• Our booking engine at tickets.railforums.co.uk (powered by TrainSplit) helps support the running of the forum with every ticket purchase! Find out more and ask any questions/give us feedback in this thread!

Bleakest / loneliest mainline station

Status
Not open for further replies.

Grecian 1998

Member
Joined
27 Oct 2019
Messages
416
Location
Bristol
What stations on mainlines do you find particularly bleak and isolated, despite the regular passage of trains, including stopping services?

I'm going to define a mainline as requiring at least two tracks and platforms, 3tph each way throughout the day Monday-Saturday (which can include freight), of which at least 1tph each way stops at that station. Arbitrary I know but the line has to be drawn somewhere. I'm also defining the criteria as stations on mainlines rather than mainline stations, so unstaffed stations are fine.

I'm not looking for stations like Corrour and Dent where the sparse service is a factor in giving the place a lonely feel, nor places like Pilning or Beaulieu Road where very few trains stop most of the time. I'm more interested in stations which have trains passing through frequently and have regular stopping services, yet still feel bleak and isolated despite the liveliness of the railway around them.

My vote goes to Severn Tunnel Junction. Little local population, very windswept due to its location on the Caldicot Levels close to the Severn (the footbridge feels like the highest point for miles around), and the station seems devoid of colour. It always seems to have low cloud hanging over it as well whenever I've changed there (usually going from Bristol to Chepstow, although Newport is sometimes a better option). Not a fun place to wait on a cold day. That said, I imagine it's probably a bit livelier on a summer morning with commuters heading to Bristol or Cardiff.
 
Sponsor Post - registered members do not see these adverts; click here to register, or click here to log in
R

RailUK Forums

DB

Guest
Joined
18 Nov 2009
Messages
5,036
Dent and Garsdale on a wild day in winter are very bleak!

At the other extreme, some on low lying flatlands are as well. Broomfleet and others along the Humber estuary are examples.
 

Hardcastle

Member
Joined
21 Dec 2013
Messages
358
Location
Preston
Warrington Bank Quay on a cold winters night with the north end smelling of soapy fumes not the most pleasant of stations.
 

Parallel

Established Member
Joined
9 Dec 2013
Messages
3,927
Although it’s not that remote as Bruton is only 4 minutes away by train, Castle Cary feels quite bleak and isolated to me. Not sure it gets 3tph passing through all day though, although it can’t be far off.
 

LNW-GW Joint

Veteran Member
Joined
22 Feb 2011
Messages
19,551
Location
Mold, Clwyd
Warrington Bank Quay for me, particularly when Avanti/TfW have failed to connect.
The station itself is quite well equipped (when Costa is open), but the surroundings are grim, plus there's the pervasive aroma from Unilever's soap works next door.
It's also a fair hike through streets of back-to-back housing to reach anywhere to pass the time pleasantly (eg Golden Square).
The railway can be busy, with some interesting trains, but there are times when you wonder how "full" the WCML really is.
It's always windy too.
 

DB

Guest
Joined
18 Nov 2009
Messages
5,036
Talking busy mainline stations, Burton on Trent is another fairly bleak one.
 

yorksrob

Veteran Member
Joined
6 Aug 2009
Messages
38,818
Location
Yorks
Carnforth can feel fairly bleak on a windswept evening (although the goth in me enjoys it that way). Something about the lack of staff, utilitarian concrete platform awning and long line of flourescent tubes gives it a retro feel.
 

Iskra

Established Member
Joined
11 Jun 2014
Messages
7,785
Location
West Riding
Oxenholme and Penrith can both feel pretty bleak in Winter. Many of the Northern-English ECML stations are too.
 

willgreen

Member
Joined
11 Jan 2020
Messages
612
Location
Leeds
Darlington feels surprisingly lonely for such a well-served station. It's not *that* bleak considering the huge building but the lack of enough passengers to fill it gives it a slightly weird atmosphere.
 

