Trivia: Most attractive London station?

[Clip]

Crystal Palace for me, the fact that it was my local station for many years might have something to do with it!

I like Crystal palace but I dont like the bubble shelter they have erected over the platforms - I knwo why they done it to try and tie in with the orig crystal palace structure but it just looks so out of place from below and above - and it gets quite hot undfer it in the sun.

Marylebone gets a vote from me too. Lovely outside

 

[Philip C]

The least repulsive of London Stations, for me, is Knockholt as it is the last in Greater London before the real world begins!

 

[DarloRich]

I would choose Kings Cross. It has an understated nature, is well built and looks superb after the refurb.

I also like Paddington ( inside) and St Pancras and Marylebone (outside)

I'm going to be controversial here - Kings Cross (not controversial) and... Euston :eek:. They're attractive to me because they lead me home.

I like the simplicity of Euston, which is attractive in its own way. The concourse would also be beautiful if it weren't for the retail clutter both inside and outside. As it currently stands, much of the concourse smells of fast food because eateries have been retrofitted that the station was not designed to handle. And hiding the station behind a cluster of ugly office blocks didn't help.

Richard Morrison in the Times ( via wiki) stated that "even by the bleak standards of Sixties architecture, Euston is one of the nastiest concrete boxes in London: devoid of any decorative merit; seemingly concocted to induce maximum angst among passengers; and a blight on surrounding streets. The design should never have left the drawing-board – if, indeed, it was ever on a drawing-board. It gives the impression of having been scribbled on the back of a soiled paper bag by a thuggish android with a grudge against humanity and a vampiric loathing of sunlight"

The only good thing is I can get the train home quickly!

 

[tsr]

Richard Morrison in the Times ( via wiki) stated that "even by the bleak standards of Sixties architecture, Euston is one of the nastiest concrete boxes in London: devoid of any decorative merit; seemingly concocted to induce maximum angst among passengers; and a blight on surrounding streets. The design should never have left the drawing-board – if, indeed, it was ever on a drawing-board. It gives the impression of having been scribbled on the back of a soiled paper bag by a thuggish android with a grudge against humanity and a vampiric loathing of sunlight"

The only good thing is I can get the train home quickly!

Richard Morrison was pretty ignorant of the design philosophy and its quite decent potential, then!

As others have said, it is simply a cluttered and badly-managed (in terms of layout) mess now, not running in accordance with the streamlined nature of modern travel for which it was designed. Property management now seem to think of it as a blank canvas and as a cash cow, and therefore the public think of it as the equivalent of a concrete cow - useless, ugly and a bit of a farce. I can understand London station retail rents being attractive things to gather, in one form or another, but I can't fathom why it's been done that badly!

There was recently a feature on Euston at the Destination Stations exhibition, which was adjacent to the Shop at the NRM York. The architectural models and the drawings showing the way the station was designed to fit in with the contemporary buildings around, as well as the public spaces, were a good lesson in how to do brutalism (well, things inspired by it) correctly: enough to make you think, not enough to make you hate.

The main building at Euston is bold, but it is hidden because it was deemed acceptable to do so; alas, this induces a feeling of neglect, far worse than controversy as a visible landmark. I know a number of buildings designed with similar philosophies; the more you can let the public see them, let the light in and allow them to be public spaces, people become curious rather than resentful. A clean, tidy, decluttered, open Euston with space for its people - its passengers - would be a beautiful thing today. It is a precisely-designed example of a building which should function well, and should look characterful but cleanly-proportioned, but can't.

 

[JackTheLad]

Elmsted Woods in zone 4... It looks like a country station and had its own dedicated gardening club, complete with a koi carp pond, pagodas, wildlife including rabbits, foxes, jays, dragonflies. The tunnels at the London end of the platforms and steep walled embankments really do make the station look like a sanctuary.

 

[Taunton]

I've always liked the atmosphere inside London stations on a winter's afternoon, something I possibly got from John Betjeman's writings. Waterloo seems to me the pleasantest, I feel it's gone down a bit since Eurostar went, which used to give it a wonderful added Continental flavour. Paddington has always had a certain charm as well.

St Pancras back before the changes in the 1990s was even more so, but I'm afraid I find the Eurostar rebuild has completely ruined the place. The overlong walk from the Underground to the unacceptably squashed add-on of the East Midland platforms, the hidden ticketing arrangements, and the disorganised queuing to get in or out of those platforms is a bad bit of organisation, while the space taken up right down the middle by the champagne bar that is invariably empty seems such a waste.

