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

[Grumpy Git]

Indeed... whatever you do, don't by food from WHSmith if you can possibly help it!

I agree. At Manchester Airport T3 recently, their ready-to-eat pasta meals and salads were being sold with no provision whatsoever for cutlery, (none in the pack and none available in the shop), an absolute disgrace and the staff didn't seem to give a damn either)!

I'd brought some ready to eat fruit and had to "borrow" some of the wooden stirrers from the adjacent coffee shop to use as spear/cocktail stick.

 

[och aye]

Oban is a nice wee town, but the station doesn't do it justice, especially considering the grand station it once had compared to now!

 

[WestRiding]

No one mentioned Wakefield Kirkgate yet?

And that despite it not being quite as bad now as it was a decade or so ago!

It's a realistic impression of Wakefield to be fair. Doesn't get your hopes up, just what to expect the deeper into the city you go. A depressing, tatty, hotchpotch city, that's not fit to be called a City.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Man Vic has platforms like New St but with more stinking, filthy 1980s DMUs - it'd be OK if it was EMUs only - though I find very poor use is made of the space in the classic bit, and so it feels quite oppressive and doesn't have a decent concourse, just an oversized corridor. I seem to recall one of the major Paris stations having had a similar mess made of it when barriers were added.

The Vic upgrade ignored the platforms under the Arena, which have poor lighting, no retail offer and no escalators (there are lifts, but everybody slogs up the steps).
Overall, the facilities are still much inferior to Piccadilly, and if they wanted people to treat the stations equally, they failed.
It's better than Oxford Road though, which has to stagger on without escalators to P2, one of the busiest platforms in the city.
P1 is only accessed by the footbridge.
I know it was all due to be rebuilt, but that is now fantasy.
1tph on the Ordsall Curve also means Manchester's stations will remain un-integrated, despite the huge spend on the "Manchester Hub" project.

 

[24Grange]

Fort William is a bit basic but the adjacent Maccy's and Morrisons provide excellent facilities, similarly.

Maybe one for a new thread, I'll create one.

Stations with excellent facilities....not provided by the station, but adjacent businesses

So which significant stations are a bit rubbish in terms of retail, toilet and/or restaurant facilities, but actually have really good ones because of immediately adjacent businesses? Here's a few: Fort William - McDonald's and Morrisons Windermere - Booths Aylesbury - Morrisons Exmouth - M&S...

www.railforums.co.uk

You can actually get a coffee now in M&S to take on the train, something you have been unable to do at the station since ???
Exmouth went from a 4 platform, engine shed, goods shed, to a utility bus building with all the grandeur and class of an empty Macdonalds wrapper box. To be far they have tarted it up a bit ( first refit in 40 + years) and the M&S with the coffee is a 1000 times better than the shabby underused bus depot used to be.

 

[RPI]

I think the old BR Western region has a lot to answer for in the way it treated some of the seaside resorts it serves. It pruned the Looe and (especially) the St Ives branches, making the walk longer to the towns. In St Ives, you're greeted with a long walk through a car park - ironic for those arriving on the park-and-ride shuttle service. Looe was a huge missed opportunity to get closer to the town - the goods yard went nearly all the way to the bridge - instead they cut it shorter by 100m!

But the crown has to be Barry Island - the present glorified bus shelter is in full view of the former station, with its original building, hidden behind high railings.

But when you think both Looe and St Ives were listed for closure in 1966 (and reprived) I'd happily take the basic (but tidy) facilities that exist at both today!

Someone said it Earlier but Newport definitely is right up there and also Barmouth, particularly the northbound platform where you seem to walk through a tacky burger joint onto a dark dingy platform

You can actually get a coffee now in M&S to take on the train, something you have been unable to do at the station since ???
Exmouth went from a 4 platform, engine shed, goods shed, to a utility bus building with all the grandeur and class of an empty Macdonalds wrapper box. To be far they have tarted it up a bit ( first refit in 40 + years) and the M&S with the coffee is a 1000 times better than the shabby underused bus depot used to be.

But as I found out when we were doing a revenue block there the other day, the cafe in Marks and Sparks is currently closed because of covid!

