Dismal Stations Which Give A Poor First Impression Of The Town They Serve

[Mordac]

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.

Leicester and Nottingham don't have the second largest city in the country a few minutes by train away.

 

[William3000]

Cambridge North feels a bit 'build it and they will come'. They never really came and then Covid arrived. It it (was?) great for those in the business park beside the busway but that's about it.

They will come. 8000 new homes are planned on the Anglian Water sewage treatment works site.

 

[Andrew1395]

I think Bath Spa is the worst part of the experience of visiting the town.

 

[py_megapixel]

I think Bath Spa is the worst part of the experience of visiting the town.

I found Bath Spa at platform level to be lovely. I will agree that the entrance/exit arrangements do feel rather chaotic though.

 

[Andrew1395]

Oxford is similar. It might be good enough for many, but while Cambridge or say Huddersfield have some merit to announce what the town is like, I don’t think Oxford cuts it. Whereas Norwich does.

Nah, I like Euston! Admittedly the platforms are grim, but you spend your time on the concourse, which I really like. Plus I love brutalism, and Euston is an absolute classic of the genre.

I like Euston, but it’s not an example of brutalist. More modern international style. I would say Stafford and Harlow are more brutalism.

 

[WiredUp]

Burton-on-Trent. Once a lovely station, now a concrete hulk.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I'll second that, overall a very impressive piece of architecture. The bus station element on the ground floor is badly neglected though.

Hasn't it just been extensively refurbished?

Preston railway station is the opposite of this thread - a fantastic station let down by an armpit of a town.

There is a thread for that too, though I don't agree Preston is an armpit, it is just a bit average. The station itself looks impressive but is not particularly well designed and lacks retail, though is at least quite near the city centre (there's a thread for that too).

 

[61653 HTAFC]

I'll second that, overall a very impressive piece of architecture. The bus station element on the ground floor is badly neglected though.
Preston railway station is the opposite of this thread - a fantastic station let down by an armpit of a town.

Preston station has the potential to be fantastic, but is far from fantastic at present. There's plenty of room for eateries and hostelries but it isn't particularly well-served on that front. Then there's the pretty but utterly inadequate footbridge.
As the station serving a fairly important regional city, it really needs some serious investment to bring it into the 21st century.

 

[Mikey C]

Burton-on-Trent. Once a lovely station, now a concrete hulk.

But the area of Burton around the station is hardly pretty either. It's industrial (and nothing wrong with that), so the functional station fits in fine

 

[WesternBiker]

Not that I like Wrexham, but very surprised Wrexham Central doesn't seem to have been mentioned yet, what a dump of a station!

I'd go with that. It feels like you're arriving in a warehouse loading bay, not Wales's 4th largest settlement. Mind you, the old station had reached a pretty sorry state by the time it was replaced.

 

[Grumpy Git]

From the passing train, Warrington Central always looks like it needs some love.

The uPVC conservatory on the platform is a total eyesore.

 

[Wtloild]

Cleethorpes and Blackpool Pleasure Beach aren't the best first impressions of such places. Fortunately the beach and the roller coasters in the immediate background make you ignore the station you are walking through.

I think Cleethorpes (station) isn't that bad.
Nice little pub, waiting room, staffed.

 

[driverd]

Just to add my thoughts :
For a major (ie: significant terminus station), personally I don't think it gets much worse than Euston. What a shame too, those shiny new trains and all the glitz of being on a virgin train at that, and you get a nasty, dark, dirty concrete block of a station.

At the other end of the line comes Birmingham New Street in close second, though I will admit the redevelopment in recent years is a great improvement on where it was. It's pleasing enough until you reach the platforms!

For more moderate sized stations, worthy mentions have to go to Manchester Victoria and the fume filled crypts that are platforms 3-6 (though the concourse and p1&2 are lovely). Would also lump Wakefield Kirkgate in this category, better than it was but still a long way to go (and what a stark contrast to Westgate!) Despite mentions earlier in the thread, I personally find neither Bradford too offensive. They're not overwhelmingly pleasant, but are perfectly acceptable as far as function is concerned.

Dundee, for me, also gets a mention. Despite the town (City?) being rather pleasant the station itself manages to give a rather depressing welcome.

