Manchester Victoria or Manchester Piccadilly

[Djgr]

On that subject, I recall Merseyrail used to have posters in the 80s saying "don't eat cooked food on trains" (that actual wording). Slightly odd as most food is cooked in some way, just some of it served cold. But they had a point - chips in particular stink the train out. (Less so the burger itself, it's just a beef sandwich).



They do, but the TOC needs to maintain them accordingly (using that as an excuse is like the European excuses for putting graffiti-covered trains out in service, something we don't tolerate here). I recall when Liverpool Lime St went from TOC managed to Network Rail, and the quality of them improved almost overnight. Perhaps Vic needs to be a NR Major Station - or perhaps in the brave new world of GBR they should all be maintained nationally?

First North Western, take a bow

 

[Bletchleyite]

That's a slippery slope. I'm 100% against banning the consumption of cooked food on trains.

Don't think I'd ban it, but not having stands selling burgers and chips on stations means drunk people tend not to grab one on the way home, and it only seems to be drunk people that do it. Most of it is opportunistic, so if you only sell non-stinky foods on stations (e.g. sandwiches, salads and the likes, or even Greggs etc doesn't really smell bad) then that's what most people will be consuming.

First North Western, take a bow

Northern is certainly a far better TOC than FNW was, but they do appear to be about as "good" at toilet maintenance.

Yes, they get vandalised and stuff, and that isn't itself the TOC's fault, but dealing with it is their job.

 

[Ianno87]

Don't think I'd ban it, but not having stands selling burgers and chips on stations means drunk people tend not to grab one on the way home, and it only seems to be drunk people that do it. Most of it is opportunistic, so if you only sell non-stinky foods on stations (e.g. sandwiches, salads and the likes, or even Greggs etc doesn't really smell bad) then that's what most people will be consuming.

.

Part of me says if you want to travel when drunk people are travelling, then expect drunk people to do drunk people things

At least Fast food might keep them a bit quieter and happier.

 

[Djgr]

Perhaps I should have added Oxford Road in the original question/OP, since this station also has a large footfall and many trains serving it.

Nevertheless, what do people think of Oxford Road, either on its own or comparing with the other two?

Not good. Crowded. Minimal facilities. Best to wait in Java Coffee Shop (ditto Victoria)

 

[yorksrob]

Particularly as many trains sell cooked food on them!

Bear in mind the circumstances of the person travelling, it may be the only chance they have a hot meal that day (as was once the case for me when I had to jump on a Pendolino at 20 minutes' notice after my Dad was suddenly hospitalised).

Exactly. I'm often in the middle of quite a long journey in somewhere like Manchester, so the chance to grab some hot food can be very useful.

Don't think I'd ban it, but not having stands selling burgers and chips on stations means drunk people tend not to grab one on the way home, and it only seems to be drunk people that do it.

There's rarely anything open in my suburb at night, so I find grabbing something for the train home useful.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Particularly as many trains sell cooked food on them!

Pretty much all food is cooked - that's what I thought was remarkable about Merseyrail's poster - but it definitely did say that which might be why I remember it despite being aged in single figures when they would have been displayed.

Bear in mind the circumstances of the person travelling, it may be the only chance they have a hot meal that day (as was once the case for me when I had to jump on a Pendolino at 20 minutes' notice after my Dad was suddenly hospitalised).

That to me harks back a bit to a "hot meal" being the only substantial meals on offer - i.e. it'd be a proper sit down meat and two veg or it'd be a curling simple cheese or ham butty and a piece of dry cake. The quality and variety of cold food now available on stations, particularly Marks, is much wider, and if I have an "M&S buffet" on a Pendolino home, as I often do on a long journey via Manchester, I don't feel myself yearning for double egg and chips at all.

Indeed these days a decent (if not so cheap) M&S deli "spread" is one thing I look forward to for a long train journey! Far rather that than Maccies or BK, even though I'm not a complete stranger to those.

 

[yorksrob]

Pretty much all food is cooked - that's what I thought was remarkable about Merseyrail's poster - but it definitely did say that which might be why I remember it despite being aged in single figures when they would have been displayed.



That to me harks back a bit to a "hot meal" being the only substantial meals on offer - i.e. it'd be a proper sit down meat and two veg or it'd be a curling simple cheese or ham butty and a piece of dry cake. The quality and variety of cold food now available on stations, particularly Marks, is much wider, and if I have an "M&S buffet" on a Pendolino home, as I often do on a long journey via Manchester, I don't feel myself yearning for double egg and chips at all.

Indeed these days a decent (if not so cheap) M&S deli "spread" is one thing I look forward to for a long train journey!

Somewhere doing egg and chips would be most welcome at a lot of stations.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Somewhere doing egg and chips would be most welcome at a lot of stations.

