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Dismal Stations Which Give A Poor First Impression Of The Town They Serve

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Djgr

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The signage continues to evolve with the various lounge 'colours' now much more obvious than they used to be.

As with the 'one bridge' concept described earlier (which is blindingly obvious once you 'get it') I am staggered at why people seem to find the lounges 'weird', 'confusing' and so on.

At a large terminal station (such as Waterloo or Brighton) you would normally wait on the concourse rather than the platform from which your train would eventually depart unless you turned up at the last minute. This is equivalent to the 'lounge'.

Birmingham New Street is obviously a through station so can't have a concourse that is at the same level and quite so close and convenient to the platforms. The nature of through trains means that dwell times are typically short and thus trains at any given platform may depart to various destinations within a short space of time. It is thus comparatively easy to get on the wrong train if you are waiting at platform level.

A particular point about New Street is that its underground situation and inevitable narrow platforms make it a less comfortable environment to wait in terms of fumes, noise, lighting, access to toilets and refreshments. The lounges greatly mitigate these issues until it is appropriate to descend close to departure time.

Although rather a different station with different issues the lounge concept also works quite well at Manchester Piccadilly for Platforms 13 & 14.
A few seats bunched together does not MAKE a lounge and that is the problem with using such signage terminology.
 
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Dr Hoo

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A few seats bunched together does not MAKE a lounge and that is the problem with using such signage terminology.
I was at New Street earlier this week. Passengers seemed to have no "problem" in following the displays, fixed signage and announcements to go to the red, blue or yellow lounges as appropriate.

I didn't overhear anyone complaining about the lack of carpets, curtains, aspidistras, goldfish in bowls on side tables or their pet cat.

I did observe people taking a seat, buying coffees or popping to the toilet before going to their platform and train at the appropriate juncture.

First world problems seem to be getting smaller all the time.
 

Jamesrob637

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München doesn't have very appealing stations, neither Hauptbahnhof nor Ostbahnhof. But it's Germany's nicest large city with the exception of a few parts. Hamburg Hbf is much more impressive even though the city is more down at heel.
 

Mat17

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No one mentioned Wakefield Kirkgate yet?

And that despite it not being quite as bad now as it was a decade or so ago!
To be fair Kirkgate as you say isn't that bad these days, much better with the refurb/restoration and the fact that the burned out shell of a pub has been renovated, I also think the elimination of the subway system with a surface level pedestrianised roundabout also makes the walk to the city centre feel much safer.

I always think Sheffield is awful, where it's placed means whichever way you walk to access the city centre it's a combination of encountering beggers, spice junkies or the worst of them all clip board people... *Shudder*.

HUDDERSFIELD - I’m biased, but to me is the exact opposite of this thread - an amazing station that punches far above the weight of the surrounding town. Yes the platforms are a bit grotty just now, but more than made up for by having an overall roof cover, independent caff, pubs, generally helpful staff, unparalleled architecture…
and a cat.
 
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chefchenko

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Enjoyable walk yesterday on the scenic Macclesfield canal with some pals and used two of the stations on the route, Kidsgrove and Congleton to access the canal.

Kidsgrove station is a quite a large grotty station, with four platforms and a run down, rusty footbridge to access three of the platforms, there doesn’t appear to be any step free access to those platforms. The entrance area to the station is scruffy and generally unloved, mind you Kidsgrove town centre didn’t look any better, so perhaps the station is in keeping with its surroundings, and as for the adjacent Railway pub…

Fast forward to Congleton, a well heeled Cheshire town and the area surrounding the station ‘Hightown’ is very smart with a fantastic pub opposite the station, Queens Head, excellent food and local ales…but Congleton station is a dump, a tiny concrete overhang for a waiting area, the station is dreary, paint peeling off all the buildings and the even the electronic PIS display wasn’t showing train departure information, and the electronic clock on the display unit was 20 minutes fast!

More alarming was the fact that the station footbridge from the ticket office (when open) and presumably the TVM was cordoned off and intending passengers had to retrace their steps to the main road and use the road bridge to access the UP platform. I timed it as 4 minutes to walk briskly to the UP platform, there are no signs at the station approach/entrance indicating that the footbridge was closed.

The railway is facing many challenges to encouraging passengers to return, but the likes of Kidsgrove and Congleton stations are not great adverts for using public transport.


Which other stations on our network give a very poor first impression and don’t due justice to the town they serve…?
For many years congleton station has had a rather rundown and unloved appearance yet in the 80s it was manned from first to last train and kept lovingly winning awards iirc. Thankyou for your words regarding the pub next door where I am the chef
 

Bletchleyite

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München doesn't have very appealing stations, neither Hauptbahnhof nor Ostbahnhof. But it's Germany's nicest large city with the exception of a few parts. Hamburg Hbf is much more impressive even though the city is more down at heel.

I wouldn't call Hamburg down at heel, though the area around the station itself isn't great (very common in Germany).

It is a bit Liverpool like as a port city but it always seemed in a far better position than Liverpool to me.
 