Thats all I can think of for now!

 

[scrapy]

We travelled to Pleasure Beach station on a Northern 10p ticket a few years back. Absolutely awful station!

The worst thing about the station to me is that whilst next to the Pleasure Beach it's at totally the opposite side of the park to the entrance. The South entrance is now closed so you trek about half a mile along the promenade past a derelict Ocean Boulevard to get to the entrance. It doesn't feel much further to the entrance from Blackpool South. The pleasure beach make no effort to make the park accessible or even look good from that side.


The actual station has quite a nice looking but basic canopy.

 

[Efini92]

Liverpool Central is pretty rubbish, though admittedly arrivals are mainly local and it's no worse than a random subsurface Tube station.

Manchester Victoria is utterly horrid, like a not-quite-as-underground New St. And the alternative, Picc P13/14, is not exactly better!

Victoria was a lovely station before 1993. Words thing that ever happened was building the arena there.

 

[david1212]

The refurbishment of New Street is miles better then the grotty concourse that existed prior, of course not much you can do at platform level but the concourse is much easier to navigate and a massive improvement on what was there before.

Hmm. Unless it's changed in the past eighteen months or so, I'd have said that it was still crap but in a different way! Used to be dingy and confusing to get to the platforms, Now it's a shopping centre with platforms beneath it, and that highly irritating / confusing system of different sets of ticket barriers depending on which platform you want.

I disagree. The concourse is now a stupid design where you can’t access some platforms from others if you’re at the wrong end of the station.

Keeping to the thread title the concourse is less dismal. From a practicality viewpoint the direct access from Stephenson Street is an improvement but I fully agree about both the different barriers for the platforms and the way they are laid out.

I had to pick somebody up from a cancelled train at Banbury. I know nothing about Banbury, didn’t get to see the town centre but the station itself and surrounding area were quite grotty and unwelcoming. It’s a 1950s affair, which though unattractive compared to older stations can sometimes have some character of their own. But it just looked shabby and uncared for.

The entrance / booking office area and bridge are not too bad unless gone downhill since I was last there. The platforms are grim though, a thorough clean and a couple of coats of paint would help. The immediate area isn't great but outside of the control of the railway. The town centre isn't bad although I suspect now like most there are several empty units compared to 2019 in addition to Debenhams and Marks & Spencer that were the two main stores in the Castle Quay Shopping Centre.

 

[Clansman]

Fort William without a doubt. An absolute dive of a station on a site that could have so much long term potential as being emblematic of the area it serve.

 

[AGH]

Warrington Bank Quay. Huge factory, horrible subway into minuscule concourse and a hefty walk from the town. Lived there for 20 years and always hated the impression it gave.

 

[Aictos]

The platforms are grim though, a thorough clean and a couple of coats of paint would help.

Agreed, it's simply too dark and gloomy on the platforms but it's always been like that.

 

[Brooke]

Kirkgate is tolerable now - not great by any means, but not one of the worst. That said, not sure what it's like after dark now - used to have a very bad reputation.

Huddersfield - it could do with a bit of work, but overall it's fine. Also has some independent shops and kiosks, which is unusual on larger stations these days!

I’m with you! This thread shows how different people’s impressions can be!

KIRKGATE - compared to the 90s seems pretty nice to me now! And is an example of something else to me: “Stations Which are OK but Where You’d Be Best Not to Step Outside the Door”

HUDDERSFIELD - I’m biased, but to me is the exact opposite of this thread - an amazing station that punches far above the weight of the surrounding town. Yes the platforms are a bit grotty just now, but more than made up for by having an overall roof cover, independent caff, pubs, generally helpful staff, unparalleled architecture…

 

[Wolfie]

Blackpool North
Manchester Vic
Manchester Picc (13/14)
Sunderland
Middlesbrough
Halifax
Euston
Bradford Interchange
Wolverhampton
Coventry
Burnley Central

Wolverhampton station has been pretty much completely rebuilt.

I've lived in Birmingham so used New Street a lot when I lived in the area and I have to fully disagree with your opinion, the old design was awful, dated, grubby and well past it's best by date.

The refurbishment brings in much needed natural light to the concourse, is easier to navigate and actually looks fit for use.

