Favourite and least favourite station

[Eagle]

Carlisle's nice and bright on a sunny day. Paintwork's a bit Arriva-ish for some reason though.

 

[Stephen55a1960]

Since I feel rather sorry for St Pancreas and Manchester Vic (which I quite like) on this thread, Also - it might be nostalgia for my University days, but I have a soft spot for some of the tattier ones on the WCML. I thought I ought to come up with some stations I dislike.

Peterborough - certainly up until the recent changes. Nothing much architecturally and an inadequate layout.

Wakefield Westgate - (see Peterborough).

Bradford Interchange - It's not Bradford Exchange.

Southampton Central - Should be more impressive for a City that size (probably as it was overshadowed by Terminus until the sixties).

Barnsley - They've obviously made an effort, but there's something a bit soulless and Brookside-y about the architecture. Depressingly 80's.

Ashford International (domestic) - very showey in some ways but seems to age very quickly. I think I preferred the 1960's rebuild.

Plymouth - Sometimes the 60's architecture seemed to work (as in Coventry) but Plymouth always leaves me deflated.

Birmingham New Street - Much as I hate the underground car park look, most of them retain some charm somewhere (The Victoria's retain their Victorian buildings and concourses, Euston's Concourse works quite well in it's way). Birmingham New Street has no redeeming features.

Sevenoaks - Platforms too narrow. not very nice rebuild - ditto Dartford.

Oxford - Always underwhelming for a location of it's strategic and cultural importance.

Leicester Midland - a bit soulless - especially since it seems to have been detatched from its grandiose frontage.

Salford Crescent - small, inconvenient and a rubbish place to change trains (far prefer Victoria).

Hastings - demolition of the SR booking hall was nothing short of cultural vandalism.

Newquay - doesn't put me in the mood for a hedonistic beach party. they've ruined it.

Lowestoft - too open - it needs some platform cover.

Ely - too far from a pub.

As a Midlander, Coventry has always struck me as dreary and soulless.

 

[MidnightFlyer]

As a Midlander, Coventry has always struck me as dreary and soulless.

Aye, the station's nice though :P

Coventry always struck me as one of the better 1960s modernisations on the WCML, the booking hall is certainly very light and airy, and there's quite a bit of room. Actually one of my favourite stations thinking about it.

 

[Eagle]

As a Midlander, Coventry has always struck me as dreary and soulless.

The glass box that is the concourse is nice though, particularly during the Olympics when the upper windows were covered in translucent coloured vinyls.

Coventry station is much like the city centre itself: an awkwardly jammed-together mix of bleak 1960s and glassy modern architecture, with several random spots of older stuff.

 

[Stephen55a1960]

Speaking of Scotland, I was pleasantly surprised by Paisley Gilmour St - it's a complex layout but architecturally very interesting - just a shame it's in Paisley

Of course, it's overshadowed completely by the glimpses you get of the Promised Land to the northside of the line between Shields Rd depot and Cardonald station.

That's a very good point. Paisley itself (is nothing to write home about) but the station is rather grand.
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The glass box that is the concourse is nice though, particularly during the Olympics when the upper windows were covered in translucent coloured vinyls.

Coventry station is much like the city centre itself: an awkwardly jammed-together mix of bleak 1960s and glassy modern architecture, with several random spots of older stuff.

The problem with Coventry (having sadly spent 3 years of my life there) is it was so badly damaged during the last war. The reconstruction that followed has left it a soulless city.
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Aye, the station's nice though :P

Coventry always struck me as one of the better 1960s modernisations on the WCML, the booking hall is certainly very light and airy, and there's quite a bit of room. Actually one of my favourite stations thinking about it.

I'll concede that the booking hall looks OK.
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Carlisle's nice and bright on a sunny day. Paintwork's a bit Arriva-ish for some reason though.

Interesting architecture - not a bad station.

 

[transmanche]

Try getting from the EMT platforms to the Victoria line platforms in less than 10 minutes during the morning peak (or during the day on a Saturday) and you'll see what I mean.

I guess that depends on the route you choose between the two. Avoiding the new subways and using the Euston Road entrance to the tube ticket hall will save a few minutes.

 

[yorksrob]

As a Midlander, Coventry has always struck me as dreary and soulless.

Perhaps it depends on your receptiveness to modern architecture, but I find the matching platform buildings and canopies quite stylish in a sixties sort of way.

 

[YorkshireBear]

Favourite is Dent, just such a lovely little country station. Set up in the hills so wonderfully. Least favourite station? Hmm there are quite a few, it was Rotheram Central, but it has improved greatly. Now i would have to say Leeds. I despise the place with a passion.

It is dark, cold, windy and i don't think the passenger flows have been properly considered when designing footbridge access.

 

[yorksrob]

It is dark, cold, windy and i don't think the passenger flows have been properly considered when designing footbridge access.