GoneSouth

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Carlisle has recently had a lot of money spent on the roof, and currently Platform 1 is being resurfaced. Even without that it is a great station. Motherwell is presently being rebuilt. I have always found Lancaster a pleasant place to spend time, and of course Glasgow Central is one of our best stations, on any line.
Was Carlisle the station featured in a homemade TV ad a few years ago? Could have given the place a lick of paint everywhere whilst doing it. They may have done for all I know, it’s been many years since o passed that way.
 

lxfe_mxtterz

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I had to pick somebody up from a cancelled train at Banbury. I know nothing about Banbury, didn’t get to see the town centre but the station itself and surrounding area were quite grotty and unwelcoming. It’s a 1950s affair, which though unattractive compared to older stations can sometimes have some character of their own. But it just looked shabby and uncared for.
Yes, I'd agree with that.

I was in Banbury yesterday, and the station itself, particularly on the platforms, looked (as you say) incredibly shabby, very unloved and desperately in need of a good lick of paint, and thus was in keeping with the immediate area surrounding it, which gave the impression of an abandoned industrial wasteland.

After crossing the bridge over the river, however, the town centre actually turned out to be a really pleasant place...!
 

urbophile

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I don't know enough about the area to comment, but I note that Crewe town centre is a hefty walk from the station.

Anyhow, I really like the station and hope it doesn't get rebuilt/relocated or whatever.
Considering that Crewe didn't exist before the railway, and was built to serve it, it seems strange that the town centre isn't nearer. One of these days I will step outside the station and see for myself.
 

Bletchleyite

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Considering that Crewe didn't exist before the railway, and was built to serve it, it seems strange that the town centre isn't nearer. One of these days I will step outside the station and see for myself.

I don't know the history of Crewe, but the present town centre looks very 1960s - could it be that the "town centre" as was was actually linear and along the road that passes the station?

Town and village centres do move over time, though often towards rather than away from the railway. The centre of Bletchley used to be by the Three Trees (still a sort of secondary centre with a couple of pubs, Tesco Express and Co-op and barber shop), with the railway station being a junction station in a field a bit like Cheddington, its present location is more recent, and you could argue that it has sort of shifted again towards Tesco and the stadium.

(Bletchley FWIW is a dismal station - grey, bleak and cold - but this is perfectly fitting for the rather declined town centre)
 

HowardGWR

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I don't know the history of Crewe, but the present town centre looks very 1960s - could it be that the "town centre" as was was actually linear and along the road that passes the station?

Town and village centres do move over time, though often towards rather than away from the railway. The centre of Bletchley used to be by the Three Trees, with the railway station being a junction station in a field a bit like Cheddington, its present location is more recent, and you could argue that it has sort of shifted again towards Tesco and the stadium.
I think it's because it was nearer to where the works was, as opposed to the station. Nantwich Road has a few shops and pubs but it's what the name says it is. Nantwich Road passes the station on the way to er, Nantwich.
 

Bletchleyite

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I think it's because it was nearer to where the works was, as opposed to the station. Nantwich Road has a few shops and pubs but it's what the name says it is. Nantwich Road passes the station on the way to er, Nantwich.

That probably makes a lot of sense, as people used to live much more locally than they do now, so the relative location of the actual station would not have been very important to the locals.
 

Mcr Warrior

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Crewe station is actually named after the 'Township of Crewe' (nowadays known/renamed as Crewe Green), a village a mile and a half away from modern day Crewe.

Wasn't much in the vicinity of the station when the railway first came in the 1830s/1840s, and the modern day settlement that everyone thinks of as Crewe subsequently grew up nearby.

Or as an old, local proverb succinctly describes things:- "The place which is Crewe is not Crewe, and the place which is not Crewe is Crewe."

All a bit confusing! :s
 

tompatt

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I was going to say Plymouth, but then I recalled I'm not a big fan of Plymouth anyway, so in that respect the station accurately reflects my opinion of the place...
I like Plymouth but the station is a dog. On emerging from the yay too small Bog standard 60's BR block station building you are hit with an even uglier 2 storey concrete car park.

To the left is another 60's eyesore Intercity House, to the right is the main thoroughfare into the city from the North

"Enjoy"

Plymouth Station entrance
 

tompatt

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The refurbishment of New Street is miles better then the grotty concourse that existed prior, of course not much you can do at platform level but the concourse is much easier to navigate and a massive improvement on what was there before.
Absolutely. Although I can't say I'm a massive fan of the Eye of Sauron that greets you on the main entrance the improvements have been huge, it's just a nice cleaner space.

Before the improvement the platforms were a pretty dark place, now the lighting has improved significantly making the place feel that bit safer, which as anyone that has had the misfortune to get caught there on a saturday afternoon will appreciate.
 

nlogax

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Absolutely. Although I can't say I'm a massive fan of the Eye of Sauron that greets you on the main entrance the improvements have been huge, it's just a nice cleaner space.

Other than the 'lounge' system, that eye is the only thing I don't like about the New St improvements. Reminds me of the spaceship in Ulysses 31 tbh,

Spaceship in Ulysses 31 cartoon
 
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