Is Newport Station ugly?

[penguin8967]

Does Newport even have a proper indoor waiting room? And what's with all building work on platforms 2/3 at the moment?

Every time I've been there (admittedly only 3 or 4 times) platform 1 has had nobody on it and no trains due - it almost looks abandoned and is certainly weird having the stairs so far from where the platform actually begins.

 

[Techniquest]

Newport station, I have to say is not what it should be like. I don't use it too often these days thankfully, but while it is better in some respects I also hate using it. If I have anything less than 10 minutes to change platforms there, it's always risky. I'll never understand how ticketing systems will allow a mere 5 minutes at Newport off trains from London, it's just too tight and not worth booking such fares or even trying to make the connection!

The best bit of Newport station, personally, is Hi Coffee next to the platform 4 gateline. Always lovely people in there, the coffee is good and they do amazing vegan rolls. Mmm!

Fortunately, I don't spend that much time in Newport. It's not that it's a bad place to go to, indeed there are some nice bits, and I haven't yet come across the parks someone mentioned. However I am interested in those, recommendations are highly welcome please I don't know what it is about Newport, I just don't view it as anywhere more exciting than a place to change trains! Quite, if I'm doing that I prefer Bristol Parkway and that isn't much fun for changing trains in cold weather!

Would I describe Newport's station as one of the ugliest places on the planet? No. I scoured the memory banks briefly for that, and one of the first places that came to mind was that tower block immediately outside Worcester Shrub Hill station. Another was the blocks of flats next to a crossroads on Essex Road in London, where said road crosses with the one from Highbury & Islington station (A11-something). I remember looking at those and thinking 'you poor souls living in somewhere like that'. Those flats might be nice inside, but I'm not convinced.

I'd say Newport station didn't need all that work done to it, but it did need an upgrade. The lifts were definitely needed, and a bigger footbridge, but a lot of it could have been kept as it was.

 

[brad465]

It shouldn't be too hard to demolish it though if a better design can be put forward, I mean there's a scrap dealer round the corner

 

[Mordac]

Agree Preston Railway station is attractive, although it now has a brand new entrance which is a concrete carbuncle.
However Preston Bus station is a truely hideous building. Dating from 1969 it has been voted the ugliest building in the UK (first place, not third)

Preston bus station is indeed one of the worst buildings I've ever seen. Of course the heritage lobby have managed to get it listed so the people of Preston must suffer that monstrosity for eternity.

I don't understand why people like Coventry railway station, it looks like a council swimming pool.

 

[Parallel]

Does Newport even have a proper indoor waiting room? And what's with all building work on platforms 2/3 at the moment?

Yes, there are indoor waiting rooms on platform 4 and platforms 2/3. The one on 2/3 is rather bleak however and is small with only a few seats. The platform 4 one is slightly better but the door closer has been broken on one of the doors for years, so people keep walking in/out with the door being left open which isn’t great in cold weather.

 

[DelW]

I don't personally consider the new buildings ugly, though it's unfortunate that they've proved to lack weather resistance so badly. But their location is indeed an issue, being away from the facilities on the platforms, and especially as Ebbw Junction says:

The new station building has also had the effect of moving the entrance to the station further away from the main areas of the city, and I'm sure that was not a good thing for travellers.

The walk from the new building's entrance toward the city centre is most unattractive, going either through a rather scruffy car park or around the side of the Travelodge with its boarded up retail units. The pedestrian route from the old building via Cambrian Road wasn't great, but it was still far better. Going that way now is not only longer, but means walking alongside the busy dual carriageway first.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Preston bus station is indeed one of the worst buildings I've ever seen. Of course the heritage lobby have managed to get it listed so the people of Preston must suffer that monstrosity for eternity.

I quite like it in a 1960s sense, but not as a bus station as it's in the wrong place. It should be next to the railway station.

I don't understand why people like Coventry railway station, it looks like a council swimming pool.

I assume it's a consequence of the 1960s bit being listed, but it's like there was a station there then they built another one right next to it without doing anything at all to the original one and nobody can quite understand why.

You could argue Preston doesn't need one at all - if they hadn't one-wayed Fishergate it could have been a cross city operation with a couple of bays at the railway station for terminating regional services like the Stagecoach 4x.

The thing about Newport is that they built it in modern times - there was really no excuse for not realising it was rubbish.

 

[Ashley Hill]

I don’t like the new building at Newport either. For a start operationally it’s at the wrong end of the station. Nice long straight platforms going unused whilst all trains on 2&3 stop on the Cardiff end curves. The main buffet is isolated from potential users and as another post points out P1 looks abandoned and unloved. There was nothing wrong with the old buildings that were serving their purpose well.
Wasn’t the new building built in connection with some golf championship or other?

