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Trivia: stations which seem small for the town/city they serve (UK/rest of Europe)

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nw1

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Related to the 'dismal' stations thread, what about stations that specifically seem small (e.g not so many platforms, not so busy) for the cities they serve?

Here are a few. Have included both UK and rest of Europe; it's recognised that outside of Europe (and Japan) it's commonplace to have small stations for very large cities.

Oxford, already mentioned in the 'dismal stations' thread, though I would not call it dismal, just relatively small, seems small relative to the importance of the city.

Bournemouth seems small to me, only two plaforms plus a bay, though of course there are now zero lines heading northwards from the town in any direction, which doesn't help.

Limerick Station (visited 2008), comparable with a medium-sized ex-Southern Region commuter station, though it has to be said it didn't see many train services, one every two hours to Dublin, an occasional one up the west coast a little way, and a shuttle to the Junction (two-hourly too I think). These were run by a 175-like express DMU, a 158-like DMU, and a 158-like DMU again respectively.

I think it may have closed now, but Wien Westbahnhof seemed very small for Austria's capital city when I visited in 2011, particularly given as it's the route to much of the rest of Austria (including the 2nd and 3rd cities) as well as Germany, Switzerland and western Europe. However I believe it has now been replaced by a much bigger Hbf.

Athens and Thessaloniki - the latter has a decent number of platforms but is very quiet due, I would imagine, to the financial crisis. Athens station seemed very small for a capital-city station.
 
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The exile

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Related to the 'dismal' stations thread, what about stations that specifically seem small (e.g not so many platforms, not so busy) for the cities they serve?

Here are a few. Have included both UK and rest of Europe; it's recognised that outside of Europe (and Japan) it's commonplace to have small stations for very large cities.

Oxford, already mentioned in the 'dismal stations' thread, though I would not call it dismal, just relatively small, seems small relative to the importance of the city.

Bournemouth seems small to me, only two plaforms plus a bay, though of course there are now zero lines heading northwards from the town in any direction, which doesn't help.

Limerick Station (visited 2008), comparable with a medium-sized ex-Southern Region commuter station, though it has to be said it didn't see many train services, one every two hours to Dublin, an occasional one up the west coast a little way, and a shuttle to the Junction (two-hourly too I think). These were run by a 175-like express DMU, a 158-like DMU, and a 158-like DMU again respectively.

I think it may have closed now, but Wien Westbahnhof seemed very small for Austria's capital city when I visited in 2011, particularly given as it's the route to much of the rest of Austria (including the 2nd and 3rd cities) as well as Germany, Switzerland and western Europe. However I believe it has now been replaced by a much bigger Hbf.

Athens and Thessaloniki - the latter has a decent number of platforms but is very quiet due, I would imagine, to the financial crisis. Athens station seemed very small for a capital-city station.
Think Redditch would be in with a shout on that one. Busy looking for a photograph of somewhere else….
 

30907

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The size of Oxford is definitely a constraint on capacity - hence plans for more platforms. Bournemouth less so.

Koeln Hbf is IIRC the most constrained in Germany, although it is a fair size. Hamburg Hbf is I think next on the list, though again it's not small.

Wien Westbhf is still open, for the open-access Westbahn and regional services. It looks to have 11 platforms though, which for a single main line would have been reasonable.
 

Ken H

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Harrogate. quite a big place but just 2 platforms. But really only a stop on Leeds- Knaresborough.
Keighley. another 2 platform station for quite a big place. But again, only 1 route through.
Cheltenham. another 2 platform station. And some services terminate there.
 

The exile

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This one is being worded very carefully...

How's this for the second largest terminus station in a major European capital city?20120627 PRAHA SMICHOV NA KNIZECI - 810 334 has just arrived at Prague's most insignificant te...JPG

The "cheat" here being of course that only one of Prague's major stations is a terminus (oh - and, from 2010 - 2016, this one as well)
 

Austriantrain

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Wien Westbhf is still open, for the open-access Westbahn and regional services. It looks to have 11 platforms though, which for a single main line would have been reasonable.

I never felt Wien Westbhf to be small and it was certainly always large enough for the traffic served by it. Nowadays it is vastly oversized.

Incidentally the Hauptbahnhof only has 10 platforms (if you exclude the two underground S-Bahn platforms, which operationally are completely separate), even though they are often double-used. But then it is a through station and thus needs less platforms than a terminal (however, discussions on whether it was built large enough are a constant topic in Austria‘s rail forums…).

I think it may have closed now, but Wien Westbahnhof seemed very small for Austria's capital city when I visited in 2011, particularly given as it's the route to much of the rest of Austria (including the 2nd and 3rd cities)

Not the 2nd city - this would be Graz, always served from Südbahnhof (which doesn’t exist anymore and together with its „twin“, „Ostbahnhof“, in the same building and officially part of Südbahnhof, used to be bigger, but really was an unattractive backwater and much less used than Westbahnhof - towards the Eastern side for decades because of the iron curtain, towards the south because long-distance routes there are slow and unattractive - and will continue to be until the Semmering base tunnel and the Koralmbahn open, which will be game-changers).
 
