The main hall is initially quite impressive (though even with the new deck it's too small). But it's the platforms and those interminable ramps that are so grim - utterly soulless.
For a start, the underground section should be better lit. The platforms themselves could do with a bit more lighting, and the bottom of the 'concourse' should be illuminated with spotlights so that there isn't just a dark 'void' between one platform and the next. That would, of course, force it to be cleaned or for diesels to be eliminated!
Whenever I visit Shrewsbury station I think that the handsome collegiate-style front building is what Oxford ought to have had in the 19th century. It would have been just right for the city and university.
It might have something to do with the university fighting tooth and nail to keep the railway away, because it would attract the riff-raff. They're the ones that forced the station into such an inconvenient location.
So has Preston Bus Station. Nothing is too hideous for the Heritage Lobby to demand it be preserved, the citizens of the place be damned.
I'll defend Preston Bus Station to the hilt. It's really spectacular, and a seriously endangered form of architecture.
It is utterly oppressive and looks grotty as all hell. I can't imagine using it every day will do wonders for one's mental health.
Nah, completely disagree. It's been refurbished recently, and looks amazing.
To be honest, a decade ago even Wakefield Westgate was pretty grim... not as bad as Kirkgate but as it was the main station for the city it probably made just as much of a bad first impression.
The platforms and underpass aren't great these days (the covid modifications are really slapdash, and it seems there's been a reluctance to do proper repairs due to the upcoming upgrade) but "grotty" is a heck of an overstatement. The subway is dry with attractive stonework where there aren't any adverts, you'd be hard-pushed to find a subway anywhere in the country that is in as good a condition for its age.
How would you have got it into a more convenient location? The original line into the first station (terminus) could not have been extended north, as it would have cur straight through the very centre of the city, and given that a deviation westwards looks like the only way they had of finding a route, they could scarcely have got much closer in given the Worcester College property. Perhaps to the land that was occupied by the Bletchley-branch station, but no closer than that.
Coventry is comparable in size and in it's night time economy offer to Bradford and is virtually deserted in the evening, unlike Leicester and Nottingham which are also of a comparable size to both, but both have buzzing night time economies.
Yes, it absolutely does.In this case, surely the station does justice to the town
There is a lot of affection in Preston for the bus station. Personally I hate brutalist architecture in general but Preston bus station is an exception.
Exmouth is another where the addition of an adjacent M&S Foodhall has vastly improved the station forecourt and brings life until 8pm - previously the large Stagecoach Bus Station rather dominated, but now there's a decent station sign (and it's the bus station that has disappeared).
and expensive-er!
Indeed... whatever you do, don't by food from WHSmith if you can possibly help it!
