff around than I was used to in Yorkshire.

 

[waterlooroader]

Altnabreac after the last train of the day has departed

Wellington (Shropshire) any time after about 19:30

Euston during the stampede that inevitably follows 1 minute after they announce which platform my train is leaving from

 

[6Gman]

Bank Hall is pretty uninviting. High brick walls on either side.

 

[HarleyDavidson]

Ideally we shouldn't have these stations, but many of them are like their surrounding areas. Different people have different thoughts about the same stations too.



Almost any within the M25? Really? I've only felt unsafe at a handful of stations within this area. There's certainly a lot more with staff around than I was used to in Yorkshire.

Try the Chessington/Chertsey/Epsom lines, plus Hounslow & Kingston loops, there's trouble on most of those routes in the evening, with kids smoking illicit substances, under age drinking, being abusive and generally being a right pain in the backside, by holding & jamming the doors. Mind you a considerable number of so called "adults" aren't much better. :roll:

Even the Aldershot to Ascot line isn't any better, with them jumping level crossing barriers at Camberley, running across the tracks at Bagshot & Frimley.

It's just so darn depressing and when one of the oinks gets injured, it's always our fault.

 

[CaptainHaddock]

We really shouldn't be having such a discussion.

It shows you what a sad state of affairs things have become, when passengers & staff alike don't feel safe on stations and some stations are so badly maintained that it makes people feel unsafe. Very poor indeed.

It's all about perception though. I've visited most of the stations listed on this thread and can't say I've ever felt unsafe at any of them. Even Wakefield Kirkgate! As for facilities, so long as I've got somewhere to sit and shelter from the elements I'm fine; now most of us have mobile phones with train running apps, information screens aren't that important to me either.

Then again I am a well built bloke who isn't intimidated easily and it's fair to say that the experience of a young (or indeed old) lady travelling alone at night might be very different.

 

[frodshamfella]

Euston is grim
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Peckham Rye was one from the past I had been to and wouldn't rush back

 

[cavie78]

Outside "The Junction", might be a tad grim, but the station has improved considerably with enhanced lighting and new stairs & lifts. I haven't any worries about being there.

It's been a few years since I used it - glad to hear things have changed. I never really felt unsafe, it was just depressing. See also -> Euston.

 

[Deerfold]

Try the Chessington/Chertsey/Epsom lines, plus Hounslow & Kingston loops, there's trouble on most of those routes in the evening, with kids smoking illicit substances, under age drinking, being abusive and generally being a right pain in the backside, by holding & jamming the doors. Mind you a considerable number of so called "adults" aren't much better. :roll:

Even the Aldershot to Ascot line isn't any better, with them jumping level crossing barriers at Camberley, running across the tracks at Bagshot & Frimley.

It's just so darn depressing and when one of the oinks gets injured, it's always our fault.

Oh, I've not doubt there are bad ones within the M25 - but almost any seemed a little bit of a generalisation.