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nw1

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I never felt Wien Westbhf to be small and it was certainly always large enough for the traffic served by it. Nowadays it is vastly oversized.

Incidentally the Hauptbahnhof only has 10 platforms (if you exclude the two underground S-Bahn platforms, which operationally are completely separate), even though they are often double-used. But then it is a through station and thus needs less platforms than a terminal (however, discussions on whether it was built large enough are a constant topic in Austria‘s rail forums…).
Maybe Westbahnhof just seemed small to me when compared against the stations in major German cities that I travelled through to get there (Cologne, Frankfurt, Stuttgart etc...) and I was expecting something bigger - perhaps I was expecting more suburban / mid-distance routes.

Not the 2nd city - this would be Graz

OK sorry.. I was assuming Salzburg and Innsbruck were the 2nd and 3rd (in either order), perhaps because they are so well-known.
 

Wolfie

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Related to the 'dismal' stations thread, what about stations that specifically seem small (e.g not so many platforms, not so busy) for the cities they serve?

Here are a few. Have included both UK and rest of Europe; it's recognised that outside of Europe (and Japan) it's commonplace to have small stations for very large cities.

Oxford, already mentioned in the 'dismal stations' thread, though I would not call it dismal, just relatively small, seems small relative to the importance of the city.

Bournemouth seems small to me, only two plaforms plus a bay, though of course there are now zero lines heading northwards from the town in any direction, which doesn't help.

Limerick Station (visited 2008), comparable with a medium-sized ex-Southern Region commuter station, though it has to be said it didn't see many train services, one every two hours to Dublin, an occasional one up the west coast a little way, and a shuttle to the Junction (two-hourly too I think). These were run by a 175-like express DMU, a 158-like DMU, and a 158-like DMU again respectively.

I think it may have closed now, but Wien Westbahnhof seemed very small for Austria's capital city when I visited in 2011, particularly given as it's the route to much of the rest of Austria (including the 2nd and 3rd cities) as well as Germany, Switzerland and western Europe. However I believe it has now been replaced by a much bigger Hbf.

Athens and Thessaloniki - the latter has a decent number of platforms but is very quiet due, I would imagine, to the financial crisis. Athens station seemed very small for a capital-city station.
Wien Westbahnhof, which is still very much present and operational, was never the main, or perhaps more accurately largest, station in Vienna though. That was always Wien Sudbahnhof which was on the site of the current (much bigger) Hbf and was demolished to permit the new station to be built.
 
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Austriantrain

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Wien Westbahnhof, which is still very much present and operational, was never the main, or perhaps more accurately largest, station in Vienna though. That was always Wien Sudbahnhof which was on the site of the current (much bigger) Hbf and was demolished to permit the new station to be built.

Again: Wien Hbf is not „much bigger“ than the previously used stations.

Excluding the S-Bahn „Stammstrecke“, Hbf has 10 platforms. Westbahnhof has 11. Südbahnhof had 9 on each of its two levels.
 

Ianno87

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Woodlands train checkpoint, a single platform (and run-round loop) that serves the entirety of Singapore.
 

Wolfie

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Again: Wien Hbf is not „much bigger“ than the previously used stations.

Excluding the S-Bahn „Stammstrecke“, Hbf has 10 platforms. Westbahnhof has 11. Südbahnhof had 9 on each of its two levels.
TY for the clarification. It always feels much bigger somehow. I had missed your earlier post, my apologies.
 

Austriantrain

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TY for the clarification. It always feels much bigger somehow. I had missed your earlier post, my apologies.

No problem at all :)

OK sorry.. I was assuming Salzburg and Innsbruck were the 2nd and 3rd (in either order), perhaps because they are so well-known.

1. Vienna
2. Graz
3. Linz
4. Salzburg
5. Innsbruck

Vienna aside, none of them really large in international terms.

Returning on topic, Bregenz is the one major station in Austria seen as really seedy and unattractive. It has five platforms (enough for its traffic), but the station buildings are atrocious (and the parts used by passengers very small - the rest of the buildings is basically derelict).
 
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DanielB

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In The Netherlands I'd say Tilburg has a pretty small station (only three platforms) with limited facilities compared to the size of the city. Actually almost all other cities with between 200.000 and 300.000 inhabitants have twice as much platforms.

Really small however is Zoetermeer station with just (currently) two platforms, only Sprinter trains and no facilities. A really inattractive place to wait for your train next to the highway. Lansingerland-Zoetermeer is slightly better, but not much.
Although there is a good reason for the above: Zoetermeer has by far the highest station density with no less than 19 stations (approximately one station for each 6600 inhabitants). Most of those stations are on the former Zoetermeer City Line (now already for several years converted to RandstadRail) which is the most attractive link towards The Hague for most people. Thus leaving the mainline stations as just an place to quickly change from bus or tram to the trains.
 

MarcVD

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Istanbul Sirkeci with only 3 tracks isn't very large either, for a 10 million people city. On the other side of the Bosphorus, Haydjarpasha is a bit bigger with some 10 tracks, but this is still small for a city of this size.

