Worst Railway Journeys in the UK

[cuccir]

The Tees Viaduct at Croft....the distant views of the Cleveland and Hambleton Hills to the East - and the Yorkshire Dales to the West....the station museum at Otterington....the Kilburn white horse....the ex-Great North of England Railway cottages at Pilmoor, with their prominent plaque....trying to identify the sites of closed stations from the terraces of ex-LNER staff housing built for the 1930s quadrupling of the line....the Sidings Hotel and Restaurant at Shipton-by-Beningborough, with its mark 1 coach bodies and semaphore signals....and finally - the crowning glory - York Minster.

You have to strain to see a bit of a corner of Yorkminster - a brilliant building when you see it properly but hardly a crowning glory from the railway line!

I do agree that the York - Durham section of the ECML, while not as good as what's north of it, is fine and doesn't quite deserve the kicking that the line further south gets. Not top-class but not terrible, and some nice sights. Darlington station, the Tees Viaduct, Hambleton Hills, Yorkshire Dales and White Horse in particular stand out. It is York to Hitchin where it becomes much more dull.

 

[D6130]

TBH I found the Lakeside and Haverthwaite a bit boring. It's in a very scenic place but a lot of it is hidden by trees.

Agreed....but it's the only place in the whole wide world where you can be hauled by an LMS-designed * 2-6-4 tank loco, once ubiquitous all over North West England, South West Scotland and many other parts of the network, in their various Fowler/Stanier/Fairburn versions. (* The two surviving locos - 42073 & 42085 - were built by BR at Brighton in about 1950/51, and used prior to dieselisation on the Oxted group of lines).

 

[cuccir]

Stoke to Derby is pretty dull. A slow service, too far south to get views of the Peak District, no urban areas of interest, very uninteresting agricultural land surrounding it, and no faster than driving.

 

[stuu]

Not Greenford specifically, but Castle Bar Park (which covers about half the route's length) is a giant Council estate. London's Wythenshawe?

And suburban West London generally (plus Slough) is by far one of the most grim parts of the city, though the Lizzie has considerable regeneration potential so this may not always be so.

It really isn't. Castle Bar Park is around a fifth of the route, and is nothing like giant, or particularly run down... the rest of it is inter-war and earlier suburbia.

I don't think you can know much about London if you think West London is one of the grimmest parts. Boring suburban housing at worst, but grim??

 

[92042]

Chester-Crewe
I agree with others that best bit of the Inverness-Aberdeen line is approx. Elgin to Inverurie; a bit dull otherwise.
Paddington to Cardiff
Crewe to Manchester International Airport

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

The Channel Tunnel.
The view out of the window is rubbish.

It used to be entertaining watching Japanese tourists take pictures of each other in the tunnel.

 

[Topological]

I would have to strongly disagree with you there. The Marches Line - one of my favourite lines in England and Wales has beautiful and varied scenery and lots of railway interest....especially the mechanical signalling and signalboxes between Shrewsbury and Little Mill. There are the castles at Shrewsbury, Stokesay and Ludlow; the rugged hills around Church Stretton and Abergavenny; the River Wye just outside Hereford, with distant views of that city's cathedral....and numerous other points of interest.

Beautiful line

Just TfW messed the stock up at the moment.

I like anything with variety and the Marches has plenty. Likewise the industrial decline of sections like Birmingham to Wolverhampton are good to see (and I see that one a few times given the need to take alternatives to the Marches).

I would be with all of those who say the Southern London suburbs. So much of the same.

 

[bramling]

That's just silly. Ealing - "Queen of the Suburbs"

First prize one night in Ealing, second prize two nights in Ealing, booby prize a week in Ealing.

I tend to agree with the general view. West London seems to combine the unpleasant aspects found elsewhere in London with a certain bleak nothingness. Then you come to Slough which is horrific.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Anyone noticed how the wide views from trains have disappeared with the summer growth?
Many lines now have two solid rows of trees in full leaf blocking the view.
Hooton-Rock Ferry for instance.
Views much better when the leaves are off.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I would be with all of those who say the Southern London suburbs. So much of the same.

I quite like the good view of the city you get from the elevated Southern suburban lines. West London is far more boring.

 

[Jimini]

First prize one night in Ealing, second prize two nights in Ealing, booby prize a week in Ealing.

