Worst Railway Journeys in the UK

[yorksrob]

@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 ...

I'm certainly intrigued.

 

[zwk500]

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 ...

Might be better to start one in the history section?

 

[weepingwillowb]

Irrespective as to 'lack of good scenery', this is essential for me this year due to its most unusual railcar.

When you're at Stourbridge Junction, look for the people mover's garage.

 

[Trainlog]

A lot of dislikes on here for the NKML, personally i don't think its that bad. East of Strood its not bad view wise as you get to see a nice view of Rochester from the train, then past Gillingham there is some good countryside all the way out to Faversham and both the Canterbury East and towards Margate lines have some nice sights.

A Kent line that is rather dull in the Maidstone East line West From Maidstone East up until Victoria as the views are rather uninteresting as you go through a lot of cuttings and tunnels with little to look at outside of the train scenery wise. You can feel the 1hr and 10mins journey to Victoria and its crammed between Bromley South to Victoria . The section of the line from Maidstone East to Ashford intl is quite the contrast as there is some nice views from the train and its a decent 20mins for that section of the line.

 

[Ken H]

Is this just a subjective list of lines people don't like? Mine is quite simple: Any voyager operated route.

it is depressing not dismal because of what has happened to those communities and those industries over the years.. I wont go on as it makes my urine boil with rage. @ainsworth74 might be more calm about this kind of thing than I am!

it was quite a sight!

this statement is incorrect. This the best part of the route.

I loved the routes where you went through a canyon of huge industry. Into Sheffield from Wincobank (now Meadowhall), The Cudworth line in Yorkshire, Past Hatfield pit near Donny, Abercwmboi. Never did Redcar

Dont know if this is allowed but Bury - Manchester on the tram is dire. Going out to Rochdale via Oldham not much better - as far as Oldham. The bit between Oldham and Rochdale isnt as bad.

 

[robert thomas]

Maryport to Carlisle.... Drags on for ages
Wolves to Birmingham Intl especially around Stechford
Birmingham to Walsall
Piccadilly to Romiley via Brinnington
Lime St to Manchester via chat moss
Shrewsbury to Newport

Shrewsbury-Newport is one of the most scenic lines in southern Britain

 

[yorksrob]

A lot of dislikes on here for the NKML, personally i don't think its that bad. East of Strood its not bad view wise as you get to see a nice view of Rochester from the train, then past Gillingham there is some good countryside all the way out to Faversham and both the Canterbury East and towards Margate lines have some nice sights.

A Kent line that is rather dull in the Maidstone East line West From Maidstone East up until Victoria as the views are rather uninteresting as you go through a lot of cuttings and tunnels with little to look at outside of the train scenery wise. You can feel the 1hr and 10mins journey to Victoria and its crammed between Bromley South to Victoria . The section of the line from Maidstone East to Ashford intl is quite the contrast as there is some nice views from the train and its a decent 20mins for that section of the line.

I find all of the Maidstone East line quite lovely in terms of countryside. At least up until the Swanley area.

 

[Calthrop]

I'm certainly intrigued.

Might be better to start one in the history section?

Or could it just possibly turn out to be a monster whose creation people might regret?

 

[61653 HTAFC]

On the Settle & Carlisle, to me it's far more scenic when you aren't riding it. Ribblehead viaduct is spectacular but you can't see it very well from on the train.

 

[nw1]

A lot of dislikes on here for the NKML, personally i don't think its that bad. East of Strood its not bad view wise as you get to see a nice view of Rochester from the train, then past Gillingham there is some good countryside all the way out to Faversham and both the Canterbury East and towards Margate lines have some nice sights.

I find the section from Swanley to Rochester interesting as it's open and airy, crossing the downs. Also round Rochester-Chatham you see quite a bit of the estuary. Perhaps less interesting east of Rainham, IIRC.

I'd imagine the Canterbury-Dover section might be interesting as it cuts through the Downs but I've not been on that stretch so not sure.

A Kent line that is rather dull in the Maidstone East line West From Maidstone East up until Victoria as the views are rather uninteresting as you go through a lot of cuttings and tunnels with little to look at outside of the train scenery wise. You can feel the 1hr and 10mins journey to Victoria and its crammed between Bromley South to Victoria . The section of the line from Maidstone East to Ashford intl is quite the contrast as there is some nice views from the train and its a decent 20mins for that section of the line.

