Trivia: Bleakest Terminal Stations

[Gathursty]

Southminster, Milford Haven and Barton spring to mind but there's many others.

 

[dk1]

I agree. Dark and dingy dated canopy, one terrible kiosk, and the walk to the grim town is grim itself.

Well looked after by the wonderful staff however with plants and a superb Stadler sand sculpture. There’s far far worse out there.

OMG. A public toilet of a station. Awful. Awful place to live also. This puts Heysham into second!

But it doesn’t. I use the public toilets as a staff member and they are so clean.

 

[RPI]

St Ives, for an upmarket holiday town, the station is pretty poor, and can be very bleak in winter in the dark and rain, located in the far corner of the car park.

But I think Stranraer wins overall

 

[yorksrob]

St Ives, for an upmarket holiday town, the station is pretty poor, and can be very bleak in winter in the dark and rain, located in the far corner of the car park.

But I think Stranraer wins overall

There's a shop nearby that sells tickets, coffees and ice creams.

I think it's artistic licence to describe St Ives as bleak (except during one of those Cornish fogs)

 

[duffield]

Well looked after by the wonderful staff however with plants and a superb Stadler sand sculpture. There’s far far worse out there.


But it doesn’t. I use the public toilets as a staff member and they are so clean.

I had a day out in Great Yarmouth recently (to inspect the new Herring Bridge and the Winter Gardens amongst other things) and I'd agree, it's really not that bad. Some bits run down, like a lot of seaside places, but as you say there's far worse. And according to the info boards, the Winter Gardens restoration is financed and (I think it said) detailed planning is under way. The station seemed clean and unthreatening, and in reasonable condition.

 

[cjw714]

I like Falmouth Dock. Nice traditional platform canopy, decent residential area etc.

And a castle half a mile away.

 

[yorksrob]

And a castle half a mile away.

Indeed !

 

[Old Yard Dog]

Ellesmere Port is an OK station but the town on the other hand... .

I don't think a member from Milton Keynes is in any position to pooh-pooh Ellesmere Port.

FWIW Milton Keynes Central is one of the most unfriendly stations I have ever visited but it's not a terminus. Crewe and Euston are not far behind - something about staff attitudes to customers on the WCML.

 

[yorksrob]

I don't think a member from Milton Keynes is in any position to pooh-pooh Ellesmere Port.

FWIW Milton Keynes Central is one of the most unfriendly stations I have ever visited but it's not a terminus. Crewe and Euston are not far behind - something about staff attitudes to customers on the WCML.

I don't know about the staff, but I find Crewe quite lovely. On a sunny day it's like a big green house.

The bar needs work though.

 

[GatwickDepress]

Ore deserves a mention. It is a very basic unstaffed station in a suburban residential area of Hastings with not much there. Just two basic platforms with not much on them. Up until 2018 the station did not even have any ticket machines or departure boards or automated announcements. So it used to be even worse.

Technically Ore did have departure boards prior to 2018, only they were integrated into the help points instead of being separate fixtures.

But yes, it is quite a bleak station with its palisade fencing and awkward location from Ore itself. It was even grimmer before the former carriage sheds and power station were redeveloped. In the past, there were stairs and a footpath leading up to Broomgrove Road which bypassed the much steeper Mount Pleasant Road.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

FWIW Milton Keynes Central is one of the most unfriendly stations I have ever visited but it's not a terminus.

Don't numerous trains from London Euston terminate there? That would seem to make Milton Keynes Central a station that meets the criteria set by the OP in per post 1.

 

[Cambo_flyer]

Great Yarmouth always seems bleak, being a fair walk from the town centre

 

[david l]

Colne (or Clone, if you listen to one of Radio Manchester's presenters)

 

[BlueLeanie]

Don't numerous trains from London Euston terminate there? That would seem to make Milton Keynes Central a station that meets the criteria set by the OP in per post 1.

If it's not a terminus this year, it's almost definitely a terminus next year.

 

[DelW]

I’m not sure how many trains terminate at Yeovil Junction these days but it barely deserves the title of Yeovil in its name.

This is unrelated to its bleakness (or otherwise), but I assume Yeovil Junction was named in the railway tradition of the "XXX Junction" being "the junction where the line to/from XXX joins the main line". Another example is Llandeilo Junction which is in Llanelli at least 15 miles from Llandeilo. I'm sure there are lots of other examples, though few if any with a station named after them as at Yeovil, which does make it confusing for travellers who may expect it to be in the town.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

If it's not a terminus this year, it's almost definitely a terminus next year.

We'll agree to differ there. Several services operating even today starting/ending at Milton Keynes Central.

BR Times - Train Times & Station Platform Finder

Alternative journey planner featuring full schedule details including platforms and connection times, for every passenger train on the National Rail network.

www.brtimes.com

 

[modernrail]

I don't think a member from Milton Keynes is in any position to pooh-pooh Ellesmere Port.

FWIW Milton Keynes Central is one of the most unfriendly stations I have ever visited but it's not a terminus. Crewe and Euston are not far behind - something about staff attitudes to customers on the WCML.

Agreed. Staff attitudes on the WCML are poor, and Crewe is a big example.

I wish they would at the very very least paint the columns at Crewe. It always feels like the gateway to the north to me. The state of those columns means the gateway brings about thoughts of decline and lack of care and attention. That is not properly reflective of the north.

