Leeds station is an embarrassment

[ainsworth74]

Isn't there a railway byelaw regarding littering at stations and on trains?

Railway Byelaw 6 (7):

No person shall drop litter or leave waste on the railway.

Would appear to cover it.

Though do we really need to rehash this ground again? I doubt anyone's view points have changed and it isn't as if there's new ground to cover?

 

[johntea]

I can't say I've noticed a major rubbish problem at Leeds station, and at 18:15 the cleaners may have a hard time navigating round the 'peak time' commuters on the station to begin with

On an off topic note I was at Manchester Piccadilly yesterday, why oh why above the information desk does it have 'example' cardboard departure screens on show? Because that isn't going to confuse anyone...

 

[yorksrob]

Isn't there a railway byelaw regarding littering at stations and on trains?

If there is, I'll just have to stop buying food from the station I suppose.

 

[anti-pacer]

If there is, I'll just have to stop buying food from the station I suppose.

Haha.

If you have time to spare before your train, eat it in the outlet. If not, eat it on the train. You'll then be near bins, until I speak to NR to get clear bin bags in Leeds station.

 

[yorksrob]

Haha.

If you have time to spare before your train, eat it in the outlet. If not, eat it on the train. You'll then be near bins, until I speak to NR to get clear bin bags in Leeds station.

To be fair, I could probably do with losing the weight anyway

 

[muz379]

I'm in agreement that bins should be provided, although the lack of them isn't an acceptable excuse for littering.

Agreed with this ,

Loads of time I will have bought something , consumed it , not been able to find a bin for the packaging thought "why have they not provided bins here thats a bit silly " but not wanted to litter . The only thing that is really annoying to have to carry to dispose of until finding a bin is a coffee cup because of the last little bit of coffee that will leak out if you put it in a bag or anything ,

 

[yorkie]

If they were provided, and I agree that they really should be, how do you think those who choose not to use them should be dealt with?

Northern Rail plain clothes inspectors would issue "Failure to dispose" notices to unsuspecting customers, who would be required to pay a "fixed penalty" branded demand for an out of court settlement of £80, else face prosecution under the Railway Byelaws.

No, this isn't serious, I don't actually have any such proposals, my only comment is that we should be supplied with bins, and until that happens I am not at all surprised that litter is an issue.

 

[thenorthern]

I don't get what's wrong with Leeds Station there are many stations in West Yorkshire that are worse.

Bradford Interchange, Bradford Forster Square and Wakefield Kirkgate are much worse.

 

[alexl92]

I don't get what's wrong with Leeds Station there are many stations in West Yorkshire that are worse.

Bradford Interchange, Bradford Forster Square and Wakefield Kirkgate are much worse.

I think the difference is that Leeds is the financial capital of the UK and Yorkshire's largest city, and yet has an ugly, filthy station covered in litter because they can't provide a few bins on each platform and in the concourse. I don't deny that Kirkgate needs help though.

I know a couple of people have said wait until you get on the train, but the bins on 185s (my most frequent trips) are tiny and often overflowing, so stuffing a mcDs paper bag with a cup or bottle and the card boxes for fries and a burger or whatever inside is impossible.

I was absolutely stunned when I learned that it had only had a rebuild in 2002. I was hoping it was due one...

 

[Cherry_Picker]

At the risk of taking this thread off on a tangent:

I think the difference is that Leeds is the financial capital of the UK

WHAT? hock:

 

[alexl92]

At the risk of taking this thread off on a tangent:



WHAT? hock:

Correction: The biggest financial centre in the UK outside of London. Sorry!

 

[JaJaWa]

I've asked multiple members of the BTP and NR staff at Leeds station what to do with litter. They've told me to just put it down against a wall / gestured to where to put it (not a bin)...

 

[Abpj17]

Correction: The biggest financial centre in the UK outside of London. Sorry!

Even so - doesn't Edinburgh come next? http://www.cisi.org/bookmark/genericform.aspx?form=29848780&URL=CentresOutsideLondon

Back to part of the main topic, I'm surprised no one has queried the common reason why there aren't bins. It's still unusual to find public bins in London due to security risks. Not sure whether the same logic has been applied in Leeds.