I've never done the Maidstone East line. I imagined that stretch would be nice as it cuts through the North Downs but evidently not, for the reasons you've given.

 

[xotGD]

The route out of Paddington is full of railway interest. Yards, Sidings, depots.

And anyone making sweeping negative generalities about West London has clearly never lived there.

 

[nw1]

The route out of Paddington is full of railway interest. Yards, Sidings, depots.

And anyone making sweeping negative generalities about West London has clearly never lived there.

I'd tend to agree about the railway interest at least. Have never lived in W London so can't comment on the latter, though I have visited Ealing and that was quite nice.

One nice thing that always was the case (not sure about now) is that Paddington-Reading was a valid route from London to points SW of Basingstoke on the SWML.

 

[Trainlog]

I find the section from Swanley to Rochester interesting as it's open and airy, crossing the downs. Also round Rochester-Chatham you see quite a bit of the estuary. Perhaps less interesting east of Rainham, IIRC.

I'd imagine the Canterbury-Dover section might be interesting as it cuts through the Downs but I've not been on that stretch so not sure.


I've never done the Maidstone East line. I imagined that stretch would be nice as it cuts through the North Downs but evidently not, for the reasons you've given.

For part 1 that's fair, i quite like the fact that you can see a fair bit of the coast and i like some of the architecture. As for your predictions on Cantebury Dover you are spot on, its a nice section - however, if you want to approach Canterbury from London and you want some good views i recommend the going from Ashford intl to Canterbury West as that has some very nice scenery of the river Stour going into the city.

Maidstone East line yeah its alright, but i have found it painfully slow and the majority of it is deep cuttings with little to really look at so i have found it a bit meh to approach London on versus the SEML for scenery, as though it also has some very similar features to the Maidstone East line i have always felt it was kept interesting by how quickly the landscape changed and contrasted on that mainline in its 3 sections whilst the Maidstone East line feels rather monotonous until Victoria, past Maidstone East.

 

[trebor79]

Any journey on the Northern Line, with the Piccadilly Line to Heathrow running it a close second...

Nope, absolute worst on the tube is Victoria line southbound and being told by the auto announcer that "there is no step-free access at Brixton" before and during every single stop. Does my head in!

 

[RooseWithAZed]

Western end of the Piccadilly, maybe all of it. Slow, bumpy and really tired trains.

Taking a Dartford to Victoria via Denmark Hill train is always a mistake over a Cannon Street/Charing Cross train. It's not interesting and it takes forever. Not to say that other SE Metro services are particularly good for natural scenery. On a related note I really don't like going through the Thameslink core.

Any journey of course can be made the worst by the weather. Leeds to Carnforth in a Pacer in a thunderstorm, and Edinburgh to Glasgow the slow way, in searing heat and broken air conditioning, packed because of disruption, are two low points for me.

 

[steamybrian]

Having travelled over 99% of the NR system I will add my support for the worst rail journey also being along the North Kent line from London Bridge- Gravesend via Greenwich and Woolwich.
Continuous view of depressing housing estates or tower blocks interupted between Greenwich and Woolwich with a few tunnels.

The most boring Heritage Railway must be East Kent Railway where half of the journey is in a tunnel or deep cutting.

 

[Dr_Paul]

Liz line. Paddington to Hayes. Slow, nothing to see, inwards facing seats

Inward facing seats make any journey boring: NLL through Willesden Junction and SLL across Stewarts Lane, and you're facing inwards and missing anything interesting down below. Even endless suburban terraces are better than no view except of the passengers opposite.

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??

I agree. Parts of it are a bit tired, some of Hounslow looks seriously neglected, but mainly it's mainly interwar suburban sprawl with a few older and newer bits here and there, mostly in reasonable trim.

 

[b0b]

Glasgow Central to Motherwell isn’t very exciting

was going to mention the Argyle line from Lanarkshire. Very dull, Argyle Street and Glasgow Central LL not the greatest stations. Only interesting bit is some thrash from Cambuslang to Rutherglen to limit the occupation of the WCML.

 

[PGAT]

West Norwood to Norwood Junction isn’t much fun either. You get loads of slow speed limits, long dwell times and a mile of tunnel

 

[Joey Beauchamp]

I find Wolves to Brum fascinating. Scenic it is not, I just love looking over the dilapidated wasteland, collapsing factories and decades old graffiti. But then I deliberately chose the walk from Grimsby Docks to New Clee over pausing at Cleethorpes for an ice cream!