I get there are question marks about the future of the station but come on, at least tart up the columns during the next blockade that gives an opportunity. Just cover them in something nice.

Am I obsessed with this point - absolutely. It has been bugging the hell out of me for years.

 

[Iskra]

I don't know about the staff, but I find Crewe quite lovely. On a sunny day it's like a big green house.

The bar needs work though.

I’m sorry but this is nothing but misplaced misty-eyed nostalgia (which I’m all for in certain circumstances, but not this one ). There is little positive about Crewe station for the average passenger in this day and age. It’s a leaky, windswept, unloved station, with trees growing out of the partition walls, a tatty ripped Union Flag flying above main station building, facilities with the warmth and charm of a prison and staff to match. It punches above its weight with its train service due to an accident of railway geography and it’s got a reasonably-priced car park, but that’s where the positives end. If you look at recent online google reviews there are plenty of people who are seeing the station for what it really is.

 

[A S Leib]

I can't remember if it's been said already, but I don't remember Rugeley Trent Valley as being a particularly welcoming station.

 

[Taunton]

This is unrelated to its bleakness (or otherwise), but I assume Yeovil Junction was named in the railway tradition of the "XXX Junction" being "the junction where the line to/from XXX joins the main line". Another example is Llandeilo Junction which is in Llanelli at least 15 miles from Llandeilo. I'm sure there are lots of other examples, though few if any with a station named after them as at Yeovil, which does make it confusing for travellers who may expect it to be in the town.

Actually the majority of stations titled "Junction" are well removed from the place they are named after, being the point to change for it, not necessarily by rail - Clapham Junction, for example, in the centre of Battersea, was so named as the nearest point by road (though still a good distance) to the better known, and more upmarket at the time, Clapham.

The Salisbury to Exeter line went through few places of consequence, and had a whole string of Junctions, not only Yeovil but Chard, Seaton, Sidmouth and Exmouth. It's surprising that Semley, long closed, was not called Shaftesbury Junction, for not only is it nowhere near Semley village but was the nearest station to Shaftesbury, about 3 miles away, the latter being the largest traditional town in the country which never had a railway.

 

[modernrail]

Actually the majority of stations titled "Junction" are well removed from the place they are named after, being the point to change for it, not necessarily by rail - Clapham Junction, for example, in the centre of Battersea, was so named as the nearest point by road (though still a good distance) to the better known, and more upmarket at the time, Clapham.

The Salisbury to Exeter line went through few places of consequence, and had a whole string of Junctions, not only Yeovil but Chard, Seaton, Sidmouth and Exmouth. It's surprising that Semley, long closed, was not called Shaftesbury Junction, for not only is it nowhere near Semley village but was the nearest station to Shaftesbury, about 3 miles away, the latter being the largest traditional town in the country which never had a railway.

Really interesting. Never knew that!

 

[D6130]

If we can extend the topic to include Ireland, Rosslare Europort is pretty grim....and a hugely-anticlimatic ending to what is probably that country's most scenic rail journey. Come to think of it, Larne Harbour in Northern Ireland isn't much better.

 

[Russel]

Agreed. Staff attitudes on the WCML are poor, and Crewe is a big example.

I blame Virgin, I've never known a brand that empowers such a superiority complex

 

[D6130]

I blame Virgin, I've never known a brand that empowers such a superiority complex

On the contrary....I blame Avanti for engendering such appallingly-bad industrial relations and the resulting lack of staff morale.

 

[Deepgreen]

Dumpton Park

Cold, dark no facilities etc etc

Should say more than reasonable pub not that far away

Terminus?

 

[NeilCr]

Terminus?

Nope

Pointed out before and I acknowledged that I’d had a bad brain moment

 

[Lockwood]

Not been there for years and years, but last time I was there did not give happy joy joy feelings... Ryde Pier Head

 

[yorksrob]

I’m sorry but this is nothing but misplaced misty-eyed nostalgia (which I’m all for in certain circumstances, but not this one ). There is little positive about Crewe station for the average passenger in this day and age. It’s a leaky, windswept, unloved station, with trees growing out of the partition walls, a tatty ripped Union Flag flying above main station building, facilities with the warmth and charm of a prison and staff to match. It punches above its weight with its train service due to an accident of railway geography and it’s got a reasonably-priced car park, but that’s where the positives end. If you look at recent online google reviews there are plenty of people who are seeing the station for what it really is.

To be fair, it has plenty of cover - which is an improvement on many new stations where the canopy is either non-existant or so high up as to make no difference.

 

[modernrail]

To be fair, it has plenty of cover - which is an improvement on many new stations where the canopy is either non-existant or so high up as to make no difference.

The bit they have done up is fine. Possibly even nice. The main footbridge is a dump. The biggest problem by far though is the dead skeleton. If they are not going to do it up, get rid of it. As for the main columns in the middle. Why did they forget to paint them when they did up the main part of the roof???

The waiting areas are also poor for an interchange station. The cafe bar areas stink.

 

[nanstallon]

I don't know if it is any better now, but for me nothing beats Cumbernauld in the days of the DMU shuttle from Springburn, which was menacing.

I read in a book that in Cumbernauld, if someone tells you to Foxtrot Oscar, he isn't being offensive - just giving you friendly advice!