Crewe station

[45039]

hi all
On a coast and peaks rover this week (4 in 8 days flexi one),went to crewe yesterday and was shocked at the state of the station compared to the 80's and 90's.
It is now so underused and derelict especially platform 12 whats the point in having all them platforms when not in use.
I bet they wish they could re-build it to a smaller size,the rundown diesel depot does not help either oh happy memories from the 80's.
Also went to chester as well and that is a total dump with all the weeds.
Yet sheffield station is well looked after and a station to be proud of.

 

[merlodlliw]

hi all
On a coast and peaks rover this week (4 in 8 days flexi one),went to crewe yesterday and was shocked at the state of the station compared to the 80's and 90's.
It is now so underused and derelict especially platform 12 whats the point in having all them platforms when not in use.
I bet they wish they could re-build it to a smaller size,the rundown diesel depot does not help either oh happy memories from the 80's.
Also went to chester as well and that is a total dump with all the weeds.
Yet sheffield station is well looked after and a station to be proud of.

1.Crewe is no longer the interchange it once was,managed by VT, you are correct,parts are in a poor state, Platform 11 & 12 are in use by a few services to Nth Wales.
2.Chester, a surprising comment after the multi £M facechange
managed by ATW.
3.Sheffield, first good report for East Midlands Trains who manage the station.

As was explained to me by a lovely Yorkshire lass,(based Sth Wales) guard on the Heart Of Wales line a couple of Sundays ago, If it does not move blame Nat Rail,if it moves blame the TOC.

 

[45039]

Chester millions spent on it where ? .
It looks a right mess all the tracks are weed covered and the bay platform for holyhead trains is disgusting with human waste and oil covered cess pit!!!.
Sheffield yes im proud of the station especially the fountain outside it looks stunning in the dark lit up.
But the worst i saw yesterday was allerton depot i know its still open but where abouts?

 

[robert2000]

well i gotta stick up for my home town and i must say that chester station has improved a lot since how it was about 2 years ago.

 

[merlodlliw]

Chester millions spent on it where ? .
It looks a right mess all the tracks are weed covered and the bay platform for holyhead trains is disgusting with human waste and oil covered cess pit!!!.
Sheffield yes im proud of the station especially the fountain outside it looks stunning in the dark lit up.
But the worst i saw yesterday was allerton depot i know its still open but where abouts?

Well you should have seen Caer a few years ago, this bay platform for Holyhead? are you refering to platform 2? Also did you not notice the new concorse , as for weed covered tracks,this is a NR job, do you not have weeds growing in Yorkshire.

 

[j0hn0]

I recently travelled to Holyhead and I have to agree the Chester station is appalling. As is Crewe.

Both these stations need a full rebuild like Rugby. A dilapidated, ancient relic left to rot by all. Too expensive to return to it's former glory so they rebuilt it, not entirely well as London Fast goes through one of the old platforms and thus I never see a train at 125 pass through that.

What I'm saying is that there are so many important stations over the UK that are like this, not only grotty, weedy and unwelcoming, but also poorly designed with conflicting paths and delays frequent.

Yes, they cut certain corners at Rugby but it is still, operationally and visually, a great station again which helps to improve reliability across the WCML.

Crewe is at the other end of the Trent valley loop around Birmingham and I can't believe that such a complex station has never been remodelled. Surely this station is just as important as Rugby on the WCML.

I did hear that there once was a suggestion to move the station 1/2 a mile towards London

 

[merlodlliw]

I recently travelled to Holyhead and I have to agree the Chester station is appalling. As is Crewe.



Well Chester or as we call it Caer, is a listed building and the frontage as been rebuilt and is smart, keeping in line with the listings.
I agree internal parts are rough, but £M as already been spent on the concorse as well.and is activly used by 4 Tocs,

 

[j0hn0]

I'm sure that's true, all I can remember from calling at the platforms is that there were new signs, but in general, the platform areas are pretty poor, like Crewe.