I think there's a limit to what they were able to do with regard to access to the island platforms they had to work with. The only alternative would have been to have the footbridge in the middle with stairs and escallators from either side. I suppose at least with the old subway, there weren't too many steps to negotiate.

 

[ValleyLines142]

Do you mean Newport and your aforementioned allegorical female reproductive system?

Yes. Both Newport and Bristol Parkway are efforts to get out of. I like Newport in terms of what I've described it as, but can't say anything for Bristol. However I did state this differently in my original post; I said I liked Newport and not Parkway but really I don't like both for the genuine reason.

 

[RichmondCommu]

Favourite is Dent, just such a lovely little country station.

I concur. I love walking from Ribblehead over Blea Moor into Dentdale, having a pint or two at the Sportmans Inn in Cowgill and then walking up the Coal Road to the station. Once you see the station house you know the battle is won!

Such a pity that the signal box (and block post) has gone. Still you can't have everything!

I also like Kirkby Stephen, which with the exception of the goods shed which is now out of use has changed very little since the days of steam.

 

[Be3G]

I'm not sure what my favourite station would be, but it takes no time at all to decide my least favourite: Angel Road. Despite the fact this is a station in London zone 4, trains only call at it in Monday–Friday peak hours, approximately once per hour in each direction. And only a few passengers seem to get on/off each train… which is not surprising when you consider that it's completely unstaffed, and the only way to get to it is by climbing under a dual-carriageway flyover and then walking along a narrow alleyway squashed between the railway line and a scrapyard. The area it's in isn't exactly known for a low crime rate, either. I wouldn't want to be using that station in the dark!

What's a real shame is that the station actually isn't far from a large retail area, containing a Tesco Extra and one of London's few Ikeas. Yet, because the station is hidden away, feels horribly unsafe and has a rubbish service, hardly anyone uses it for access to the shops and instead crams on to the tiny 192 buses which run to and from Tottenham Hale.

 

[LE Greys]

My favourite, as I've said many times before, is that oddity on today's network, the little halt at Berney Arms. Being surrounded by marshland and wildlife probably helps, but it's the sheer quirkiness of the place I love. With big stations, I find York hard to beat. It looks amazing, has a good variety of services and a fair chance of some steam in the summer.

My least favourite is Stevenage! Not only is it hideous, it has some of the scruffiest platforms in the country, with some bits being loose gravel. It's exposed, so freezing cold in the winter. Some canopies and decent windbreaks would sort that out (make them about the same length as a pair of 365s) and should help to distribute passengers much more effectively. Still, the staff are excellent and there are now refreshments available (although the newsagent at Hitchin does better tea if you're rail-side).

 

[Fred26]

My least favourite is Stevenage! Not only is it hideous, it has some of the scruffiest platforms in the country, with some bits being loose gravel. It's exposed, so freezing cold in the winter. Some canopies and decent windbreaks would sort that out (make them about the same length as a pair of 365s) and should help to distribute passengers much more effectively. Still, the staff are excellent and there are now refreshments available (although the newsagent at Hitchin does better tea if you're rail-side).

The platforms are in an even worse state now that the contractors have been pulled off the job by Network Rail and FCC management. I've no idea when the job will be finished.

 

[LE Greys]

The platforms are in an even worse state now that the contractors have been pulled off the job by Network Rail and FCC management. I've no idea when the job will be finished.

Aha, so that's what's going on!

 

[Fred26]

Aha, so that's what's going on!

Shoddy workmanship apparantly!

I've since been told they'll be back on site next week, having settled their differences with NR and FCC.

 

[Howardh]

Best medium station - Huddersfield (Pleeeeze make my train 30 minutes late so I can have another one)
Worst medium station - Bolton. Waited 20 yeras for "improvements" only for things to be worse than they were when they started. Waiting room on Platform 1/3? Glassed shed between two buildings, cold metal seats with huge doors that open every time a pigeon farts. Horrible place, thouroghly befitting Bolton town centre.

Best small station; Windermere or Oxenholme.

 

[12CSVT]

Best medium station - Huddersfield (Pleeeeze make my train 30 minutes late so I can have another one)
Worst medium station - Bolton. Waited 20 yeras for "improvements" only for things to be worse than they were when they started. Waiting room on Platform 1/3? Glassed shed between two buildings, cold metal seats with huge doors that open every time a pigeon farts. Horrible place, thouroghly befitting Bolton town centre.

Best small station; Windermere or Oxenholme.

One thing I would add about Bolton is that trains stop about 100 to 200 yds from the platform entrances.

 

[BTP]

Likes:

Wakefield Kirkgate
Shipley
Hebden Bridge
Preston
Keighley
Birmingham Moor Street
Didcot Parkway

Dislikes:

Darnall
Castleford
Retford
Walsall
Birmingham New Street
Tamworth