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Trivia: Your favourite bus station
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Newport, wonderful place.
peterblue
Member
I like Preston's (before all the one way nonsense). The brutalist architectural style is rather unique.
Hardcastle
Member
Preston as it's my local but nationwide i quite like Middlesbrough & Swansea as they are quite modern & well set out. Plus Belfast Great Victoria Street Interchange the new Bolton one is quite good too.
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I have found High Wycombe and Milton Keynes Coachway both pleasant to use. Especially compared with Aylesbury which is like an A&E waiting room stock in the middle of a very badly ventilated garage. Its only plus point is that the toilets are across a passageway so you don't get that smell combining with the diesel fumes while you wait.
Robertj21a
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Istanbul Otogar - 168 stands.
TheGrandWazoo
Veteran Member
Hmmm..... a pet subject of mine.
Middlesbrough is a classic design and still works as well as it ever has and is still in relatively good condition. It's something that should be listed before the local councillors demolish it in favour of a smaller, less functional facility in a daft location to "improve connectivity" etc.
Preston is just a fine example of Brutalist architecture and for that reason alone (and despite other failings), I think it's great.
Other faves....
Leeds Central - good location, good design, and a quantum leap over what it replaced (for those old enough to remember)
Newark - surprisingly good for a small town
Hanley - good facility.....just needs to be effectively connected to the rest of the city centre (but appreciate development had stalled)
Swansea - just very good
However, special mention and a left-field one is Yeovil. Not because it's good because it isn't. It has grim public toilets, the travel office is closed and seems to be a place for drivers to take breaks. It just gets me how it's in a timewarp.... aside from a bit of signage and some new shelters/barriers, it is unchanged since I first went there in 1991. The Gorge Cafe is unchanged since the 1980s.... you almost expect to hear Ford Transits running the town services.
Some local authorities and PTEs are very good with their investment and maintenance though, as I've mentioned before, some go a little too far... TfGM with the monoliths like Wigan (especially) and Bolton, and Metro with the bonkers ones at places like Cleckheaton and Ossett.
Middlesbrough is a classic design and still works as well as it ever has and is still in relatively good condition. It's something that should be listed before the local councillors demolish it in favour of a smaller, less functional facility in a daft location to "improve connectivity" etc.
Preston is just a fine example of Brutalist architecture and for that reason alone (and despite other failings), I think it's great.
Other faves....
Leeds Central - good location, good design, and a quantum leap over what it replaced (for those old enough to remember)
Newark - surprisingly good for a small town
Hanley - good facility.....just needs to be effectively connected to the rest of the city centre (but appreciate development had stalled)
Swansea - just very good
However, special mention and a left-field one is Yeovil. Not because it's good because it isn't. It has grim public toilets, the travel office is closed and seems to be a place for drivers to take breaks. It just gets me how it's in a timewarp.... aside from a bit of signage and some new shelters/barriers, it is unchanged since I first went there in 1991. The Gorge Cafe is unchanged since the 1980s.... you almost expect to hear Ford Transits running the town services.
Some local authorities and PTEs are very good with their investment and maintenance though, as I've mentioned before, some go a little too far... TfGM with the monoliths like Wigan (especially) and Bolton, and Metro with the bonkers ones at places like Cleckheaton and Ossett.
I remember getting off a coach from Greece, was massive, two levels of stands, love to go back there.
Glasgow Buchanan Bus Station, one of the biggest in UK.
I really like West Croydon Bus Station. It has a classical look but also quite modern. However, it lacks freely available publicity.
So I would say my favourite is Eldon Square Bus Station in Newcastle. It's a very pleasant place to wait for a bus, toilets are a couple of minutes walk away as are places to get a snack and a drink. It has soft seating and publicity available during the day on leaflet racks.
So I would say my favourite is Eldon Square Bus Station in Newcastle. It's a very pleasant place to wait for a bus, toilets are a couple of minutes walk away as are places to get a snack and a drink. It has soft seating and publicity available during the day on leaflet racks.
Geordie driver
Member
Port Authority Bus Terminal NYC.
306024
Established Member
For pure convenience, Chelmsford.
For interest and making you think, either side of the Star Ferry in Hong Kong.
For interest and making you think, either side of the Star Ferry in Hong Kong.
TheGrandWazoo
Veteran Member
No longer in use but I did like the Greyhound bus station at Squamish in the Rockies on the Vancouver to Whistler route.
Best .. Hanley (Stoke on Trent), High Wycombe
Worst ..
Macclesfield is 15 years old and enclosed, poor toilets facilities.
Wire mesh above the doors, making it cold
Crewe ... run down
Chelmsford .. modern (15 years old), poor design. although have a waiting room, the stands are exposed
Worst ..
Macclesfield is 15 years old and enclosed, poor toilets facilities.
Wire mesh above the doors, making it cold
Crewe ... run down
Chelmsford .. modern (15 years old), poor design. although have a waiting room, the stands are exposed
It does concern me that two people on this thread have chosen Hanley!
Last time I was there part of it was fenced off as the glass wall was falling down. They didn't seem to be in any hurry to fix it either.
Regarding buses, it's only got one entrance/exit, so if something gets in the way everything grinds to a halt. Then there's the fact it was built on a confined site so a third of the buses leaving have to cross the path of another third.
Last time I was there part of it was fenced off as the glass wall was falling down. They didn't seem to be in any hurry to fix it either.