Agreed.

I’m with you! This thread shows how different people’s impressions can be!

KIRKGATE - compared to the 90s seems pretty nice to me now! And is an example of something else to me: “Stations Which are OK but Where You’d Be Best Not to Step Outside the Door”

HUDDERSFIELD - I’m biased, but to me is the exact opposite of this thread - an amazing station that punches far above the weight of the surrounding town. Yes the platforms are a bit grotty just now, but more than made up for by having an overall roof cover, independent caff, pubs, generally helpful staff, unparalleled architecture…

Huddersfield station is a damned sight more pleasant than the town. Wakefield, whether stations or town, is just awful fullstop.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

I have not visited Llandudno station for quite a while, but considering it is the station for one of the nicer North Wales holiday resorts, it was depressing in the nth degree.

 

[mike57]

Manchester Victoria is utterly horrid, like a not-quite-as-underground New St.

Too hot in summer, and too cold in winter, diesel exhaust fumes just seem to sit there whatever the weather unless its blowing a gale
Dirty, seen vermin running around on platforms amongst passengers several times, cue much screaming and upset on one occasion
Lack of platform seating
Lack of toilet facilities, have to go through barriers, quite a long walk.
Platform overcrowding at busy times
Water leaks when raining
Hopeless connections to the main Manchester station, 2 tph when they are not cancelled, or a tram ride which is not included on your ticket

 

[yorksrob]

HUDDERSFIELD - I’m biased, but to me is the exact opposite of this thread - an amazing station that punches far above the weight of the surrounding town. Yes the platforms are a bit grotty just now, but more than made up for by having an overall roof cover, independent caff, pubs, generally helpful staff, unparalleled architecture…

I agree. It's a splendid need, with pretty much everything the prospective traveller might want.

 

[Aictos]

Wolverhampton station has been pretty much completely rebuilt.

Have they kept the old BR murals on the footbridge there as I last used the station in September 2019.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Preston station has the potential to be fantastic, but is far from fantastic at present. There's plenty of room for eateries and hostelries but it isn't particularly well-served on that front. Then there's the pretty but utterly inadequate footbridge.
As the station serving a fairly important regional city, it really needs some serious investment to bring it into the 21st century.

I have thought about this before, and my conclusion was that a decently sized new building with a proper concourse where the silly little one is by "P7" and a large glass and steel bridge across where the subway presently is, with that as the main entrance, would work fairly well. The other bridge could be replaced too. The present ticket office entrance and Fishergate entrance would become secondary, with a few gates and a TVM.

In many ways it is a bit like Bristol TM - a nice trainshed but no proper concourse at all.

 

[nw1]

Oxford station is decidedly underwhelming as an introduction to the city. Hopefully the full masterplan is eventually implemented to give something that can actually cope with the traffic it gets.

When I first passed through Oxford (in December 1982) I was amazed that one of the most significant cities in southern England had such a small number of platforms (2 plus a bay for the Banbury locals) but I guess it wasn't a major junction (the Worcester line was very quiet at the time), and only had to handle about 2 trains an hour terminating from the London direction, so didn't need any more.

 

[Wolfie]

Have they kept the old BR murals on the footbridge there as I last used the station in September 2019.

Yup currently, including the small memorial to a former staff member who passed away (l actually remember him working there). I think that more work is scheduled for the platforms and wonder if that bridge may go though.

 

[nw1]

I was going to say Plymouth, but then I recalled I'm not a big fan of Plymouth anyway, so in that respect the station accurately reflects my opinion of the place...

I have actually never been to Plymouth: Norwich and Bradford are the only other similarly sized cities in England which I have never visited. Always thought it was supposed to be nice though.

An odd quirk of my travel experience is that the only place named Plymouth I have ever travelled through. let alone visited, is a tiny village in California, not too far - in US terms - from Sacramento. But such is the low population density in that area, it was signposted from around 45 miles back along the road (Route 49, named after the gold rush)...

 

[wobman]

I have not visited Llandudno station for quite a while, but considering it is the station for one of the nicer North Wales holiday resorts, it was depressing in the nth degree.

Visit Chester if you want to get even more depressed