Jerusalem before the new high speed line was also really tiny.

And after all, Bucarest Gara Nord is not very big, for a main station of a capital city.

But the tiniest capital city station must be Vaduz...
 

miklcct

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Bournemouth seems small to me, only two plaforms plus a bay, though of course there are now zero lines heading northwards from the town in any direction, which doesn't help.
Bournemouth is just a small town, not even a city, which doesn't deserve more than 2 platforms with only a single line serving it. Furthermore, there are Hamworthy, Poole, Parkstone, Branksome, Pokesdown and Christchurch stations in the same town as well.
 

30907

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This one is being worded very carefully...

How's this for the second largest terminus station in a major European capital city?View attachment 99778

The "cheat" here being of course that only one of Prague's major stations is a terminus (oh - and, from 2010 - 2016, this one as well)
Well cheated! Though I have to say that Na Knizneci seemed adequate for the 1tph (max) on offer when I used it :)
 

The exile

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Well cheated! Though I have to say that Na Knizneci seemed adequate for the 1tph (max) on offer when I used it :)
Indeed - and getting out of it was a lot easier / more pleasant than some of Prague's other stations can be. Ever tried the subway out to the north (ie away from the trams / metro) at Vysocany?
 

nw1

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Istanbul Sirkeci with only 3 tracks isn't very large either, for a 10 million people city. On the other side of the Bosphorus, Haydjarpasha is a bit bigger with some 10 tracks, but this is still small for a city of this size.

Jerusalem before the new high speed line was also really tiny.

And after all, Bucarest Gara Nord is not very big, for a main station of a capital city.

But the tiniest capital city station must be Vaduz...

Remember passing through that once on a trip through the Alps from Garmisch to Saas-Grund. Schaan-Vaduz and apparently it has/had only peak trains, though according to Wikipedia it now has 'nine trains in each direction' so maybe it's improved.
 

duesselmartin

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I think Dublin Connolly and Heuston are also small for a capital city of its size.
Staying in Ireland, Waterford has only one platform left in ooeration.
 

Wolfie

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Fenchurch Street is probably the closest terminus to the City of London’s well known Skyscrapers, yet it is a pretty small and cramped station with only four platforms.
Cannon Street? Liverpool Street? Know what you mean though.
 

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Bournemouth is just a small town, not even a city, which doesn't deserve more than 2 platforms with only a single line serving it. Furthermore, there are Hamworthy, Poole, Parkstone, Branksome, Pokesdown and Christchurch stations in the same town as well.

However, Bournemouth is the most important station in the wider urban area, the SE Dorset conurbation, which had a population of over 400,000 at the 2011 Census, making it bigger than most of the British places already mentioned in this thread. Like Manchester, Nottingham and Reading, the population within the traditional boundaries is not very meaningful and the wider urban area needs to be taken into account when considering its importance.

 

miklcct

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However, Bournemouth is the most important station in the wider urban area, the SE Dorset conurbation, which had a population of over 400,000 at the 2011 Census, making it bigger than most of the British places already mentioned in this thread. Like Manchester, Nottingham and Reading, the population within the traditional boundaries is not very meaningful and the wider urban area needs to be taken into account when considering its importance.

The stations between Hamworthy and Christchurch are all in the conurbation, 7 in total. Considering none of the 7 stations are interchange stations, none having substantial business activities compared to its population (City of London is a place where the amount of traffic is much higher than the expected from the population), and there isn't significant local rail traffic within the conurbation, I believe all only deserve 2 platforms.
 

yorkie

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The stations between Hamworthy and Christchurch are all in the conurbation, 7 in total. Considering none of the 7 stations are interchange stations, none having substantial business activities compared to its population (City of London is a place where the amount of traffic is much higher than the expected from the population), and there isn't significant local rail traffic within the conurbation, I believe all only deserve 2 platforms.
Your post makes no sense.

Stations will get the number of platforms that suit the needs of the services that operate there, subject to available space being available of course.

The argument about other stations existing in the conurbation applies to many cities, so is surely a moot point.

Bournemouth station is the most important in a conurbation with a large population, so I think it qualifies as being 'small' for the area it serves.
 

Western Sunset

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Just for the record, Bournemouth actually has four platforms:
#1 is the up bay - used a lot more now that there's a Winchester - Bournemouth service formed of a 4-car Class 450
#2 is the up main through platform, used by SWR and XC
#3 is the down main through platform, again used by SWR and XC
#4 is a continuation of #3, generally used when SWR split their Waterloo - Weymouth service into independent Waterloo - Bournemouth and Bournemouth - Weymouth trains
 

geoffk

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Corby, in addition to Redditch and East Kilbride already mentioned, has just one platform. Hartlepool also, not counting the bay platform used on Sundays.
 

berneyarms

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I think Dublin Connolly and Heuston are also small for a capital city of its size.
Staying in Ireland, Waterford has only one platform left in ooeration.
Both Dublin stations are probably appropriate in size given the nature of the Irish Rail network though.

Waterford is as a result of the rockfall from the cliff face some time ago. A new station is to be built with two platforms further east along the river.
 
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