I don't think that poor quality stations are limited to britain though. I'm moving to Dusseldorf in a couple of weeks and when i was there having the interview, the station there was worse than many in britain in terms of it's condition. Overgrown, rusty, graffiti'd and dirty. But of course, being german, entirely functional.

 

[45039]

Im not saying we dont have weeds here in yorkshire,yes true we have them in sheffield.
But at chester there was a lot more i know there is health and saftey issues now concerning walking the track to clean them up but come on some places are disgusting.
The station frontage might be ok but the platform area's are a mess boardered up windows and doors and the canopy looks like its going to fall down any minute also if i remeber correctly rail a couple of issue's ago made a comment about the underpass outside the station saying you feel threatened as you walked through it with the tramps and that.

 

[323235]

Im not saying we dont have weeds here in yorkshire,yes true we have them in sheffield.
But at chester there was a lot more i know there is health and saftey issues now concerning walking the track to clean them up but come on some places are disgusting.
The station frontage might be ok but the platform area's are a mess boardered up windows and doors and the canopy looks like its going to fall down any minute also if i remeber correctly rail a couple of issue's ago made a comment about the underpass outside the station saying you feel threatened as you walked through it with the tramps and that.

what underpass?

 

[45039]

i might be mistaken about the underpass but i remember something about walking into the centre from the station saying things like signage and the city fathers should do something about it

 

[tbtc]

Crewe could concevably have a half hourly (or better) service to London, Manchester, Stoke, Manchester Airport, Liverpool, Preston, Chester, Cardiff, Birmingham etc, with hourly services to places like Derby, Carlisle, Llandudno Junction etc.

Sadly, these days, people prefer direct services to a frequent connection

 

[merlodlliw]

i might be mistaken about the underpass but i remember something about walking into the centre from the station saying things like signage and the city fathers should do something about it

If you leave the station along City Rd with signage, there is no underpass, if you leave
the station by turning right, you will come to an underpass to the back of the city, but these are no different from any City, surprised you did not use the free every five minute
bus to the centre, right outside the concourse.

Sheffield once had steel, Chester had the Romans, but Chesters got history.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Crewe could concevably have a half hourly (or better) service to London, Manchester, Stoke, Manchester Airport, Liverpool, Preston, Chester, Cardiff, Birmingham etc, with hourly services to places like Derby, Carlisle, Llandudno Junction etc.

Sadly, these days, people prefer direct services to a frequent connection

With all due respect, there is 30 minute service to Chester & Stoke plus three
trains an hour or more to London but take your point on the rest.

 

[johnb]

With all due respect, there is 30 minute service to Chester & Stoke plus three trains an hour or more to London but take your point on the rest.

Also 3tph to Birmingham (2x LM and 1x Virgin)

 

[tbtc]

Chester had the Romans, but Chesters got history

...and a manky station...

With all due respect, there is 30 minute service to Chester & Stoke plus three trains an hour or more to London but take your point on the rest.

Similarly, the LM Birmingham to Liverpool service stops there half hourly - many of the freqent links are already there, or are feasible frequency enhancements (and I'm trying to be realistic).

If we had one company (as per British Rail) you could advertise the "turn up and go" frequency to encourage people to change there, but sadly that won't happen.

 

[merlodlliw]

...and a manky station... Whatever,



Similarly, the LM Birmingham to Liverpool service stops there half hourly - many of the freqent links are already there, or are feasible frequency enhancements (and I'm trying to be realistic).

If we had one company (as per British Rail) you could advertise the "turn up and go" frequency to encourage people to change there, but sadly that won't happen.

Well TBTC, I note you are from Sheffield, is your station as smart as the
the other chap thinks, Chester however did enjoy a Station many many years prior to Sheffield, so Waki informs me.


Pros & Cons about one Company, and a shuttle service, Our Open Access
TOC as brought our Area into the real world of excellence when BR turned
Wrexham into a backwater to rely on the bus which still applies today on the Chester run, 5 brand new Arriva buses to Chester Station an hour x 18 hours a day free if you have a bus pass, one Arriva train an hour to Chester Station
all buy tickets on this. Five years ago we only had a Chester train every two
hours, im off subject now.

my opinion