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London Bridge isn't too bad in its rebuilt form. Some will say its a pain going up and down the escalators compared to the old ramp, but you can pretty easily access all 16 platforms at the lower level and pretty seamless between Southeastern, Southern and Thameslink in a dash if you really need to.
London Bridge isn't too bad in its rebuilt form. Some will say its a pain going up and down the escalators compared to the old ramp, but you can pretty easily access all 16 platforms at the lower level and pretty seamless between Southeastern, Southern and Thameslink in a dash if you really need to.
Waterloo to Waterloo East is pretty awful, especially considering the number of people making the change and the crowd of people milling about at the top of the ramps down to the Waterloo East platforms, wondering which platform their train is going from. Rebuild Waterloo as a through station and close Charing Cross, I say! (Now that might be an interesting thread!!)
New Street isn't the best, but I'd say Stratford is just dire. They can't even spell the names of stations correctly on the new "platform finder" signs. It also lacks a good departure board area - you can't see calling points until you're at the steps of each platform in the walkways. If you don't know, you wouldn't realise you can get a fast train to say Romford or Shenfield. Fortunately, plans are being drawn up for a rebuild.
Anyone who's booked wheelchair assistance... will know Sheffield is hopeless at getting a ramp to the train. You get yelled at "you should of booked assistance by all", you even go to the station office and ask them to be there for the return train and they are never there, you get the wheelchair on manually and you get flack for it even though I've tackled worse pavements with my Mum's chair.
It's a nightmare.
Doncaster however is better organised, or at least it was before Platform 0.
I'm not entirely sure why, but I find Tamworth annoying and/or confusing.
I actually missed a train there earlier this year because for some reason I got confused about the orientation of the station and so was waiting on the down platform rather than the up, and once I realised my mistake I couldn't work out how to get between the two in time.
London Bridge isn't too bad in its rebuilt form. Some will say its a pain going up and down the escalators compared to the old ramp, but you can pretty easily access all 16 platforms at the lower level and pretty seamless between Southeastern, Southern and Thameslink in a dash if you really need to.
London Bridge isn't too bad in its rebuilt form. Some will say its a pain going up and down the escalators compared to the old ramp, but you can pretty easily access all 16 platforms at the lower level and pretty seamless between Southeastern, Southern and Thameslink in a dash if you really need to.
London Bridge is now very logical and intuitive to get around. I do miss the ramps and overhead bridge though, going up and down those escalators is a bit tedious, due to the lack of a mezzanine level
London Bridge is now very logical and intuitive to get around. I do miss the ramps and overhead bridge though, going up and down those escalators is a bit tedious, due to the lack of a mezzanine level
Not to get too off topic, but the original ideas featured a mezzanine and air rights development. As usual, it was ruled due to cost. The upgrade we got was a billion or so after all.
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London Bridge is now very logical and intuitive to get around. I do miss the ramps and overhead bridge though, going up and down those escalators is a bit tedious, due to the lack of a mezzanine level
I think the biggest criticism is the comparative length of the walk from the through platforms to the tube. Before the rebuild, you could position yourself at the front of the train, head straight down the ramps and then the (short) escalators into Joiner Street. Compare that with starting from carriage 3 or 4, heading down a long east-facing escalator, then turning back on yourself for a long walk through the Western Arcade. Much higher capacity (which is the compromise) but probably double the length of walk.
London Bridge is now very logical and intuitive to get around. I do miss the ramps and overhead bridge though, going up and down those escalators is a bit tedious, due to the lack of a mezzanine level
The volume of passengers interchanging reduced a lot when the Jubilee Line opened - before that the only way into the West End for passengers from the Southern side was to go over the bridge to platform 6 and go into Charing Cross, and huge numbers of people did that daily. Hardly anyone does that now. The redevelopment is impressive but not perfect - exit from the Southern platforms can be slow at peak times as everyone squeezes onto the one escalator, and its a lot harder just to nip from one side of the station to the other compared to footbridge days. Also not a lot of slack in the platforms on the southern side which can lead to waits outside the station at peak times.
The volume of passengers interchanging reduced a lot when the Jubilee Line opened - before that the only way into the West End for passengers from the Southern side was to go over the bridge to platform 6 and go into Charing Cross, and huge numbers of people did that daily. Hardly anyone does that now.