I find the flat bits of the East Coast mainline quite boring. I would also nominate the Skegness line for being so slow, flat and stuffed full of riff raff - but I can't because I love the retro railway infrastructure and little used stations.

 

[faltskog36abba]

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!

I often caught the last train from Liverpool to Victoria a few years back on a Saturday. It was a party train, smoking in the toilet and drinking galore on a packed 142- No guard in sight, and I didn't blame them for not walking through the train.

 

[Dr_Paul]

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

Some time around 1980 I did Birmingham to Wolverhampton on a dull and wet afternoon on my way up to Wales; yes, it pretty grim. Even worse was Liverpool to Southport at much the same time; great areas of Bootle were demolished, nothing remaining except pubs on what had been corners of streets. I imagine that it's been rebuilt by now. A nice run, if pretty much uneventful, once out of Liverpool.

I don't know about now, but 30+ years ago it would have to have been the North London line. The combination of vandalised stock along with continuous urban dereliction along the whole line combined with generalised squalor and decay turned the whole trip into a third world survival exercise. It felt like you were taking your life in your hands every time you walked into one of the stations

Yes, the NLL looked as if it was being run down in the hopes the passenger services could be finished off, with BR trying for the second time to do this, after having failed to do so in the 1960s. The sight of old mattresses and other debris all over the disused parallel lines through Canonbury didn't help appearances.

 

[zwk500]

Inward facing seats make any journey boring: NLL through Willesden Junction and SLL across Stewarts Lane, and you're facing inwards and missing anything interesting down below. Even endless suburban terraces are better than no view except of the passengers opposite.

I quite like being able to people watch on the East London Line. Although it's best to get a seat on the downside if you can, as the more interesting stuff out the window is to the west of the line on the former Broad St approach viaduct and facing that way saves a crick in the neck.

 

[weepingwillowb]

Some time around 1980 I did Birmingham to Wolverhampton on a dull and wet afternoon on my way up to Wales; yes, it pretty grim. Even worse was Liverpool to Southport at much the same time; great areas of Bootle were demolished, nothing remaining except pubs on what had been corners of streets. I imagine that it's been rebuilt by now. A nice run, if pretty much uneventful, once out of Liverpool.


Yes, the NLL looked as if it was being run down in the hopes the passenger services could be finished off, with BR trying for the second time to do this, after having failed to do so in the 1960s. The sight of old mattresses and other debris all over the disused parallel lines through Canonbury didn't help appearances.

Travelling on the X2 bus between Liverpool and Southport, some of Bootle still looks as you describe it, the last time I went through in 2022.

 

[nw1]

West Norwood to Norwood Junction isn’t much fun either. You get loads of slow speed limits, long dwell times and a mile of tunnel

In the same area I remember Gipsy Hill to the junction with the BML (is it at Balham?) as not so interesting. ISTR it was mostly in cuttings and you couldn't see a lot.

The BML between Balham and Croydon is more interesting due to wider views.

 

[Typhoon]

A lot of dislikes on here for the NKML, personally i don't think its that bad. East of Strood its not bad view wise as you get to see a nice view of Rochester from the train, then past Gillingham there is some good countryside all the way out to Faversham and both the Canterbury East and towards Margate lines have some nice sights.

I agree (although it is a shame those wretched flats block the view to the Medway at Rochester). Between Rochester and Gillingham you get to appreciate how hilly the towns are and get a different view than you would from the road. After Faversham, I always find the Graveney Levels interesting - they change with the seasons, - then there is the sight of the sea as we approach Seasalter; I don't even mind the caravan parks, you see them for less than a minute. I've not been on it much but I would have thought between Herne Bay and Birchington-a-little-way-from-the-sea was interesting. In the country, there are always things you haven't spotted before or had forgotten about. Modern housing estates bore me to tears

... the views are rather uninteresting as you go through a lot of cuttings and tunnels with little to look at outside of the train scenery wise.

and them!

Having travelled over 99% of the NR system I will add my support for the worst rail journey also being along the North Kent line from London Bridge- Gravesend via Greenwich and Woolwich.
Continuous view of depressing housing estates or tower blocks interupted between Greenwich and Woolwich with a few tunnels.

