Tamworth Station

[Llandudno]

Had occasion to use Tamworth station yesterday.

Although the station only has 4 platforms it is quite a confusing layout when changing trains between East-West and North-South routes.

The signage not just for interchanging and exiting the station is particularly poor.

I noticed a number of bewildered passengers trying to change trains and going into the booking hall to make enquiries with station staff as to how to find their required platform, at 1200 yesterday lunchtime both ticket office windows were closed and the ‘customer service’ window although ‘open’ was unstaffed.

As I was waiting for some friends to arrive I managed to point 4 different sets of passengers in the right direction.

All the platforms are narrow with very limited undercover waiting areas (especially southbound to London), there are faded yellow lines for passengers to wait behind and in many places the narrow platform is uneven. The PA system is inaudible from most of the platform areas meaning you can’t hear any announcements regarding non stopping express/freight trains.
The PIS platform screens are tiny and there is only one on each platform.

On my return to Tamworth station in the evening at 1955 the booking hall was locked up, there is a tiny night gate on the Crewe bound platform which is not signposted from any of the platforms.

Pretty poor provision for a station with 1.3m annual users…

 

[unlevel42]

Totally agree.
Once the fastest way between Sheffield and Bangor(BNG) and now regularly avoided between Sheffield and Leighton Buzzard(use non-stop coach down and via Luton/STP back)
Mayhem two weeks ago when EMR directed passengers to travel to London via Tamworth- passengers queueing on staircase unable to access platform as it was blocked up with passengers around the bus shelter and being shouted at for crossing the yellow line in order to get further down the narrow packed platform.
I was hoping that HS2 would enable more stops on the WCML southbound.
Male toilet out of use long term.

 

[Shimbleshanks]

A few years ago I very nearly missed a late night connection onto the last London train of the day because of the abysmal signage - I got a wigging from the train manager for holding the doors of the Pendolino open so a young woman who had been similarly bamboozled by the signs could get the train and avoid being stranded there on a freezing cold night.

Seems like nothing has been improved since ten years ago.

 

[Spaceship323]

Most people who know the station use the gap in the wall to go straight through the car-park, thus avoiding the booking hall altogether
Agreed that southbound platform is a horrible place to wait for a train, I try to avoid Tamworth if possible

 

[m0ffy]

Tamworth could be a genuinely great station with a bit of work. For a start, man the ticket counter as much as the customer service desk, and give the place a good clean. A separate foot bridge between the two WCML platforms would be nice, too.

 

[Washington]

I would imagine station users would be disappointed on arriving at such a great station to then be confronted by Tamworth the town.

 

[DarloRich]

The signage not just for interchanging and exiting the station is particularly poor.

I don't know about signage but the station is horrible though. Really grotty especially on a grey, damp, cold winters evening. Waiting for the London train is soul destroying. You can feel your life force ebbing away. 1000 times worse as you see the tail lights of the London train leave just as your XC train pulls in...........

The facilities are poor, the waiting areas are poor, the ambience is poor and the services don't connect. Dynamite and start again.

 

[bleeder4]

I think it's a common trend with two level interchange stations. Tamworth, Smethwick Galton Bridge, Worcestershire Parkway. All have a high level and low level. All are used for changing between trains. And all have minimal facilities and are not a station you want to be stuck at for hours.

 

[Topological]

If this was two motorways crossing then there would be another level with a roundabout so all traffic went to the roundabout level.

Given the geography of Tamworth it would mean the "roundabout" would be a circulation space above the Derby - Birmingham line with long escalators down to the WCML platforms. It would avoid people getting lost, but it seems unlikely that a circulation space could sustain enough retail to pay for the cost of building.

 

[unlevel42]

It has been suggested to me that raising the importance of Tamworth to a intercity hub would cause huge timetabling problems across the country and that any idea of 'connectivity' at Tamworth is actively discouraged.

 

[Bletchleyite]

It has been suggested to me that raising the importance of Tamworth to a intercity hub would cause huge timetabling problems across the country and that any idea of 'connectivity' at Tamworth is actively discouraged.

Plenty of people do, though.

