Bleakest UK Station (Trivia)

[Lloyds siding]

If we're going back in history using Disused stations then there's some very bleak ones there.
How about Tilmanstone Colliery yard? Disused Stations: Tilmanstone Colliery yard

 

[Hadders]

Essex Road.

Especially the utterly decrepit sprial staircase. One of my favourite stations too!

 

[ScottGallagher]

Another one i have to add , Sudbury and Harrow Road. Out of all the stations on the lines out of Marylebone it's the only one that keeps the feeling of managed rundown that it did in the BR days. The station has incredibly narrow platforms to the extent you feel like you'll get blown off when a fast train passes (which is almost all of them ) , is accessed by a dingy and damp underpass that i definitely wouldn't want to hang around at night and receives an incredibly meagre 8 TPD service (Up trains in morning peaks only , Down trains in evening peaks only ) and in my opinion easily wins the award of the most bleak station in London at the minimum. (Attathed are photos of 68015 passing the station , The station underpass and the station entrance)

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Although the station now does look a lot better than it did in 1986 from this photo i've found on Flickr.

Sudbury & Harrow Road 2 November 1986

Explore Southern Reg's 4841 photos on Flickr!

www.flickr.com

That looks like something out of New York Subway circa 1980!

 

[Russel]

Essex Road.

Especially the utterly decrepit sprial staircase. One of my favourite stations too!

It certainly has a very odd atmosphere, I'm not easily spooked, but I visited before Christmas to tick it off and had the whole platform to myself, the silence was deafening!

 

[William3000]

Some particular contenders:
Rannoch, Carrour, Shippea Hill, Bordersley, Ardwick, Pear Tree, Teeside Airport

 

[Djgr]

I remain amazed Ardwick got a new footbridge when the old one finally rotted to nothing. It serves basically no purpose - arguably Polesworth was far more useful and that is in effect closed (well, one way) due to its bridge issues, as is Pilning. That said, with the city centre extending outwards all the time it's likely to gain a purpose within 20 years or so, so maybe it was easier to keep it open on that basis than close it and reopen with the new station having to fulfil all modern safety requirements.

A couple of Merseyrail ones, Kirkdale used to feel pretty bleak when it had a scrapyard in the background. Sandhills still is!

Have we had Altnabreac yet?

Bank Hall is not great. I don't mind Sandhills as there's quite a lot to see.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Since closed stations are allowed, I nominate Pendleton Bridge that was closed in 1966 that had its Bolton bound platform hard against a cloth proofing factory and its Salford bound platform giving views of industrial decay.

 

[Sealink]

Georgemas Junction can feel bleak, especially since it became a one platform station with which looks out to an industrial fenced off freight bay.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

If a 'Roundabouts of Redditch' 2003 calendar was once possible, perhaps we have a new best-selling category here? Certainly be "fun" narrowing the various nominations down to a top twelve!

 

[Rescars]

As we are allowed closed stations, may we also have a category for the bleakest preserved stations. In exposed locations, even the loveliest station can be pretty bleak in foul weather. For reasons of altitude, I nominate Leadhills and Glengonnar on the Wanlockhead line.

 

[Sealink]

In Northern Ireland, the now closed station of Victoria Park was pretty bleak (despite it being near, er, Victoria Park).
No shelter and a very uneven platform, with a handful of stopping services.

 

[DarloRich]

Crewe. Wants bulldozing.

Bletchley - drab

Bescot Stadium. Urgh.

Manors. Sigh.

I wouldn't want to imagine being stuck in Chathill on a wet winter Wednesday. At least you have interesting ECML traffic going past but with its's meagre amount of trains per day i wouldn't exactly want to see my train cancelled there.

It is a lovely station and I was about to say it is ok as it is on the bus route to Newcastle but it isn't!

I am sure it WAS!

 

[John Griffiths]

Stockton.

At least it was when I was last there well over a decade ago.

 

[sad1e]

Crewe. Wants bulldozing.

Crewe definitely is very grim in its modern state , while I've been there I've noticed lots of peeling paint , not a single glass pane in the roof over the bay platform and just a general air of decline around the whole of Crewe as a whole. Half of the pre refurb station just being left to rot right next to the current one doesn't help , Neither does all the rotting coaching stock in the Horse landing sidings right next to platform 13.

 

[185143]

Redcar British Steel when I went will take some beating!