I can't agree with that, mainly because I grew up along that line. I rarely travel along it now but when I do, I'm looking out the window with 'didn't <whatever> used to be there', 'you can still see <whatever>', 'I see they've built at <wherever>' moments, I find the old station architecture interesting (where there are old stations). If I traveled on the line regularly, I would probably get fed up with it, and if I didn't know what it was like over half a century, I would be half way through the challenging Metroku, but my experiences make the difference as they will with others on different stretches of rail. I personally can't stand HS1 between Ebbsfleet and Stratford (I rarely go further so I don't know whether it picks up), little variety and we are travelling too fast to see any detail. - and the train is usually busy! For some, seeing how it has changed may be a talking point.

 

[PGAT]

In the same area I remember Gipsy Hill to the junction with the BML (is it at Balham?) as not so interesting. ISTR it was mostly in cuttings and you couldn't see a lot.

Yup Balham Junction

 

[AndrewE]

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.

I'd second that, although it is a bit better now that a) Derby sewage isn't spread out to dry in the fields just W of the city, and b) the turkey abattoir doesn't have a liquidised "waste" lagoon next to the track at Tutbury and Hatton any more (I imagine.) The smell from the Nescafe factory there wasn't anything to tempt you to buy the product either...
Parts of that journey used to be absolutely nauseating in the summer!

Shrewsbury-Newport is one of the most scenic lines in southern Britain

second this too, especially about now or in the next month as the potato fields come into flower (really!) and you get coloured stripes up the fields beside the railway.

I find Wolves to Brum fascinating. Scenic it is not, I just love looking over the dilapidated wasteland, collapsing factories...

I find the flat bits of the East Coast mainline quite boring. I would also nominate the Skegness line for being so slow, flat and stuffed full of riff raff - but I can't because I love the retro railway infrastructure and little used stations.

Most of the dereliction has been cleared but it is good to look out for what was there over the last 50 years, and remember the winter night-time views into the foundries! The canals are always worth spotting, and it's only since I had a [canal] trip from Wolverhampton to New St last year that I have been able to put them together in my mind despite doing lots of rail trips with a 1-inch map... part of the problem is you can't see out of the train window on both sides at the same time!

I also think the ECML is generally boring, the only bit of the line worth seeing is (northbound) on the appproach to Berwick and just N thereof.

 

[Trainlog]

I agree (although it is a shame those wretched flats block the view to the Medway at Rochester). Between Rochester and Gillingham you get to appreciate how hilly the towns are and get a different view than you would from the road. After Faversham, I always find the Graveney Levels interesting - they change with the seasons, - then there is the sight of the sea as we approach Seasalter; I don't even mind the caravan parks, you see them for less than a minute. I've not been on it much but I would have thought between Herne Bay and Birchington-a-little-way-from-the-sea was interesting. In the country, there are always things you haven't spotted before or had forgotten about. Modern housing estates bore me to tears

and them!

I can't agree with that, mainly because I grew up along that line. I rarely travel along it now but when I do, I'm looking out the window with 'didn't <whatever> used to be there', 'you can still see <whatever>', 'I see they've built at <wherever>' moments, I find the old station architecture interesting (where there are old stations). If I traveled on the line regularly, I would probably get fed up with it, and if I didn't know what it was like over half a century, I would be half way through the challenging Metroku, but my experiences make the difference as they will with others on different stretches of rail. I personally can't stand HS1 between Ebbsfleet and Stratford (I rarely go further so I don't know whether it picks up), little variety and we are travelling too fast to see any detail. - and the train is usually busy! For some, seeing how it has changed may be a talking point.

I don't mind the fact that they are starting to build on a lot of brownfield sites in Rochester and Strood as it was an eyesore beforehand, however i am equally as gutted when i found out they where building flats infront of Rochester station as you used to get a nice view of the Cathedral and Castle if you where in the last Carriage going towards Strood.

On your point on Faversham towards Margate yeah your are right there is some nice views from the train especially of the North sea coastline - you can even glimpse Reculver towers aswell on the Herne bay and Birchington section! I also like some of the smaller cameos along the line such as the old watertower and loco sheds around Faversham and there is (though its hardly the most interesting, the bridge abutments for the Canterbury and Whitstable line crossing the NKML at Whitstable) which helps to keep the journey interesting for me as opposed to bland cuttings with little to see.

 

[HST274]

This is probably seasonal, but I travelled from Manchester Piccadilly to Crewe recently on a TFW service, all windows open, and it reeked of manure for half the journey. The scenery is rather pleasant though. Are their any other particularly smelly routes (ignoring train type).