They do if they don't want to pay a Tube fare. Many southern commuters, even from within Greater London, still manage with point to point season tickets to "London terminals"
They do if they don't want to pay a Tube fare. Many southern commuters, even from within Greater London, still manage with point to point season tickets to "London terminals"
Its nothing like the stampede there would have been in the 90s and earlier to platform 6. And in any event with daily capping the additional costs of a tube ride are marginal - eg Z3-Terminals peak return is £7.80, daily cap £8.70. It was always mainly London passengers, Southern commuters from outside London for the West End would take Victoria trains.
I don’t like London Bridge, I’m not sure if it’s just the tedious escalator journeys but I really don’t like it for some reason. I’ve seen people go through the barriers and then realise they need to get back out again to reach their platform on more than one occasion too.
Waterloo East isn’t great as already mentioned.
I also really don’t like Blackfriars, I’d rather change at Elephant & Castle which is saying something!
Edinburgh Waverley is worth an “honorary” mention, it’s very easy to become disorientated, especially if changing from one of the through platforms.
York is a faff to change at because of the extremely narrow subway, but also the fact that there are nowhere near enough information screens, they blank too often to show irrelevant information, and the prevalence of DMUs can make it difficult to hear the announcements.
Wimbledon is awful. Only one narrow set of stairs from each pair of platforms, and huge numbers interchanging between SWR, Tube, tram and Thameslink. Fences have been put up to protect the fast line platforms 6 and 7, but these have to be opened specially during Wimbledon fortnight and on Sundays when trains are scheduled to call - intending passengers being coralled until the previous train has passed.
On platfom 5 (the Waterloo-bound platform) big crowds build up near the stairs as seasoned commuters know that the only chance of getting on a train in the peak hour is to be near the last carriage, as passengers alighting at Wimbledon choose that carriage in order to be first in the queue for the stairs. A second footbridge, at the London end, would solve that but neither SWT nor SWR have ever shown any interest in doing so, instead building fences on platforms 5 and 8 that are meant to channel passengers from the bridge further down the platform but in practice mean they have to walk further to catch their train - on platform 5 they just double back to be near the rear of the next Waterloo train - on platform 8, the extra distance can mean missing the train, with a a delay of 30 minutes as most destinations served by that platform only have 2tph. (And of course people who have missed trains spend longer on the platform, adding to the congestion)
The number of people switching from NR ticket to Oyster (for Tube, tram or local Thameslink services) makes it a hotspot for fare cheating (e.g buy a ticket from say Woking to West Byfleet, carrying on to Wimbledon and then Oyster from there, so revenue protection squads often blitz the place, but this makes matters worse as they barricade the top of the stairs, ensuring massive and dangerous congestion on the platforms as people jostle to try to catch their connecting trains. I have more than once missed a (six minute) Thameslink connection thanks to that.
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I'm going to go with Clapham Junction as a surprisingly good place to change trains - having both bridge and subway helps, as does having almost all destinations served by fixed platforms, and being able to see what you're doing.
Another vote for Gatwick as dire - I always get turned round somehow, and can't work out which way is up or down.
An interesting debate on New Street - given the numbers saying it's rubbish, I'd come down on that side - although it is possible to avoid gate lines, you need to know what you are doing, which seems to defeat the purpose of a simple interchange, and things like lounges away from the platforms are more necessary evils than features - for a good interchange you want to get to the platform for your train ASAP, so you can stop worrying that it might depart while you are somewhere else!
Shrewsbury on the whole yes, but there is one platform which you can only reach by going outside. Last time I did this, I traipsed over there and then there was a last-minute platform change so I had to traipse back.
York is a faff to change at because of the extremely narrow subway, but also the fact that there are nowhere near enough information screens, they blank too often to show irrelevant information, and the prevalence of DMUs can make it difficult to hear the announcements.
And because they're not too well known (especially the northern one), they're very often the quickest and easiest way between platforms. [They pre-date the bridge, of course.]
And because they're not too well known (especially the northern one), they're very often the quickest and easiest way between platforms. [They pre-date the bridge, of course.]
Well I've used the station 20 years without knowing about these, but to be fair, I don't use lifts so I've never looked for one, if I had, I may well have found them.
And because they're not too well known (especially the northern one), they're very often the quickest and easiest way between platforms. [They pre-date the bridge, of course.]
Well I've used the station 20 years without knowing about these, but to be fair, I don't use lifts so I've never looked for one, if I had, I may well have found them.
I'll be honest, despite having not been there for quite a while, I did walk straight into the subway assuming it was the default way! (and there were quite a few people using it too)
To be fair I had just got off the extreme southern end of a 6-car Redcar service, so it was closer.
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