tavistock
Member
Spot onPlatforms 1 and 2 at Preston. Always cold.
Spot onPlatforms 1 and 2 at Preston. Always cold.
Darlington is always freezing in the middle of summer. It's almost a perfect wind tunnel.
I'd love to see a photo of that station!
I think you've hit the nail on the head there!I went Westbury once on a windy day. It was not a pleasant experience.
A few years later went to Doncaster and that was pretty bad also.
Been to both stations on normal days and found them normal to be honest. Surely its weather related and what you find on the day?
I changed trains at Darlington the Wednesday the temperature cooled, and noticed it more at Darlington station than anywhere else.
I have to agree that Darlington does get bitterly cold.I notice earlier in the thread that Darlington is a perfect wind tunnel which suggests this makes it cold. Darlington can have no wind whatsoever and be near sub-zero even in summer. It's got it's own weather system.
I have to agree that Darlington does get bitterly cold.
I don't know what it is about the place but I was absolutely frozen when waiting for Pacers a couple of years ago. Maybe you're right and it does have its own climate. I never remember being so cold in the town centre when looking at the buses.Have you seen the dispatch staff in winter? It's like they are geared up for an arctic expedition.
I don't know what it is about the place but I was absolutely frozen when waiting for Pacers a couple of years ago. Maybe you're right and it does have its own climate. I never remember being so cold in the town centre when looking at the buses.
Another nomination for Ashford Int'l here. I've spent many not so happy hours there waiting for the last Marshlink service home and the wind just goes right through you.Ashford International.
No contest.
Carlisle
Agree, and this was the point of the discussion, to seek views on draughty stations which are otherwise supposed to be covered or offer some protection from the elements!Piccadilly 13/14 are pretty damn cold, but I'd say Sheffield is even worse. Both subject you to temperatures previously thought un-survivable by man.
I'd say the worst bit about them is the lack of a warm waiting area. Stockport at least has some heated waiting rooms, whereas Sheffield and Manchester Piccadilly waiting areas are absolutely freezing.
Precisely! No such thing as 'poor weather', just 'poor equipment/preparation'.<SNIP>
With winter approaching anyone changing trains or arriving early needs to be alert to less than convivial waiting facilities, and dress accordingly.
It's built to be like an airport, apparently.Another nomination for Ashford Int'l here. I've spent many not so happy hours there waiting for the last Marshlink service home and the wind just goes right through you.
Ely. Cold winter Sundays with a long connection waiting for train to Norwich with everything shut and nothing nearby
Great post! I think Edinburgh Waverley is a little like an airport in terms of how folk wait for the train. It always surprises me how small the waiting areas actually are, too. The difficult part is that the Intercity platforms are often the furthest away from the actual waiting area.The 'airport' concepts works up to a point if there is a large 'departure lounge' where travellers can wait in relative comfort until advised by comprehensive information systems to proceed to the platform just before their train is due. For many airports the final movement is via an enclosed tube and on one level anyway.
Stations suffer from two challenges - firstly when, like Sheffield, the concourse and waiting rooms are completely unheated (even when open, pre-COVID) and secondly because passengers need to spread out along platforms to be opposite a wide range of doors appropriate to reservation or class of travel, often beyond canopied areas, e.g. at Tamworth.
There is a further problem if the 'lounge' is at a different level but only served by one lift. The bottleneck dictates an early move for many passengers with buggies, luggage, etc. leading to more prolonged exposure to the elements.
Completely agree there, but there comes a point where it's just; "I felt cold at xxxxx"!"Much though I enjoy trivia threads, isn't this one just so unscientific as to be pointless? "
Well, maybe but who said all threads on here have to be deadly serious!