I tend to agree with the general view. West London seems to combine the unpleasant aspects found elsewhere in London with a certain bleak nothingness. Then you come to Slough which is horrific.

Try taking the district line west instead of the GWML and you might find it a more pleasant experience #westisbest

 

[bramling]

Try taking the district line west instead of the GWML and you might find it a more pleasant experience #westisbest

Anyone ever waited for a train at Gunnersbury at 1700 on a winter weekday afternoon? Now that’s a depressing experience.

 

[Calthrop]

@Bletchleyite writes: TBH I found the Lakeside & Haverthwaite a bit boring. It's in a very scenic place but a lot of it is hidden by trees.

Anyone noticed how the wide views from trains have disappeared with the summer growth?
Many lines now have two solid rows of trees in full leaf blocking the view.
Hooton-Rock Ferry for instance.
Views much better when the leaves are off.

And in a thread on another sub-section, the negative effect of "tree-infestation" on views from the Heart of Wales line, is touched on. Damned trees -- they're a blight on the planet -- let's bring in the clear-fellers in great strength ! (I jest -- reckon that can see here, where people are coming from; without, myself, being in agreement.)

Would people be permitted to join in this thread; with reference to lines now closed, travelled on in the past? A couple of such, come to mind for me ...

 

[Bletchleyite]

I'm not advocating cutting down trees as they're an important part of the ecosystem. However, too many trees do make a route boring and thus not worth travelling on. Those two things aren't incompatible, it just means I won't travel on the route for the purpose of enjoying the views.

 

[bramling]

I'm not advocating cutting down trees as they're an important part of the ecosystem. However, too many trees do make a route boring and thus not worth travelling on. Those two things aren't incompatible, it just means I won't travel on the route for the purpose of enjoying the views.

The attitude towards trees in this country gets my back up. We have some in my road which are an absolute menace, especially as the council has failed to maintain them such that they have now grown much larger than anyone envisaged to the point where they overhang houses. Yet suggest removing them seems to put you in the same box as Jimmy Saville. It’s not like we’re short of trees in this country, but they need to be in the right places.

 

[urbophile]

It's not amazing but I don't think it's terrible, just classic flat West Lancs farmland like Southport to Wigan. The views from both probably wouldn't look out of place in the Netherlands.

I remember travelling on Eurostar to Brussels some years ago when the last stretch was still on the old lines, and was struck by how much the countryside and the small towns resembled West Lancs. The red brick terraced housing surrounded by fields could have been Burscough or Croston, or one of the scattered settlements between.

 

[Calthrop]

"Re above" -- I was kidding -- would wish to reckon self overall pro-trees, but not to a rabid extent ...

 

[75A]

I find too many road signs are obstructed by trees, which is a pain.

 

[urbophile]

Some of my favourite journeys have been mentioned on this thread. Not sure if I'm the strange one if you all are....

I once took the last train from Manchester to Liverpool on a bank holiday Sunday. I'm a veteran of such services, but even so that was an eye-opener!

The Woollyback Special!

 

[43066]

The attitude towards trees in this country gets my back up. We have some in my road which are an absolute menace, especially as the council has failed to maintain them such that they have now grown much larger than anyone envisaged to the point where they overhang houses. Yet suggest removing them seems to put you in the same box as Jimmy Saville. It’s not like we’re short of trees in this country, but they need to be in the right places.

Somewhat ironic that the BBC’s report into Jimmy Saville was named the pollard report!!!

 

[jrail1992]

@Bletchleyite writes: TBH I found the Lakeside & Haverthwaite a bit boring. It's in a very scenic place but a lot of it is hidden by trees.



And in a thread on another sub-section, the negative effect of "tree-infestation" on views from the Heart of Wales line, is touched on. Damned trees -- they're a blight on the planet -- let's bring in the clear-fellers in great strength ! (I jest -- reckon that can see here, where people are coming from; without, myself, being in agreement.)

Would people be permitted to join in this thread; with reference to lines now closed, travelled on in the past? A couple of such, come to mind for me ...

When I set the thread going I had in mind journeys you can do now. Otherwise we'd really end up down a rabbit hole.

 

[Calthrop]

When I set the thread going I had in mind journeys you can do now. Otherwise we'd really end up down a rabbit hole.