 

[Wtloild]

I'll defend Preston Bus Station to the hilt. It's really spectacular, and a seriously endangered form of architecture.

I'll second that, overall a very impressive piece of architecture. The bus station element on the ground floor is badly neglected though.
Preston railway station is the opposite of this thread - a fantastic station let down by an armpit of a town.

 

[scrapy]

All 3 stations in Burnley

Central is a dump and not very central. Station building looks like a bodge made from whatever materials were left over from when WCML stations were rebuilt for electrification. You exit to see the back of a retail park and a derelict pub. Then have to cross a busy dual carriageway to get to the town centre.

Manchester Road is better than it was, at least it's staffed now, but if arriving from Manchester or Leeds the you're faced with no facilities or buildings and a long ramp with no weatherproofing dumping you out onto a main road.

Barracks has nothing.

 

[yorksrob]

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, that 1950's style of architecture can be made welcoming but it needs to be cared for.

 

[BrianW]

Picking up from a couple of contributions:

Generally- a lot of stataions give poor BUT ACCURATE impression!

What are station buildings for?

If a town wants a good impression it should pay for it, not me.

Buildings, incl station buildings, represent the priorities of the day- incl location, facilities, 'style' ...

Oxford Road Manchester- Architecture highly rated by Architects- listed?- doesn't make platforms big enough or access ok!

Stations like Harlow, Coventry represent notions of BR 'corporate identity' which included font, colours, signage; we have passed through privatisation etc and more 'local design'; GBR coming ...

My 'choice'- Loughborough. Not so much the station but it's forecourt and the walk to the 'town centre'- dreary, downbeat, dereliction or what. Didn't stop Loughborough Uni being #1 student choice!

 

[Bill57p9]

Ayr thanks to the Station Hotel debacle. It now has all the ambience of a building site, with few facilities and a small city of portakabins, but with zero sign of any progress having been made in the past 3 years.

Another station I personally find completely unloved is Coatbridge Central, mainly because of the horrible pedestrian tunnel to get to the southbound platform: crumbling, riddled with holes and graffiti. And as for the smell... Yikes

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Both Bradford stations are pretty grotty, but so is the city centre generally. It's generally a fairly creepy place later in the evening on a weekday - I can think of no other city of the size which is do deserted after about 11pm.

Neither Bradford station is that bad. Yes, they're a shadow of their former selves but they're functional and adequate for the use they get. They won't win any architectural awards either, but they're far from the worst offenders on that front.

 

[L401CJF]

I'd agree with a number of the ones mentioned above Manchester Victoria definitely, Euston definitely.

Not that I like Wrexham, but very surprised Wrexham Central doesn't seem to have been mentioned yet, what a dump of a station!

A few earlier posts mention Merseyrail stations in general, but I'd disagree. The underground stations are fairly pleasant - yet they didn't add extra much needed seating in when they refurbished them - and a lot of the stations such as Cressington, Bromborough etc are very nice. The only really depressing ones are the like of Birkenhead Park, Seaforth and Litherland etc, which perfectly match the areas they're located in my opinion -hardly tourist hotspots either! The stations outsiders tend to use ie City Center, South Parkway etc are all pretty decent as suburban/commuter style stations go.

 

[AlterEgo]

Gloucester station is....not great.

 

[Gathursty]

Cleethorpes and Blackpool Pleasure Beach aren't the best first impressions of such places. Fortunately the beach and the roller coasters in the immediate background make you ignore the station you are walking through.

 

[Unixman]

Surprised no one has mentioned Worcester Shrub Hill. Inside it is run down and tired (although the cafe is good) but outside there is that monstrosity of a tower block which urgently needs dynamiting. Even when you are past that the image of Worcester isn't brilliant as you come out opposite a retail park with old industrial estates on either side.

 

[Grumpy Git]

Maybe it's not just the stations in a lot of these places, a lot of the towns themseves appear to be on the bones of their ars*

 

[yorksrob]

Surprised no one has mentioned Worcester Shrub Hill. Inside it is run down and tired (although the cafe is good) but outside there is that monstrosity of a tower block which urgently needs dynamiting. Even when you are past that the image of Worcester isn't brilliant as you come out opposite a retail park with old industrial estates on either side.