The one thing I recall about the signage is that the "toilets" sign points into the Ladies', the Gents' is further along and lacks a sign, which caused me mild embarrassment once. I would generally expect a sign saying "Toilets" pointing at a doorway to mean that doorway contained doors into both.

 

[DarloRich]

And all have minimal facilities and are not a station you want to be stuck at for hours.

the problem is if the XC is more than a few minutes late you end up with an hours wait for the next LNWR service

It has been suggested to me that raising the importance of Tamworth to a intercity hub would cause huge timetabling problems across the country and that any idea of 'connectivity' at Tamworth is actively discouraged.

It isn't working. Tamworth is now well used as an XC/LNWR interchange

 

[The Planner]

It has been suggested to me that raising the importance of Tamworth to a intercity hub would cause huge timetabling problems across the country and that any idea of 'connectivity' at Tamworth is actively discouraged.

Depends what you are trying to connect.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Depends what you are trying to connect.

It's fairly useful for south WCML towards the East Midlands. Via New St takes much longer.

 

[The Planner]

It's fairly useful for south WCML towards the East Midlands. Via New St takes much longer.

The difficulty comes in what service groups you are trying to connect.

 

[duffield]

The hourly connection** from the XC Nottingham to Cardiff service onto the northbound West Midlands Trains service to Crewe seems to work pretty well, assuming the XC service hasn't been cancelled. 8 minute change at Tamworth, and the XC service is usually on time at this point in its journey.

The other thing is if you're going to miss the connection you can just carry on to Birmingham and then head north from there, if your ticket/pass allows it.

** Alright, every two hours until the XC emergency timetable ends next Monday.

 

[richardderby]

Fares are roughly 40% less via Tamworth from Derby/ Sheffield to London, compared to EMR, (£49 vs £80 OP return) this encourages a lot of lower cost traffic.

 

[WolvertonWorks]

I changed at Tamworth AWC to XC outbound and XC to LNR homebound on Saturday. Once I'd realised that platforms 1 and 2 were low level and for AWC/LNR trains and 3 and 4 were up on the bridge and for XC trains it didn't seem as complicated as it first appeared.

I do agree that the signage was a little confusing but on Saturday, and certainly until the 18:56 arrived on P2, there were plenty of helpful, pleasant staff around.

One suggested I wait in the waiting room on P3 after alighting at 18:08 rather than the bus shelter on P2. He assured me that the station is well staffed and well lit until closing time when I said I didn't fancy having to change trains here on a dark and cold night.

One chap - who looked like he might have been the station manager? - was shepherding people alighting from trains to the correct platforms and making sure they were going the correct way for the platfoms they needed.

 

[SCDR_WMR]

Plenty of people do, though.

The one thing I recall about the signage is that the "toilets" sign points into the Ladies', the Gents' is further along and lacks a sign, which caused me mild embarrassment once. I would generally expect a sign saying "Toilets" pointing at a doorway to mean that doorway contained doors into both.

The toilets are next to each other on the northbound platform (well there's a door between them), though the mens have been OOU for some time

One chap - who looked like he might have been the station manager? - was shepherding people alighting from trains to the correct platforms and making sure they were going the correct way for the platfoms they needed.

There is a new Customer Experience Manager for the station now so maybe it was him, though station staff have been more visible recently. During the evening there are support staff in high Vis outfits on the lower levels who are far more helpful than they can initially seem

 

[Bletchleyite]

The toilets are next to each other on the northbound platform (well there's a door between them)

They are, but the sign says just "toilets" and points into the ladies'. It's poor signage design - if they are going to do that there should be two signs, one pointing into each, and are at every station I recall seeing that arrangement!

, though the mens have been OOU for some time

They were in use in late September when I went (!) there.

 

[SCDR_WMR]

They are, but the sign says just "toilets" and points into the ladies'. It's poor signage design - if they are going to do that there should be two signs, one pointing into each, and are at every station I recall seeing that arrangement!



They were in use in late September when I went (!) there.