The nearest 'Spoons is probably your best bet for that sort of food at a decent price. Back properly on topic, there used to be a greasy spoon near enough directly outside Picc, and a few years earlier a Little Thief, sorry, Chef, on the station itself, but that's all long gone. That said, those places typically are "eat in" - I'm sure they'd do you an egg butty to take away, but if I'm going to a greasy spoon I pretty much always sit in.

 

[yorksrob]

The nearest 'Spoons is probably your best bet for that sort of food at a decent price. Back properly on topic, there used to be a greasy spoon near enough directly outside Picc, and a few years earlier a Little Thief, sorry, Chef, on the station itself, but that's all long gone. That said, those places typically are "eat in" - I'm sure they'd do you an egg butty to take away, but if I'm going to a greasy spoon I pretty much always sit in.

Yes, I made use of the greasy spoon at Pic on a few occasions.

Hull Paragon has a rather nice independant cafe attached to it.

 

[nw1]

That's a slippery slope. I'm 100% against banning the consumption of cooked food on trains.

I'm not sure whether the social unacceptability of cooked food on trains is a relatively new thing; I'm sure it wasn't mentioned so much 15, 20 or 30 years ago. Certainly it's been something I've been 'guilty' of myself (Burger King at Waterloo, though more commonly something like a hot baguette). These days I tend to avoid the burgers but may still have the baguette as I assume this is relatively ok. Also this is generally lateish at night and I'm normally in the quiet front coach. I think I assumed that since trains used to have a 'hot buffet', eating hot food on trains was OK. I do lack strong sense of smell though which means I'm more oblivious to the problems than most.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I'm not sure whether the social unacceptability of cooked food on trains is a relatively new thing; I'm sure it wasn't mentioned so much 15, 20 or 30 years ago.

The Merseyrail posters under discussion were displayed somewhere around 30-35 years ago.

 

[nw1]

The Merseyrail posters under discussion were displayed somewhere around 30-35 years ago.

Yeah I saw that - though nothing similar appeared on the Southern and it's not something anyone ever talked about - and I saw other people eating food on trains and as I said the hot buffet was standard on long-distance Waterloo services back in the day. Probably more common in the days of slam-door stock, admittedly.

Just for the record though, as I said I would these days avoid chips, burgers, etc.

 

[yorksrob]

I've been tempted to buy a curry for the train on occasions. Not done so yet though.

 

[xotGD]

The food offering at Victoria is ideal - a branch of Greggs.

On the subject of cooked food, crisps are cooked and so are biscuits. Were these banned on Merseyrail?

 

[Efini92]

Much as I like a greasy burger, it's one facility I'm happy not to have on stations, because it causes people to eat them on trains, and they stink.

In fairness it was the second train crew messroom at vic.

 

[Bletchleyite]

The food offering at Victoria is ideal - a branch of Greggs.

On the subject of cooked food, crisps are cooked and so are biscuits. Were these banned on Merseyrail?

They clearly meant hot food, i.e. chips, kebabs and Maccy D's/KFC/Wimpy*, those being the ones that stink the train out. That such an odd wording was used is what made me remember it.

* There wasn't that I recall a BK in Liverpool back then; BK got big fairly quickly by taking over the former Wimpy Bars (certainly the one on Lord St in Liverpool), but at the time those posters were up those were still very common.

 

[507020]

Perhaps I should have added Oxford Road in the original question/OP, since this station also has a large footfall and many trains serving it.

Nevertheless, what do people think of Oxford Road, either on its own or comparing with the other two?

I’ve been waiting for this. I don’t mind either Victoria or Piccadilly, but I find Oxford Road absolutely disgusting and unfit for purpose, with its rotten wood monstrosity of a building having a hopelessly dated design and the footbridge feels too derelict to be usable at an operational station. The whole place needs blowing up and something in keeping with the modern city around it building in its place, complete with a centre turnback!

 

[Neptune]

I’ve been waiting for this. I don’t mind either Victoria or Piccadilly, but I find Oxford Road absolutely disgusting and unfit for purpose, with its rotten wood monstrosity of a building having a hopelessly dated design and the footbridge feels too derelict to be usable at an operational station. The whole place needs blowing up and something in keeping with the modern city around it building in its place, complete with a centre turnback!

I think the design of MCO is fantastic. I guess you’d want to ‘blow up’ Sydney Opera House (note the similar design style to MCO) as it is a monstrosity and needs replacing with something more keeping with the modern city around it.

Anyway it’s grade 2 listed (MCO that is) and quite rightly in my opinion. I also believe it was built out of wood rather than the more common materials of the time due to its lighter weight on the viaduct.

 

[yorksrob]

The former buffet area at Oxford road would make a nice little micro-bar.

 

[Bletchleyite]

The former buffet area at Oxford road would make a nice little micro-bar.

It's currently a mess room! Bet they won't give that up easily. I agree, though.

 

[Trackman]

Perhaps I should have added Oxford Road in the original question/OP, since this station also has a large footfall and many trains serving it.

Nevertheless, what do people think of Oxford Road, either on its own or comparing with the other two?

It was or might still be the second busiest station in Manchester.