Hardcastle

Member
Joined
21 Dec 2013
Messages
358
Location
Preston
Oxenholme and Penrith can both feel pretty bleak in Winter. Many of the Northern-English ECML stations are too.
At least with Penrith you can have a wander around town plus theirs McDonald's next door plus superstores & of course the Agricultural hotel for a pint when things are in normal times of course.
 

yorksrob

Veteran Member
Joined
6 Aug 2009
Messages
38,818
Location
Yorks
At least with Penrith you can have a wander around town plus theirs McDonald's next door plus superstores & of course the Agricultural hotel for a pint when things are in normal times of course.

Yes, I like The Agricultural !

Very pretty buildings as well. The old Keswick platform seems forlorn though !

Bodmin Parkway seems pretty bleak, but perhaps that's just an effect of too many long delays and missed trains there. (Not three trains an hour, but definitely a main line).
 

Ianno87

Veteran Member
Joined
3 May 2015
Messages
15,215
Rugby was a bit grim one February evening back in 2012 (during the height of London Midland's traincrew woes), cold and absolutely nothing open.
 

Mcr Warrior

Veteran Member
Joined
8 Jan 2009
Messages
11,648
My vote goes for Edinburgh Park, between Edinburgh and Glasgow, which always seems to be a 'Marie Celeste' of a station.
 

hst43102

Member
Joined
28 May 2019
Messages
945
Location
Tyneside
Tile Hill on the WCML Birmingham branch always feels very lonely to me, even though it's very close to Birmingham and Coventry.
 

Speed43125

Member
Joined
20 Jul 2019
Messages
1,131
Location
Dunblane
My vote goes for Edinburgh Park, between Edinburgh and Glasgow, which always seems to be a 'Marie Celeste' of a station.
Can't say I agree, at the very least there's the coming and going of trams and their passengers, and the area has gotten a less empty in recent years. I will say the staff that worked there were absolutely dreadful, who seemed to hate me as much as their seemingly idle job, staff now are better.
 

yorksrob

Veteran Member
Joined
6 Aug 2009
Messages
38,818
Location
Yorks
Morley is quite bleak. Stuck in a deep cutting, bare platforms and the gaping mouth of Morley tunnel.
 

DarloRich

Veteran Member
Joined
12 Oct 2010
Messages
29,180
Location
Fenny Stratford
Any station can be bleak depending on how you fell/whats going on in your life.

I have spent some awful times at Warrington Bank Quay waiting for late and late running trains after the match. Tamworth is the same. So is Wigan. Crewe is awful late at night.

Darlington feels surprisingly lonely for such a well-served station. It's not *that* bleak considering the huge building but the lack of enough passengers to fill it gives it a slightly weird atmosphere.


This is simply incorrect.

Bletchley is pretty bleak. Grey, grey, grey, with an aggregate factory in the background providing the scenery.


Windy and often wet.
 

Ianigsy

Member
Joined
12 May 2015
Messages
1,104
75 minutes and nobody’s mentioned Wakefield Kirkgate? Now with a record of a brass band playing ‘Jerusalem’ on a never ending loop!
 

yorksrob

Veteran Member
Joined
6 Aug 2009
Messages
38,818
Location
Yorks
75 minutes and nobody’s mentioned Wakefield Kirkgate? Now with a record of a brass band playing ‘Jerusalem’ on a never ending loop!

Good point - should have thought of that given I was there about two hours ago !
 

DB

Guest
Joined
18 Nov 2009
Messages
5,036
75 minutes and nobody’s mentioned Wakefield Kirkgate? Now with a record of a brass band playing ‘Jerusalem’ on a never ending loop!

It's not as bad as it was back when semi-derelict! Admittedly it still couldn't be described as particularly pleasant though.
 

Mcr Warrior

Veteran Member
Joined
8 Jan 2009
Messages
11,648
My vote goes for Edinburgh Park, between Edinburgh and Glasgow, which always seems to be a 'Marie Celeste' of a station.
Can't say I agree, at the very least there's the coming and going of trams and their passengers, and the area has gotten a less empty in recent years. I will say the staff that worked there were absolutely dreadful, who seemed to hate me as much as their seemingly idle job, staff now are better.
We'll have to disagree on this one then. I've never seen any staff when I've been getting on or off trains at Edinburgh Park. There's no shops or toilets there, it just seems a rather windy, bleak and soulless place.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Top