I like it.

A nice traditional station with plenty of cover.

 

[L401CJF]

Cleethorpes and Blackpool Pleasure Beach aren't the best first impressions of such places. Fortunately the beach and the roller coasters in the immediate background make you ignore the station you are walking through.

We travelled to Pleasure Beach station on a Northern 10p ticket a few years back. Absolutely awful station!

 

[65477]

With a few honourable exceptions this thread seems mainly made up of "stations I dislike" than actually answer the question posed in the OP

Which other stations on our network give a very poor first impression and don’t due justice to the town they serve…?

To illustrate my point I refer you to Harlow Town, which has been mentioned earlier. As with Coventry this is Grade II listed, but it fits well into a post war new town. I commuted from Harlow Town for thirty years and at one point it was really run down. However money was invested into the station and when I last visited it I would say the station was actually in better state than most of the town, including the main shopping centre. On the other hand arriving at Harlow Mill does nothing to reflect that station's role of serving the old town. I have not been there for a number of years but on the up platform the main building was derelict and faced the OOU signal box, while the down platform was just a shelter and slope to the road.

 

[JBuchananGB]

Southport. Access to the town is now via a horrible 60s style shopping precinct. Pictures I’ve seen of the former station show it was quite grandiose. Town itself has lost a lot of its
Victorian grandeur, but not obliterated like the old station.

 

[ClagLover]

Might be an unpopular opinion but I really don’t enjoy Leeds station. It’s chaotic.

 

[py_megapixel]

Might be an unpopular opinion but I really don’t enjoy Leeds station. It’s chaotic.

Leeds for me is beyond the size where I can get any fun spotting there, because I feel like I'm constantly missing something as it's impossible to watch much at once. The platforms also get quite cold, and there are some bits that could do with maintenance or updating. It's not a bad station per-se though.

 

[DB]

Leeds for me is beyond the size where I can get any fun spotting there, because I feel like I'm constantly missing something as it's impossible to watch much at once. The platforms also get quite cold, and there are some bits that could do with maintenance or updating. It's not a bad station per-se though.

It's OK for what it is, but not a particular pleasant station to have to wait around in, particularly in winter (and I have spent many, many hours waiting for connections there!).

 

[High Dyke]

Newton for Hyde.

Gainsborough Central.

 

[prod_pep]

London Euston is a classic example. Still a dismal hellhole of a station and my least favourite London terminus (I've done them all except Marylebone).

 

[Aictos]

I disagree. The concourse is now a stupid design where you can’t access some platforms from others if you’re at the wrong end of the station.

I've lived in Birmingham so used New Street a lot when I lived in the area and I have to fully disagree with your opinion, the old design was awful, dated, grubby and well past it's best by date.

The refurbishment brings in much needed natural light to the concourse, is easier to navigate and actually looks fit for use.

 

[flitwickbeds]

Luton should be a top contender but the main issue is the fact that most of the station is actually listed so they can't just rebuild it.

Really? Having spent the best part of 1.5 hours waiting for a train there yesterday night (actually, make that early hours of this morning) and exploring most of the place to find any signs of life in the form of Thameslink staff (mission failed) I struggle to think of any part of it which is deserving of listing, let alone most of it!

 

[Journeyman]

London Euston is a classic example. Still a dismal hellhole of a station and my least favourite London terminus (I've done them all except Marylebone).

Nah, I like Euston! Admittedly the platforms are grim, but you spend your time on the concourse, which I really like. Plus I love brutalism, and Euston is an absolute classic of the genre.

 

[Aictos]

Really? Having spent the best part of 1.5 hours waiting for a train there yesterday night (actually, make that early hours of this morning) and exploring most of the place to find any signs of life in the form of Thameslink staff (mission failed) I struggle to think of any part of it which is deserving of listing, let alone most of it!

Sorry but that's what I was told, to be precise it's the station buildings over the platforms that are listed eg the concourse, ticket office etc...

Quite why they couldn't relocate it to be nearer the new Luton Town FC ground I don't know especially as they will have to invest in the station with the increased footfall as it will be the closest station to the football ground.