Trivia: most underwhelming end to a main route?

[southern442]

Here I am talking specifically about what one might consider a 'main line' i.e. a key route, with several tributaries, with a definitive start and end. This is very subjective so various different interpretations of this are welcome.

Several of these main routes have quite pleasant, or at least imposing, start and end points; for example, a big London terminus, an important seaside town, a picturesque location or another station of importance. Most of these trunk routes follow this rule, however ones that I'm interested in here are where you feel as though a key railway route (that may be very busy or have a lot going on) just sort of fizzling out and ending.

My first contribution here would be the London, Tilbury and Southend line. This is maybe not considered a proper 'main line' by some but it is very busy and the key route (London to Shoeburyness via Basildon) has various branches off of it. This starts at quite a busy London Terminus and has several key stations along the way that are quite big or nice, such as Barking and Southend Central, but after that it just seems to end suddenly at a pair of buffers in the middle of a Southend suburb. Obviously they couldn't have gone any further but to me it feels like a very underwhelming end to the journey.

I hope everyone understands what I'm getting at and I'd be interested to hear other people's suggestions. If possible I'd like to discount branch lines up to a certain extent as there are countless examples of little teeny terminus stations in the middle of nowhere.

 

[D6130]

Edinburgh - Tweedbank?

 

[Mordac]

Stranraer now that the ferries are gone?

 

[Iskra]

I’m not sure it entirely fits your definition, but the GC services heading Northbound would seem to end in totally uninspiring fashion by becoming quite slow, circuitous and stopping frequently on lines that are fairly secondary and obscure in places.

 

[telstarbox]

Beckton DLR. You start in a busy Underground station, out through the East End, glide past Canary Wharf and City Airport, and end facing an anonymous retail park.

 

[NorthOxonian]

Severn Beach was a huge disappointment when I visited, but I'd hardly call that a main line.

I suppose a better answer would be Thurso/Wick - two rather functional towns set in scenery which is relatively bland for the Highlands. You would imagine the Far North Line would come to a dramatic end than that!

 

[lxfe_mxtterz]

I suppose a better answer would be Thurso/Wick - two rather functional towns set in scenery which is relatively bland for the Highlands. You would imagine the Far North Line would come to a dramatic end than that!

Perhaps similarly, Mallaig - at the end of the West Highland Line - is a rather drab and uninspiring ending point after the great mountains and glens passed en route.

 

[alangla]

In terms of the train looking out of place at the terminus of its route, I've always though a Pendolino looks ridiculous at Blackpool North. The far end always looks like it's half way to Layton! You could probably say the same about any long-distance service that terminated at Newquay as well.

 

[yorksrob]

Morecambe's current terminus is quite an underwhelming bare platform for what's quite a large seaside town (compared to the old Promenade station).

Dover Priory always seems a bit workaday, for what is now the eastern focus of the Kentish railway network. Western Docks would have been the imposing terminus prior to the chunnel opening.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Holyhead is a shadow of its former self.
The ferries are now further out and not key to the railway any more, and the town is a hike in either direction (better now there's a bridge to the main street).
And there's not a lot when you get there, bar some decent fish and chips.

 

[Gloster]

Weymouth is a bit of a disappointment, particularly after the run down from Dorchester.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Bradford Forster Square is somewhat anonymous for a City Centre terminus.

Of the London terminals, London Marylebone and London Fenchurch Street both seem a tad functional.

 

[yorksrob]

Littlehampton has three routes focused on it, but seems quite pedestrian.

 

[Glenn1969]

Blackpool South maybe?

 

[packermac]

Weymouth is a bit of a disappointment, particularly after the run down from Dorchester.

Weymouth gets my vote to. Have they even bothered to reopen the toilets they closed a couple of years ago?

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Sheringham, other than on the handful of occasions a charter runs through.

 

[Steve Harris]

London - Kings Lynn.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Blackpool South maybe?

Hardly a main line these days, but otherwise can quite understand why you've nominated it.

Similarly, Harwich Town station is a bit of a damp squib.

 

[Right Away]

Weymouth gets my vote to. Have they even bothered to reopen the toilets they closed a couple of years ago?

Still closed. To add to the gloom, the shop on the station has also closed down (Chew Choo which was located in the former travel centre) although there are several convenience stores immediately outside of the station. Although the location means the seafront can be reached in a couple of minutes, the drab 1980s replacement station with heavily rationalised layout is an anticlimax. The station throat before the platforms in now just a single line. It is hard to imagine that the Jubilee Retail Park and the car parks were once operational railway land.

 

[swt_passenger]

I’m not sure it entirely fits your definition, but the GC services heading Northbound would seem to end in totally uninspiring fashion by becoming quite slow, circuitous and stopping frequently on lines that are fairly secondary and obscure in places.

Well, if they didn’t do that they would never have been permitted to run in the first place...

 

[DorkingMain]

Always found Ramsgate to be a pretty uninspiring station.

 

[D6130]

London Victoria - Sheerness anyone?

 

[urbophile]

Bradford Forster Square is somewhat anonymous for a City Centre terminus.

Of the London terminals, London Marylebone and London Fenchurch Street both seem a tad functional.

I agree about Bradford. But Marylebone is a gem. Admittedly a small one by the standards of London termini, but then the line it serves is hardly a major one. I've never been inside Fenchurch Street so I can't comment, except to say that I love the façade.

 

[southern442]

Always found Ramsgate to be a pretty uninspiring station.

Of the Kent Coast stations I think Margate is perhaps the nicest 'main' one. Ramsgate does have a feel of an important railway hub though, but Dover Priory could certainly do with some work, as it sort of just feels like an intermediate stopping point.

Still closed. To add to the gloom, the shop on the station has also closed down (Chew Choo which was located in the former travel centre) although there are several convenience stores immediately outside of the station. Although the location means the seafront can be reached in a couple of minutes, the drab 1980s replacement station with heavily rationalised layout is an anticlimax. The station throat before the platforms in now just a single line. It is hard to imagine that the Jubilee Retail Park and the car parks were once operational railway land.

I have also thought this about Weymouth, especially if you contrast with other main-line ends nearby such as Exeter or Brighton (even Portsmouth & Southsea and Portsmouth Harbour feel a little bit more important). However the atmosphere is pleasant on a sunny day.

 

[edwin_m]

Fishguard is pretty underwhelming as the terminus of the South Wales Main Line.

 

[Brooke]

London - Kings Lynn.

Leaving aside that it can be pretty bleak, bit surprised by this one - as a regular visitor I find KL quite good with caff, pub opposite, buses, taxis. Each to their own!

 

[joshy.fre_2003]

I'd say Barnstaple is a bit of a disappointing one. It's a nice journey down the line from Exeter, but the railway station is between a main road, a supermarket and a dull retail park, and is over the river from the actual (and rather nice) town of Barnstaple.

 

[DB]

Bradford Forster Square is somewhat anonymous for a City Centre terminus.

Both Bradford city-centre stations are pretty dull.

 

[Western Sunset]

Passing Pokesdown and the cutting just before Bournemouth station are both very drab and gloomy.

 

[ChiefPlanner]

I hate to say it - but though the station is nice - the area around Swansea High Street is really awful. Decline since the 1970's when the "center of gravity" moved away towards the coast , and what is left is truly grim.