 

[JaJaWa]

Even so - doesn't Edinburgh come next? http://www.cisi.org/bookmark/genericform.aspx?form=29848780&URL=CentresOutsideLondon

Back to part of the main topic, I'm surprised no one has queried the common reason why there aren't bins. It's still unusual to find public bins in London due to security risks. Not sure whether the same logic has been applied in Leeds.

TfL have been bringing back bins on the Underground since 2011 and every station will have at least one bin by the end of 2015.

 

[thenorthern]

As I say though Leeds Station isn't that bad, its not the most pretty building most stations are "ugly".

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

No, this isn't serious, I don't actually have any such proposals, my only comment is that we should be supplied with bins, and until that happens I am not at all surprised that litter is an issue.

Was it not the IRA bombing of Warrington town centre, where the device was left in a refuse bin in a public area and killed two young people, that led to a removal of existing bins in public areas at that time?

 

[Muzer]

Indeed, but the railway solved that problem a long time ago with clear plastic bags on a metal hoop for bins. Works as a bin, doesn't provide shrapnel, and allows you to see anything suspicious inside it. Simples.

 

[anti-pacer]

I don't get what's wrong with Leeds Station there are many stations in West Yorkshire that are worse.

Bradford Interchange, Bradford Forster Square and Wakefield Kirkgate are much worse.

Yes, agreed, and all run by Northern Rail. Enough said.

Bradford Interchange, which I pass through daily and will be doing so in about 2 hours, is often littered, although someone there does a regular clean. I've also seen a regular cleaner at Forster Square.

Wakefield Kirkgate, my local station, is populated by the local scrotes at night who use it as their drinking den.

Northern Rail really do need to step up their game on cleaning, but again, it all boils down to the lazy people who litter. All Northern trains and their stations have bins (clear bin bag types), so there's definitely no excuse there.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Wakefield Kirkgate, my local station, is populated by the local scrotes at night who use it as their drinking den.

Has the intended gentrification of the recent improvements not been a deterrent to those more socially unaware parts of the local humanity in the Wakefield Kirkgate railway station area?

 

[anti-pacer]

Has the intended gentrification of the recent improvements not been a deterrent to those more socially unaware parts of the local humanity in the Wakefield Kirkgate railway station area?

It's still very much "work in progress" and resembles a scene from 'Auf Wiedersehen Pet'.

Even so, after its completion, it's still going to be unstaffed.

 

[muz379]

Indeed, but the railway solved that problem a long time ago with clear plastic bags on a metal hoop for bins. Works as a bin, doesn't provide shrapnel, and allows you to see anything suspicious inside it. Simples.

Exactly , Not to mention that if a terrorist really wanted to they could disguise a device to look like a common piece of litter / primark bag , mcdonalds bag etc etc

 

[ianhr]

Which just goes to show that ranting on forums has no effect! :roll:

Leeds station certainly doesn't look like it had hundreds of millions of pounds spent on it only 15 or so years ago. As is the state of the trainshed from diesel fumes.



The roof certainly needs a deep clean but it might be worth gritting our teeth until the planned electrification is done.

Yes! I have always thought that it is a brilliant demonstration of the inefficiencies of diesel traction compared with electric. It gives the impression that half of the fuel consumed in the past 12 years is now either stuck to the roof or splattered over the tracks, quite apart from the noise, smell and poor air quality. I hope they give it a good clean IF the electrification is ever completed.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Major railway stations are not public land. They are businesses that make plenty of money out of outlets and concessions. If they are going to sell such things, they should provide litter facilities on their premises.

You know why they don't, right? Clue: it isn't cost-cutting.

If there isn't a bin, take your litter home, or put it in the bin on the train.

Neil
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

If you're out of their premises, it's up to you to find alternative methods for disposal. Clear bin bags would be the way forward in Leeds station.

ISTR stations are split into low, medium and high risk, with big-city stations getting high. Clear bin bag bins are provided on low and medium risk stations, whereas none may be provided on high risk stations.

All major stations have food outlets but stay pretty much clean. What puzzles me is Leeds in particular has a problem with litter.

Is it another manifestation of the drunks-on-trains problem, namely that in some areas of the North there seem to have recently become far too many people who don't know how to behave in public?