I admire what was done at Liverpool Street, that was a good rebuild.

Anything where an office has been built over the platforms, such as Charing Cross, converting an attractive lofty aspect to a gloomy tunnel, is bad. I hope there will be no more.

 

[swt_passenger]

Waterloo seems to me the pleasantest, I feel it's gone down a bit since Eurostar went, which used to give it a wonderful added Continental flavour.

I'd like to see the LU Bakerloo and Northern entrance at Waterloo (by P17/18/19) being made more of a feature, hopefully the whole area at that end of the station ought to be opened up significantly by the current work in progress on the former international station.

It always seems odd though that the Victory Arch pedestrian entrance is used by such a minority of arrivals, AFAICT the majority head straight for their favourite tube line, and hardly ever go 'outside'...

 

[yorksrob]

Elmsted Woods in zone 4... It looks like a country station and had its own dedicated gardening club, complete with a koi carp pond, pagodas, wildlife including rabbits, foxes, jays, dragonflies. The tunnels at the London end of the platforms and steep walled embankments really do make the station look like a sanctuary.

The South Eastern Railway platform canopies are very attractive there.

 

[GRALISTAIR]

St Pancras without a doubt.

Other than that, I'm a big fan of Paddington.

Totally agree

 

[DarloRich]

Richard Morrison was pretty ignorant of the design philosophy and its quite decent potential, then!

As others have said, it is simply a cluttered and badly-managed (in terms of layout) mess now, not running in accordance with the streamlined nature of modern travel for which it was designed. Property management now seem to think of it as a blank canvas and as a cash cow, and therefore the public think of it as the equivalent of a concrete cow - useless, ugly and a bit of a farce. I can understand London station retail rents being attractive things to gather, in one form or another, but I can't fathom why it's been done that badly!

There was recently a feature on Euston at the Destination Stations exhibition, which was adjacent to the Shop at the NRM York. The architectural models and the drawings showing the way the station was designed to fit in with the contemporary buildings around, as well as the public spaces, were a good lesson in how to do brutalism (well, things inspired by it) correctly: enough to make you think, not enough to make you hate.

The main building at Euston is bold, but it is hidden because it was deemed acceptable to do so; alas, this induces a feeling of neglect, far worse than controversy as a visible landmark. I know a number of buildings designed with similar philosophies; the more you can let the public see them, let the light in and allow them to be public spaces, people become curious rather than resentful. A clean, tidy, decluttered, open Euston with space for its people - its passengers - would be a beautiful thing today. It is a precisely-designed example of a building which should function well, and should look characterful but cleanly-proportioned, but can't.

But it is dark, dingy, dank and always feels so cramped and low. It is an awful looking concrete bunker that seems to have been designed by studying German second world war submarine pens AFTER the RAF spent 4 years trying to blow them up! There is little natural light away from the holding area and precious little there while the layout doesn't seem to help people move about, especially when it is busy and the stampede starts for the next train! Behind the scenes it is a warren of passageways, rooms, buildings and corridors.


Euston will only be beautiful when it is rebuilt.

 

[96tommy]

King's Cross and St Pancras are basically my second homes and I love them but not as much as Farringdon. Always clean and very light, a beautiful station

 

[tsr]

But it is dark, dingy, dank and always feels so cramped and low. It is an awful looking concrete bunker that seems to have been designed by studying German second world war submarine pens AFTER the RAF spent 4 years trying to blow them up! There is little natural light away from the holding area and precious little there while the layout doesn't seem to help people move about, especially when it is busy and the stampede starts for the next train! Behind the scenes it is a warren of passageways, rooms, buildings and corridors.


Euston will only be beautiful when it is rebuilt.

I suppose we are probably talking about slightly different things, which to be fair is probably my fault. I was really responding to the comments on its design, rather than how it feels today.

I do completely agree that it will probably turn out that drastic measures now will be the only way to make it feel pleasant. I guess my main point really was that this was not how it was designed to be. Indeed I think the reason the natural light is mostly (if not pretty much all) in the concourse/holding area is that this section of the station was always meant to give a feeling of being the section used as a departure lounge and destination, the focal point, and I don't think anyone ever anticipated precisely how many people would need to queue on/off the platforms, at the barriers or run around with 2mins to go in quite an enclosed environment. Because of the cluttered atmosphere on the concourse, I think the apathy has spread to maintaining a pleasant atmosphere on the ramps and on the platforms, too, which is very unfortunate. Even things like the tone of the lighting and the way you approach basic facilities such as the Tube station entrances don't feel right. These things could have been maintained in a better way. They weren't.