Regarding buses, it's only got one entrance/exit, so if something gets in the way everything grinds to a halt. Then there's the fact it was built on a confined site so a third of the buses leaving have to cross the path of another third.
Contains Nuts
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The glass is fixed now - from what I’m led to believe it was quite a complicated job which is why it took so long.
The issue of buses crossing paths is controlled by traffic lights which are very effective, although they do cause delays to buses sometimes.
Hanley is a very unusual bus station from a driver’s point of view, and it does take a lot of getting used to. The old bus station had much more space but was very run down and not at all comfortable for passengers, unlike the new facility where all but two stands are fully enclosed.
Busaras, Dublin: a classic piece of 1950s design - with a (disused) cinema in the basement - and still a pleasant and airy place to wait for your Expressway coach (I write "coach" as over the years the Bus Eireann regional services have been progessively banished).
Dundalk: yes, narrow and open stands with no signage, and lanes wide-enough only for one bus, but there's a waiting room and staffed Bus Eireann ticket office . . . and at the opposite end a unique passenger shelter, now sadly disused and used as a car-port.
Newry: outside stands, but a very spacious indoor waiting area with more-than-adequate seating and staffed ticket office, and a supervisor on duty until early evening.
Dundalk: yes, narrow and open stands with no signage, and lanes wide-enough only for one bus, but there's a waiting room and staffed Bus Eireann ticket office . . . and at the opposite end a unique passenger shelter, now sadly disused and used as a car-port.
Newry: outside stands, but a very spacious indoor waiting area with more-than-adequate seating and staffed ticket office, and a supervisor on duty until early evening.
67thave
Member
That's the first time I've heard someone praise this bus station. It's considered to be one of the ugliest buildings in the city by many, and often is a bit lacking in sanitation. But it has everything - it even has a bowling alley inside!
Personally, I wouldn't put it near the top of my list, nor near the bottom. It's in the middle for me.
From my experience, the best bus station I've used would likely be the GO Transit bus station adjacent to Union Station in Toronto. It's rather clean and modern. The worst is probably the Washington, DC bus station, which is literally just a poorly-ventilated and dreary level of a parking garage adjacent to that city's Union Station.
TechDan2002
Member
St Ives Malakoff has to have the best views from any bus station. I also like Camborne due to it being on the same site as FSWs office and depot. I always enjoy having a nose from the top deck at what vehicles are parked up along the side.
In my younger days the all-time favourite was Buchanan Bus Station in Glasgow, but I didn't get the chance to go very often. I did spend quite a bit of time in my student days (daze?!) zooming between Aberdeen and Edinburgh on Citylink and Caledonian Express services, with frequent changes at Perth and, on the odd occasion, Dundee. Both were fairly good for a bit of variety in terms of liveries and different operators. Perth, being the focal point of the "Saltire" routes, would have Citylink coaches from Mairs, Rapsons, Midland Bluebird and Strathtay with the occasional turn by Bruce's and latterly Park's. There was also the fairly mixed bag of former Stagecoach vehicles that National Express took over for the CalEx operations - DAFs, Neoplans and the newer Volvo B10M Expressliners. Add to this the local services from Strathtay, Stagecoach and Fife and it could be a fairly interesting place to spend an hour waiting for a connection - except maybe on Sundays!
Any bus station that's fully enclosed with automatic doors to the bus stops/bays, is airy and spacious, air-conditioned, has seats, lavatories nearby, a travel information point/office and is regularly cleaned.
e.g.
Hammersmith (main)
High Wycombe
Doncaster Interchange
e.g.
Hammersmith (main)
High Wycombe
Doncaster Interchange
I don’t know the situation now, but in the past when I worked late shifts on passing through Hammersmith bus station it always resembled a refugee camp with homeless people.
ian1944
Member
I've always liked Trades Lane in Dundee for its timelessness and traditional caff. Even better when the garage opposite was still open, which is a plus point at St Andrews and Chichester. And I like Durham, its plus point being the JDW over the road, and Wakefield for no particular reason. The overall UK favourite may well be Morpeth, it seems just right for its purpose and I like the town a lot.
cnjb8
Established Member
Tough one for me. Nottingham Victoria and Derby bus stations are terrible designs meanwhile Nottingham Broadmarsh is currently a building site.
I'm going to say Belper, mainly because the station used to be the TrentBarton depot in the town. They still outstation the Sixes Scanias here. In fact, the station has a back entrance which is now a car wash. It was sold because the new Scanias couldn't fit down it, but their predecessors, Dennis Darts, could.
I'm going to say Belper, mainly because the station used to be the TrentBarton depot in the town. They still outstation the Sixes Scanias here. In fact, the station has a back entrance which is now a car wash. It was sold because the new Scanias couldn't fit down it, but their predecessors, Dennis Darts, could.
Whistler40145
Established Member
Living in Blackpool, we don't have the luxury of a bus station, but I'm quite impressed with Preston Bus Station, far more manageable and pleasant
Purely for sentimental reasons, Pool Meadow in Coventry in the 1980s. West Midlands on one side, Midland Red on the other, and a greasy spoon in between. Spent hours in there on the way home from school, cup of tea for about 12p or something and a couple of hours playing space invaders, galaxian, and scramble.
61653 HTAFC
Veteran Member
I was only there briefly so I can't in good conscience list it as a "favourite", but I was pleasantly surprised by how nice Mansfield bus station was. By far the nicest non-PTE bus station I've ever used.
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