That is indeed fair and reasonable !

 

[nw1]

=

To my mind, one of the most monotonous routes in the South of England is Aldershot-Ascot. Nothing but pine forests, interspersed with the occasional housing estates....and the fact that it's a branch of the almost equally-boring Waterloo-Reading line doesn't really help. The same could be said for Virginia Water-Weybridge/Byfleet Junction....although that has the unusual Lyne bridge over the M3 motorway as a minor point of interest.

I would tend to agree that Waterloo-Reading, or at least Staines-Ascot, isn't great. Not much in the way of views. The forests and heathlands are, I'm sure, nice to walk around (if they're anything like the New Forest) but they do restrict the views seen from the actual line.

From a rolling stock perspective, at least, it would arguably have been interesting in the 80s round peak time in particular as it had a real mix of most of the South Western Division unit types (CIGs, VEPs, HAPs, and 2- and 4-car EPBs, in various combinations).

 

[Efini92]

Wolverhampton-Birmingham stretch is just pure industrial decline and very un-scenic.

Seconded but extend it to Coventry, always following something at a snails pace.

 

[nw1]

You have to strain to see a bit of a corner of Yorkminster - a brilliant building when you see it properly but hardly a crowning glory from the railway line!

I do agree that the York - Durham section of the ECML, while not as good as what's north of it, is fine and doesn't quite deserve the kicking that the line further south gets. Not top-class but not terrible, and some nice sights. Darlington station, the Tees Viaduct, Hambleton Hills, Yorkshire Dales and White Horse in particular stand out. It is York to Hitchin where it becomes much more dull.

I would tend to agree there - but even the southern bit isn't too bad. The wide expanses looking over towards Lincoln Cathedral to the east are not without interest. And if industrial architecture is of interest, the large power stations which loom up from miles away (though I'm not sure if they're there anymore - last travelled that way in 1993 - I can see upthread that two of the three of the Drax-Eggborough-Ferrybridge group have gone).

I think it was less interesting south of about Grantham or Peterborough though I do recall some pleasant countryside and open views round Huntingdon. However the chalk escarpment, still present as far east as the WCML, disappears once you get that far over, so that's a definite negative over the WCML at the same latitude.

 

[MotCO]

When I set the thread going I had in mind journeys you can do now. Otherwise we'd really end up down a rabbit hole.

I find rail journeys down rabbit holes to be a bit boring !

 

[75A]

Eurotunnel or whatever it's called for me!
If you're sat in your car it's fine as you can play a CD etc, but when you in a carriage the view out of the window is a bit repetitive.....

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Carlisle - Leeds S&C is severely overrated and mind-numbing

Opinions certainly seem to differ. The section between Skipton and Appleby is, IMHO, particularly scenic / interesting. Perhaps not quite so much for the final 30 or so miles beyond Appleby into Carlisle.

 

[Peter0124]

Travelling in winter may have less trees obstructing view, but you won't see anything after it gets dark around 5-6pm

The two weeks after the clocks go forward are probably the best times for views (atleast short distance away), more daylight and the leaves haven't quite grown yet.

 

[zwk500]

You have to strain to see a bit of a corner of York minster - a brilliant building when you see it properly but hardly a crowning glory from the railway line!

Indeed - although the view as you walk from the station into the city is pretty spectacular, if not great from the train.
I don't find the ECML particularly bad, although parts of it are fairly dull. The divert via Lincoln was far worse, although that was partly because the train was rammed as it was unplanned.

Eurotunnel or whatever it's called for me!
If you're sat in your car it's fine as you can play a CD etc, but when you in a carriage the view out of the window is a bit repetitive.....

Tbh neither are too bad - it's just a long tunnel, rather than something especially bad to look at.

People hating on the S&C is an interesting one - it may be overhyped but it's far from unpleasant.

For me the worst journeys I've done have been on the Birmingham-Derby-Doncaster route. A rundown railway scene departing New Street, a dull landscape full of gravel pits to just north of Burton, Derby doesn't really show itself out of the window, then cuttings and tunnels to get through to Sheffield (although you can get a glimpse of Chesterfield's twisted spire), before the rundown industrial vision of Sheffield and Rotherham. All on a painfully crowded XC Voyager (although I don't find them half as hateable as some on here).