 

[yorksrob]

It's currently a mess room! Bet they won't give that up easily. I agree, though.

I noticed it had been closed for a while !

 

[507020]

I think the design of MCO is fantastic. I guess you’d want to ‘blow up’ Sydney Opera House (note the similar design style to MCO) as it is a monstrosity and needs replacing with something more keeping with the modern city around it.

Anyway it’s grade 2 listed (MCO that is) and quite rightly in my opinion. I also believe it was built out of wood rather than the more common materials of the time due to its lighter weight on the viaduct.

Why would I want to blow up Sydney Opera House? It doesn’t look remotely dated, it still looks modern today and is perfectly in keeping with Sydney harbour around it and isn’t made from rotten wood. It’s one of the greatest buildings in the world!

Oxford Road however is unfit for purpose. If any part of the 1960 Oxford Road is retained, then I expect all of the rotten wood to be replaced with new wood. So at least then it will look as originally intended, rather than just looking like it needs demolishing.

It's currently a mess room! Bet they won't give that up easily. I agree, though.

Perhaps if a new mess room was constructed in a new building…

 

[faltskog36abba]

It was or might still be the second busiest station in Manchester.

It was, Its Victoria now with three million ahead of Oxford road. But as these are grouped stations it changes every year.

 

[Trackman]

It's currently a mess room! Bet they won't give that up easily. I agree, though.

I've not been for ages, do you mean the old Pumpkin next to the booking office?

 

[Chester1]

I think the design of MCO is fantastic. I guess you’d want to ‘blow up’ Sydney Opera House (note the similar design style to MCO) as it is a monstrosity and needs replacing with something more keeping with the modern city around it.

Anyway it’s grade 2 listed (MCO that is) and quite rightly in my opinion. I also believe it was built out of wood rather than the more common materials of the time due to its lighter weight on the viaduct.

The grade II listing is specifically for the entrance building. That is why the TWAO to redevelop the station would have kept it but demolished everything else. I like the entrance, its one of relatively few 60s buildings with architectural merit and therefore should be protected.

The station is unfit for purpose and needs more facilities and space to cope with the number of passengers. Until there is a decision on how to resolve Castlefield corridor's problems a full rebuild is out of the question. The best temporary solution would be to demolish the buildings between platform 5 and the approach road. A new building could have a waiting room, cafe, shop and toilets, accessing the main part of the station via the area currently occupied by the toilets. Its not an ideal solution but would be a significant improvement.

 

[507020]

The grade II listing is specifically for the entrance building. That is why the TWAO to redevelop the station would have kept it but demolished everything else. I like the entrance, its one of relatively few 60s buildings with architectural merit and therefore should be protected.

The station is unfit for purpose and needs more facilities and space to cope with the number of passengers. Until there is a decision on how to resolve Castlefield corridor's problems a full rebuild is out of the question. The best temporary solution would be to demolish the buildings between platform 5 and the approach road. A new building could have a waiting room, cafe, shop and toilets, accessing the main part of the station via the area currently occupied by the toilets. Its not an ideal solution but would be a significant improvement.

Since my earlier post in which I called Oxford Road, I have viewed some concept art from 2014, which showed the 1960s entrance surviving as the entrance to what was otherwise an entirely new station, situated on a widened 4 track viaduct. The entrance is the best bit of the station, but is overshadowed by how awful the rest of it is. If it is retained, all 1960s wood needs a full refurbishment. Other than Sydney Opera House and Preston Bus Station, what other 1960s buildings are of architectural merit?

 

[185143]

I've not been for ages, do you mean the old Pumpkin next to the booking office?

Yes. The old pumpkin is currently an extra messroom.

 

[Neptune]

Other than Sydney Opera House and Preston Bus Station, what other 1960s buildings are of architectural merit?

30 60s Architecture ideas | architecture, architect, architecture design

Jul 1, 2019 - Explore Tony Agliata's board "60s Architecture" on Pinterest. See more ideas about architecture, architect, architecture design.

www.pinterest.co.uk

 

[Chester1]

Since my earlier post in which I called Oxford Road, I have viewed some concept art from 2014, which showed the 1960s entrance surviving as the entrance to what was otherwise an entirely new station, situated on a widened 4 track viaduct. The entrance is the best bit of the station, but is overshadowed by how awful the rest of it is. If it is retained, all 1960s wood needs a full refurbishment. Other than Sydney Opera House and Preston Bus Station, what other 1960s buildings are of architectural merit?

Bit of a tangent but still railway related: the Northgate Arena in Chester (on the site of Chester Northgate Station).

The rest of Oxford Road would be adequate with a lick of paint etc if passenger numbers were lower. It needs 4 through platforms that can be used for regular service. Platform 1 cannot be used regularly because it has no lift and because of various engineering issues it would cost a small fortune to build one. That means Oxford Road is effectively 2+1+1. Pre covid the platforms were regularly full and there is one coffee shop with a very small waiting area. Its not for purpose.