Trivia: UK's Squeakiest Ear Piercing Station

[reb0118]

Accrington.

You can close the thread ...

Burntisland.

You can reopen it! Although to be fair it's a lot better since the flange greaser was put in.

 

[Phil.]

From memory, ANY train going out of Retford's mainline platform onto the line towards Worksop made one HELL of a squeaking noise!!!

They're protesting at having to go anywhere near Worksop.
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I've been to a large chunk of them.

The resonance in the St Pancras box is awful. Couple it with the tight curves and it makes for a horrible aural experience.

Yep, that's the worst station that I know of for noise. It would be a relatively simple job to line the platform facings and walls with acoustic absorbing tiles.

 

[kevconnor]

This thread is slightly unfair to stations in the North of England, South Wales and Bristol as they are the only parts of the United Kingdom with pacers.

You're quite right. Let's send one of Newton Heath's finest through St Pancreas Low Level and see what the results are.

 

[asylumxl]

You're quite right. Let's send one of Newton Heath's finest through St Pancreas Low Level and see what the results are.

Ears would bleed.

 

[cjmillsnun]

At a risk of stating the obvious forum whipping boy, any station served by 142s....

Especially with platforms on a curve.

 

[fairysdad]

If LU counts, could I suggest perhaps the Central Line at Bank?

 

[AM9]

Accrington.

You can close the thread ...

I have to agree that Accrington is pretty bad. In early September, I was on a 158 from Hebden Bridge to Preston and the squeal was bad enough on the train. Looking out of the window there was a passenger covering both ears so the noise must have been deafening on the platform. There was flange squeal as well as wheel howl due to the small radius curve so I dread to imagine how much noise a Pacer would make.

 

[MrPIC]

Bethnal Green

 

[cin88]

Anywhere on either line between Manchester and Liverpool that the Pacers have to go even slightly left or right on. The squeeling used to drive me mad if one of those was a local stopper or Liverpool-Manchester Airport service.

 

[BurtonM]

If it was still open, Miles Platting.

 

[Delta558]

Platform 6/7 at Cardiff Central, particularly when you get two squealy pacers pulling in at the same time. Ouch!

Landore West curve on the bank is worse. Much, much worse and it goes on for so bloody long when you're going uphill.

 

[8J]

Liverpool Central Wirral line platform is bad as is Hamilton Sq platform 3.

 

[adrock1976]

I would nominate the 334s at Partick when the train is pulling away from a standing start going westbound.

This is obviously dependent on the outdoor temperature, as some days there is very little squeal.

 

[gimmea50anyday]

Newcastle platform 2 especially near plat 9/station overbridge area and it resonates under the roof!

A 142 is one thing but a full length 225 set has a lot more wheels, or a coal train which to confound things doesnt stop.......
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I wouldn't. They'd have gone there, looked at the area, seen the noise potential....

You'd be suprised.

Well known and popular nightclub plying its trade for many years. Along comes a developer who builds a block of flats nearby and people move in. Cue complaints by these very same residents of noise from nightclub and people leaving usual drunken bravadery. Eventually council orders nightclub shut down. This is despite nightclub being there first and residents would have seen noise potential.... Well, you would have thought....

Coastway, hove. Just beside the brighton avoider tunnel. Used to be a yard. Redeveloped and flats built. Now remember the railway has been there since the year 1850ish. Residents from flats built in 2000 again ish start complaining about noise from train horns as trains enter tunnels! Eventually southern agree to stop blasting horns within certain hours (believe this has now been overturned) Again who was here first? And did potential residents consider noise when moving in? Doubt it...

 

[lewisf]

Coastway, hove. Just beside the brighton avoider tunnel. Used to be a yard. Redeveloped and flats built. Now remember the railway has been there since the year 1850ish. Residents from flats built in 2000 again ish start complaining about noise from train horns as trains enter tunnels! Eventually southern agree to stop blasting horns within certain hours (believe this has now been overturned) Again who was here first? And did potential residents consider noise when moving in? Doubt it...

This also coincided with the introduction of the 377s which have much louder horns than the 4CIGs did. I can kind of see their point.

 

[ExRes]

You're quite right. Let's send one of Newton Heath's finest through St Pancreas Low Level and see what the results are.

Another vote for St Pancras here, I have to say that I only ever felt discomfort in my ears never, as far as I'm aware, in my pancreas

 

[jon91]

Another one for Accrington here.

It doesn't matter what train it is, they all make a metal concert sound like a quiet night in.

 

[southern442]

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Clapham Junction platform 14. Especially when standing on platform 15, with a 455 coming in. I can also second St. Pancreas Box Level as being quite noisy, made worse with the acoustics in there.

 

[Inspector999]

Strood - and it has some nice new flats nearby too!

That said St Pancras is far worse - but no flats!

 

[trash80]

My vote goes to the Bakerloo Line in several places, around Piccadilly Circus possibly the worst for the "Horrible Howl" as it is known among some users.

Paddington too, i was on it today and it made my ears (which suffer from tinnitus now and then) "white out" for a second.

 

[southern442]

Also, another one to mention, any station served by 180's

 

[pemma]

A 142 is one thing but a full length 225 set has a lot more wheels, or a coal train which to confound things doesnt stop.......

While the longest Pacer service that Northern usually operate is 5 car, if you're in the wrong place at the wrong time you can get an 8 car ECS movement consisting only of 142s.

 

[Kite159]

Reading

When a 180 rolls up

Or even when one of the beloved 150s roll into the higher number platforms late at night. Not as bad as some for brake squeak but compared to the turbos they are quite loud

 

[LLivery]

St Pancras Thameslink is absolutely awful. Never realised until I stood where the curve is and a northbound train arrived. It makes your ears want to bleed. Lewisham, Clapham Junction and Bank is small fry compared.

 

[Dhassell]

Cardiff Central when Pacers leave/arrive :P

 

[PHILIPE]

Cardiff Central when Pacers leave/arrive :P

Covered in Post #30

 

[Dr_Paul]

Clapham Junction, platforms 16 and 17 (Brighton lines down to the West London line): very curvy and four-wheel goods wagons, and especially long wheelbase ones, create a real racket. One evening years back, before these platforms were used for passenger traffic and were not lit, I was on platform 11 when a long northbound goods came through on platform 16, screeching away with a slight rhythmic feel to it, with the odd flat adding a counter-rhythm: musique concrète alright! People were holding their ears, baffled as to where this howling was coming from in the darkness. Great fun!

 

[Chris M]

If LU counts, could I suggest perhaps the Central Line at Bank?

The squeal on the Central line platforms at Bank is so bad that staff are limited to how long they are allowed to spend on the platform at any one time. I can't remember the figure but I think it's something like 15 minutes.