Just after the steelworks had stopped production. It was dark, an extremely windy night. Got off the pacer and the guard made sure I knew there wasn't a train until Monday before departing.

Being stood at this totally barren platform, surrounded by the steelworks which were all still lit up but totally silent apart from the howling wind.

Pilning and St. Andrews Road I'd certainly agree with. As I would for Carstairs waiting for the sleeper.

Reston... yeah. Not much there that's for sure. I'd imagine on a winter's night or in poor weather that wouldn't be somewhere you'd want to be!

Carstairs, early in the morning in winter felt pretty bleak. There was a Manchester-Glasgow Voyager which stopped there and dropped off passengers for Edinburgh, then a Glasgow-King’s Cross service rattled through without stopping, then a Pendolino empty from Polmadie arrived for us to Edinburgh. The Pendolino then formed a service to Euston.
This was a few years ago, mind.

Still happens, however it's a TPE service heading North that calls, almost certainly the same path. The connection is a Glasgow-Edinburgh ScotRail now, though I think CrossCountry will sometimes call if the connection is missed or cancelled.

 

[The exile]

Bristol Parkway, always a cold place to wait in winter.

Though vastly improved…

 

[Parallel]

I’d put a vote in for some of the underground platforms on the Argyll lines.

 

[Taunton]

Pilning and St. Andrews Road I'd certainly agree with.

Every time this topic comes up someone mentions this locality, most commonly Severn Beach, which while it looks not quite as dismal as it did a generation ago still has a bleak and spooky aura. It seems a few houses have been built there, and presumably over time (a long, long time) the outer suburbs of Bristol might start reaching it.

A generation back, in mid-winter, you could arrive there by train in February, walk around for the 10 minutes or so dwell time, come back, not see a soul. The supposed fairground, even the single shop, looking abandoned.

 

[321362]

Essex Road.

Especially the utterly decrepit sprial staircase. One of my favourite stations too!

All of the Northern City Line feels bleak, but I'd argue that while Drayton Park may be above ground, the proximity to the Emirates Stadium always unnerves me (as a Spurs fan of course!)

On a more serious note, Silver Street (Edmonton) is right next to a dual carriageway, has the bare minimum on the platforms and isn't in the nicest area, to put it lightly.

 

[sad1e]

I’d put a vote in for some of the underground platforms on the Argyll lines.

Most of them from what I've seen seem to be fine although the service frequency does get quite annoying due to there being two branches giving the underground stations a less frequent service than you would expect as the service has to be halved across both of them. They could do with some better lighting but that's really it in my opinion.

 

[Russel]

Though vastly improved…

I've not visited since the wires went up to be fair.

I’d put a vote in for some of the underground platforms on the Argyll lines.

Exhibition Centre felt a bit bleak to me when I visited in August, odd layout overshadowed by a motorway flyover.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Exhibition Centre felt a bit bleak to me when I visited in August, odd layout overshadowed by a motorway flyover.

I've used that one and it is a bit! Freezing cold in winter too. And the bridge over from the SEC feels a bit unsafe, fully enclosed and with blind corners.

 

[SomeTrainboy]

barrow haven

 

[Russel]

I've used that one and it is a bit! Freezing cold in winter too. And the bridge over from the SEC feels a bit unsafe, fully enclosed and with blind corners.

I didn't use the bridge, I just waited on the Partick bound platform the the following train because I wanted a 334, but even mid day in August it felt uneasy, no idea why though really.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I didn't use the bridge, I just waited on the Partick bound platform the the following train because I wanted a 334, but even mid day in August it felt uneasy, no idea why though really.

I did notice a few "neds" hanging around there, but they seemed a bit comedic rather than actually threatening. A totally different feel to neer-do-wells down South.

 

[Russel]

I did notice a few "neds" hanging around there, but they seemed a bit comedic rather than actually threatening. A totally different feel to neer-do-wells down South.

Yeah, agreed, for all the criticism Glasgow gets, I feel much less safe walking around Birmingham.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Yeah, agreed, for all the criticism Glasgow gets, I feel much less safe walking around Birmingham.

I'm inclined to agree.

 

[Djgr]

I've used that one and it is a bit! Freezing cold in winter too. And the bridge over from the SEC feels a bit unsafe, fully enclosed and with blind corners.

Agreed. Some work is needed to champion the pedestrian in this part of town

 

[Lampshade]

I nominate Bedford St Johns.

 

[Mogster]

Salford Crescent?