I wouldn't ever claim Euston is "beautiful", as such - that's not how it was meant to be - but it could have been kept a lot more striking, interesting and worthy of destination status.

As for the comment about being a bit of a warren of corridors - I completely get that, and why it can feel awkward (personally I get a bit of excitement about secret corridors and mothballed industrial facilities, but then again I'm a bit weird like that). However, most large or medium-sized stations have hidden areas, disused rooms and that sort of thing. It's not new, and indeed even in older and more pleasant locations, it's not necessarily any better. In fact, to be honest, even some of the smallest stations on my routes have their secret cubby-holes and although it can be fun for me to find out a bit more about them, frankly it doesn't mean they'd actually look or feel any better than Euston.

 

[Harbornite]

Thought I'd share this image from he NRM, showing what was lost when Euston was redeveloped.

 

[tsr]

Thought I'd share this image from he NRM, showing what was lost when Euston was redeveloped.

It was spectacular, no doubt about that. I'd love to have visited it. Though not completely to my taste, I'll agree that sort of railway architecture looked many times better than Euston does now. (My comments are merely about what the modern Euston should have been, as far as it could be - but isn't.)

I'm sure an excellent and mostly sympathetic refurbishment would have been considered in this day and age - per the attitude of those who worked to create the current Kings Cross, for example.

 

[DarloRich]

It was spectacular, no doubt about that. I'd love to have visited it. Though not completely to my taste, I'll agree that sort of railway architecture looked many times better than Euston does now. (My comments are merely about what the modern Euston should have been, as far as it could be - but isn't.)

I'm sure an excellent and mostly sympathetic refurbishment would have been considered in this day and age - per the attitude of those who worked to create the current Kings Cross, for example.

Although I think it would be fair to say that the old Euston would be equally as difficult to use today!

 

[PeterC]

I admire what was done at Liverpool Street, that was a good rebuild.

Anything where an office has been built over the platforms, such as Charing Cross, converting an attractive lofty aspect to a gloomy tunnel, is bad. I hope there will be no more.

Rather like the east side at Liverpool Street.

I must admit that I rather liked Euston before the turned the interior into a souk.

 

[Why]

Paddington for me...Brunel's London masterpiece?


Lovely curve at the end of the platform seeing the HSTs waiting departure from the Met line tube platform.

Also, if you are talking about best approaches to termini for me has to be from Royal Oak... a mile or so outside Paddington.

 

[Taunton]

(Euston) I guess my main point really was that this was not how it was designed to be. Indeed I think the reason the natural light is mostly (if not pretty much all) in the concourse/holding area is that this section of the station was always meant to give a feeling of being the section used as a departure lounge and destination, the focal point, and I don't think anyone ever anticipated precisely how many people would need to queue on/off the platforms, at the barriers or run around with 2mins to go in quite an enclosed environment.

This problem has spoiled many main termini, for at one time not too long ago main line trains would be announced maybe 30 minutes before departure, and for many, certainly longer-distance, passengers, they would not need to wait/queue on the concourse at all but could go straight to the train. The time before opening has been steadily whittled down for no good reason, apologists say it's being "prepared" by cleaning, putting out reservations, etc, but if you actually look at what's going on that's patently not true (especially out of Euston where the reservations commonly only light up as you head up Camden bank). Sub-10 minute opening of trains used to be exceptional, now it seems to be becoming the norm. Even smaller stations like Marylebone now suffer from this. It's completely changed the dynamics and is also extremely annoying for passengers.

 

[najaB]

Sub-10 minute opening of trains used to be exceptional, now it seems to be becoming the norm. Even smaller stations like Marylebone now suffer from this. It's completely changed the dynamics and is also extremely annoying for passengers.

It's all about sweating the assets to try and give you those low ticket prices that everyone wants. A train that's sitting at the platform for 30 minutes is a train that's not earning money for 30 minutes. Add that up at either end of the journey and that could be two or more hours a day lost.