Fair enough, I guess being very familiar with the layout I don't have the issues someone new there would experience. They've been out since the 1st week of October I think and someone said they will be unavailable until xmas

 

[Bletchleyite]

Fair enough, I guess being very familiar with the layout I don't have the issues someone new there would experience. They've been out since the 1st week of October I think and someone said they will be unavailable until xmas

That's pretty poor given that WMT are terrible at ensuring the toilets on the trains actually work! Really should hire in some Portaloos and put them on the car park.

 

[Llandudno]

I would imagine station users would be disappointed on arriving at such a great station to then be confronted by Tamworth the town.

Bit harsh, there are many far worse towns in Britain.

There are a number of excellent pubs in Tamworth including the multi award winning Tamworth Tap (check opening times though!) about 10 minutes walk from the Crewe bound platform and about 15 minutes walk from the London bound platform….!

 

[m0ffy]

Bit harsh, there are many far worse towns in Britain.

There are a number of excellent pubs in Tamworth including the multi award winning Tamworth Tap (check opening times though!) about 10 minutes walk from the Crewe bound platform and about 15 minutes walk from the London bound platform….!

Not to mention the Robert Peel, and what must be the best pizza/kebab shop I’ve visited.

 

[AndrewE]

Bit harsh, there are many far worse towns in Britain.

There are a number of excellent pubs in Tamworth including the multi award winning Tamworth Tap (check opening times though!) about 10 minutes walk from the Crewe bound platform and about 15 minutes walk from the London bound platform….!

I would second this. We went one Sunday in June and the walk into town down a nearly-pedestrianised road was delightful, with huge well looked-after old lime trees in full flower smelling heavenly.
The town centre had a nice feel to it with quite a few historic shop fronts surviving (although from a few broken/boarded up shop windows there are some rough times of the week.) The Tamworth Tap was visited at the end of the day and much appreciated, but the stand-out thing for us was the castle (and the gardens/park/playpark in front.) Definitely one of the very best castles that we have visited, so we went back with the grandkids - but as it was school holidays they were distracted by the "Hunt the dragons" gimmmicks and I don't they really appreciated the castle itself.

 

[Kite159]

What Tamworth needs on the London bound platform is somewhere for customers to sit to get them to move along the platform, rather than crowding around the shelter at the London end (which from memory is in front of where a 8 coach 350 stops so they all crowd to board the front coach).

 

[Mugby]

What Tamworth needs on the London bound platform is somewhere for customers to sit to get them to move along the platform, rather than crowding around the shelter at the London end (which from memory is in front of where a 8 coach 350 stops so they all crowd to board the front coach).

The irony is that the London bound platform is the one which could most easily be improved. There's nothing behind the fence except wasteland so surely it could be widened by a metre or two. Then, with better shelter provision and perhaps even a short canopy, centrally positioned, it would be considerably better than the horror it is now.
If only the railway could overcome it's fixation with bus shelters for every situation, someone must be able to devise something better!

 

[Elecman]

The irony is that the London bound platform is the one which could most easily be improved. There's nothing behind the fence except wasteland so surely it could be widened by a metre or two. Then, with better shelter provision and perhaps even a short canopy, centrally positioned, it would be considerably better than the horror it is now.
If only the railway could overcome it's fixation with bus shelters for every situation, someone must be able to devise something better!

There is an Autotransformer Sectioning substation very close to the platform

 

[birchesgreen]

Bit harsh, there are many far worse towns in Britain.

There are a number of excellent pubs in Tamworth including the multi award winning Tamworth Tap (check opening times though!) about 10 minutes walk from the Crewe bound platform and about 15 minutes walk from the London bound platform….!

Castle is well worth a visit too, haunted though - my wife literally ran out of the place.

As for the station, i think it could do with a second footbridge, say where the car park is, and a widened London platform with a proper waiting room.

 

[Eskimo]

There is an Autotransformer Sectioning substation very close to the platform

This I noticed too when I had the pleasure of entertaining my 3-year old for 90 minutes during the summer LNWR cancellation lottery.

We spent time exploring the whole station, watching trains on each platform and trying every seat in the waiting rooms. The best was the one on the Derby bound platform, with the large glass panes, with a sort of mezzanine over the staircase that allows you to see the lower level too.

A footbridge or underpass further down would help even the flow of people, but that autotransformer definitely justifies its wide berth.