Busaholic
Veteran Member
- Joined
- 7 Jun 2014
- Messages
- 14,136
Strood.
And not just the station!
Strood.
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.
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 have to agree about Lowestoft. Looks incredibly sad and forlorn and then I boarded the train and got shouted abuse at!
Bedminster.
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.Clapham Junction is seriously grim.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.