 

[Techniquest]

I don't understand why people like Coventry railway station, it looks like a council swimming pool.

I think the new building is drastically superior to what was there before. That old one was in dire need of modernising, and based on my very limited use of the station in summer 2022 it gets the thumbs up from me now. There's still work to do, by the looks of it, on the platforms but the main entrance is much better than it used to be.

Sadly though, it is still in Coventry

 

[Mordac]

I think the new building is drastically superior to what was there before. That old one was in dire need of modernising, and based on my very limited use of the station in summer 2022 it gets the thumbs up from me now. There's still work to do, by the looks of it, on the platforms but the main entrance is much better than it used to be.

Sadly though, it is still in Coventry

I'm talking about the old bit, the new bit is unremarkable but inoffensive.

 

[Techniquest]

I'm talking about the old bit, the new bit is unremarkable but inoffensive.

Oh OK. I didn't see much of the old bit last time I was there.

 

[Revaulx]

Not really been my experience to be fair. Whilst it’s probably fair to say that south Wales as a whole is grittier than mid and north Wales, I find Newport and the immediate surrounding area really stands out.

Again anecdotally, I find the Welsh to be a lot friendlier in the South. I supppose they aren’t as plagued by Scousers as those in the North though.

Newport is a dump, whatever.

Edit: from reading some of the above posts it looks my unfavourable impression of Newport is partly attributable to the re-siting of the station entrance making the walk into the centre longer and more unpleasant.

 

[slowroad]

Again anecdotally, I find the Welsh to be a lot friendlier in the South. I supppose they aren’t as plagued by Scousers as those in the North though.

Newport is a dump, whatever.

Edit: from reading some of the above posts it looks my unfavourable impression of Newport is partly attributable to the re-siting of the station entrance making the walk into the centre longer and more unpleasant.

The centre of Newport is a bit of a dump, unfortunately. (I’m from there.) Lots of buildings which are semi-derelict at ground level, but attractive and quite grand above. Rotting from the ground up. Still with some potential, but for what? Is it worse than other similar sized places? (Doncaster, Wigan, Huddersfield???) What’s to be done with such places now that shopping and offices have closed, moved out of town, or consolidated in bigger cities?

 

[87electric]

Newport station had, from an enthusiasts point, an ambience for spotting, but the transformation killed it dead. I still go and visit but Cardiff is so more vibrant, in many ways.

 

[Techniquest]

Newport station had, from an enthusiasts point, an ambience for spotting, but the transformation killed it dead. I still go and visit but Cardiff is so more vibrant, in many ways.

I have to agree with Newport, I spent much time there spotting years ago. Cardiff is definitely much better these days, although I don't platform-end now!

 

[Ashley Hill]

I have to agree with Newport, I spent much time there spotting years ago. Cardiff is definitely much better these days, although I don't platform-end now!

Oh yes,walking down Ninian Park road and standing on the footbridge overlooking Canton. Were you brave enough to go and ask for a list of the locos on shed?

 

[Techniquest]

Oh yes,walking down Ninian Park road and standing on the footbridge overlooking Canton. Were you brave enough to go and ask for a list of the locos on shed?

Sadly I'm a wee bit too young for that! I got onto the scene in October 2003, just as I had started at university in Swansea (so I'd have been 19 at the time).

I do remember doing the walk from Central to spot what was on depot though, good memories! Weirdly, Ninian Park reminds me of suburban stations in Brussels, the sort that look like that if you got off there you'd be waiting for many hours for the next train back, waiting for an escape from oblivion!

 

[MarkyT]

I quite like it in a 1960s sense, but not as a bus station as it's in the wrong place. It should be next to the railway station.
...
You could argue Preston doesn't need one at all - if they hadn't one-wayed Fishergate it could have been a cross city operation with a couple of bays at the railway station for terminating regional services like the Stagecoach 4x.

A good model for most towns is if the bus station is at least on the same side of the centre as the rail station, so a walk between the two is minimised. Preston clearly fails on this metric, but the building is ok as a car park and I'm sure some other use could be found for the ground floor.

The thing about Newport is that they built it in modern times - there was really no excuse for not realising it was rubbish.

I don't criticise providing the expanded car parking in the old yard and the direct access from it, but I think moving the primary focus of an essentially urban station to mainly cater for such road users while closing off the most convenient entrance for shopping and bus station was a mistake. The detailed design and build quality issues compound this.