 

[KingDaveRa]

My experience of London stations certainly isn't that broad, but I've always loved the architecture of the Metroland stations along the Met, with their art-deco concrete curves. Rayners Lane has another good example.

I always like the fact Marylebone was used in so many films back in the day, so it has a certain archetypal feeling as a consequence.

 

[EM2]

Oh, I forgot that other modernist masterpiece, Cockfosters.

 

[satisnek]

Paddington for me, the last great unspoilt London terminus with real atmosphere!

St. Pancras has been ruined, with just half of the train shed now used for its original purpose, not to mention having to walk halfway to St. Albans in order to access the services for which it was originally built.

Marylebone is a mess: BR cut it down to a narrow 'footprint' which was all that was needed at the time, CR have subsequently restored it to its original width but incorporating the bloody great office block built on the land that BR sold off, meaning that it's necessary to walk halfway to High Wycombe in order to access the new platforms!

 

[yorksrob]

My personal favourite is actually Victoria.

As well as the grandiosity of the Brighton side (where there is still enough of the "trainshed" which hasn't been built over to give an impressive concourse space) you have the completely different Chatham side with its own character and a very attractive trainshed in its own right.

Other than that, we're quite lucky with terminals. Waterloo is still magnificent (and puts me in mind of going on holiday to boot), Paddington is a 'cathedral' of trains, particularly since they've seen sense and restored the fourth arch, Kings Cross, St Pancras and Liverpool Street have all been restored to be modern whilst retaining many attractive Victorian features.

In terms of smaller stations, I always adored Addiscombe, but sadly that's now a block of flats so doesn't count.

 

[Mutant Lemming]

Paddington for me, the last great unspoilt London terminus with real atmosphere!

St. Pancras has been ruined, with just half of the train shed now used for its original purpose, not to mention having to walk halfway to St. Albans in order to access the services for which it was originally built.

Marylebone is a mess: BR cut it down to a narrow 'footprint' which was all that was needed at the time, CR have subsequently restored it to its original width but incorporating the bloody great office block built on the land that BR sold off, meaning that it's necessary to walk halfway to High Wycombe in order to access the new platforms!

I wouldn't say Paddington is quite that unspoilt - it does have it's 'retail' area on the concourse and you do have to walk halfway to Slough for the local services.

(...and half way from Slough if arriving by tube - for most people at the moment)

 

[KingDaveRa]

Marylebone is a mess: BR cut it down to a narrow 'footprint' which was all that was needed at the time, CR have subsequently restored it to its original width but incorporating the bloody great office block built on the land that BR sold off, meaning that it's necessary to walk halfway to High Wycombe in order to access the new platforms!

So true!

 

[AJM580]

Paddington is a firm favourite
Also Blackfriars for the view up the Thames to Tower Bridge

 

[satisnek]

I wouldn't say Paddington is quite that unspoilt - it does have it's 'retail' area on the concourse and you do have to walk halfway to Slough for the local services.

(...and half way from Slough if arriving by tube - for most people at the moment)

You're probably right, to be honest it has been a few years since I've used Paddington (of the four London choices from Kidderminster, Paddington is the most expensive and least convenient option - despite it being the 'official' route (by mileposts) and not necessarily the longest journey time).

Perhaps Kings Cross qualifies as the 'most unspoilt', since it has always been just a train shed with not much of a station building.

 

[yorksrob]

You're probably right, to be honest it has been a few years since I've used Paddington (of the four London choices from Kidderminster, Paddington is the most expensive and least convenient option - despite it being the 'official' route (by mileposts) and not necessarily the longest journey time).

Perhaps Kings Cross qualifies as the 'most unspoilt', since it has always been just a train shed with not much of a station building.

It's a strange one, Paddington as the main entrance feels a bit like a back door, but the trainshed makes up for everything.

 

[Cherry_Picker]

I always like the fact Marylebone was used in so many films back in the day, so it has a certain archetypal feeling as a consequence.

It still gets used a lot these days, in fact it was substituted in for the exterior of Paddington in the recent Paddington bear movie!

Usual answers for me too. St Pancras is glorious. Kings Cross, Paddington & Marylebone are beautiful buildings. I really like the station frontage at Fenchurch Street too.

I like the magnificence of Baker Street if we are we are including Underground stations. The Jubilee line extension is great too, Canada Water is a masterpiece.

 

[Trackman]

I love the entrance to Waterloo. Going back 49 years Euston would have been a contender.