That said, Liverpool city centre of the late 1990s was like walking through a Council tip. And that did have bins.

Neil

 

[ianhr]

It's still very much "work in progress" and resembles a scene from 'Auf Wiedersehen Pet'.

Even so, after its completion, it's still going to be unstaffed.

It is a disgrace that it has so far taken ~3 years and is still nowhere near completion. Even when it is finished the only real improvement will be on the Leeds platform. The wind and rain swept island platform will still have only a bus shelter and yet this is where many people now wait for trains to London, Sheffield, Nottingham etc. If it is not going to be staffed then many of the 'social' (or antisocial) problems will remain.

As for Northern Rail's staffing policies I made a quick visit to Burnley Manchester Road last Saturday and although I thought the new station building was pleasing and adequate I was shocked to find that it is only staffed and open 06.40 to 13.15 Monday - Friday!

 

[Murph]

You know why they don't, right? Clue: it isn't cost-cutting.

If there isn't a bin, take your litter home, or put it in the bin on the train.

Neil

NR station staff are generally quite happy to give permission to "just stick it on a ledge or the floor", or equivalent. If stations sell food products, they have an obligation to deal with the waste generated by those sales. I think it's wholly inappropriate to expect customers to have to take food packaging with them. If stations choose not to make any bins available, then they have to expect that there will be litter to deal with from their retail operations.

 

[GrimsbyPacer]

Edit: It was already mentioned.

 

[Tetchytyke]

SSP and the likes pay an awful lot of money to Network Rail for the privilege of being in the station. They've paid for Network Rail to deal with the litter.

The problem at Leeds is that they're not doing. It isn't just the litter. It's a year ago now, admittedly, but the last time I used the pay toilets in the station one cubicle was blocked and the other one had a pair of soiled underpants just left on the floor (and it looked like they'd been there some time). Network Rail staff suggested that I use the Wetherspoon toilets if I didn't like it. That attitude just sums the whole station up. It would also explain why litter isn't getting picked up.

They manage to have clear bins on the London Underground, for heaven's sake. I don't understand why they don't manage it at Network Rail managed stations.

As for whether the station is an "embarrassment", it depends what you want. I don't find the station dark or cold but they don't help themselves by painting everything in battleship grey.

 

[thenorthern]

Was it not the IRA bombing of Warrington town centre, where the device was left in a refuse bin in a public area and killed two young people, that led to a removal of existing bins in public areas at that time?

I think that bins were removed from stations long before that in the 1980s although the Warrington Attacks did re-enforce the fact that bins were a major target.

I think I read though the new bins at stations are bomb-resistant and the plastic used is the same as police riot gear or something similar. I am glad that they are re-introducing bins at stations as although they are still a terrorist target Islamic related terrorism mostly uses suicide bombings rather than the IRA's tactic of planting bombs which would suggest that bins are not as much as a threat as they used to be.

 

[muz379]

SSP and the likes pay an awful lot of money to Network Rail for the privilege of being in the station. They've paid for Network Rail to deal with the litter.

The problem at Leeds is that they're not doing. It isn't just the litter. It's a year ago now, admittedly, but the last time I used the pay toilets in the station one cubicle was blocked and the other one had a pair of soiled underpants just left on the floor (and it looked like they'd been there some time). Network Rail staff suggested that I use the Wetherspoon toilets if I didn't like it. That attitude just sums the whole station up. It would also explain why litter isn't getting picked up.

They manage to have clear bins on the London Underground, for heaven's sake. I don't understand why they don't manage it at Network Rail managed stations.

As for whether the station is an "embarrassment", it depends what you want. I don't find the station dark or cold but they don't help themselves by painting everything in battleship grey.

similar experiences with the toilets you pay to use at Manchester Piccadilly as well . Although last time i was there they did have a small number of clear bins placed in the concourse area .

Contrast that to the Manchester arndale centre where outside of the food court there are no bins and you hardly ever see any litter in my opinion .

 

[anti-pacer]

Is it another manifestation of the drunks-on-trains problem, namely that in some areas of the North there seem to have recently become far too many people who don't know how to behave in public?

That said, Liverpool city centre of the late 1990s was like walking through a Council tip. And that did have bins.

Neil

So you'd say it has a lot to do with Northern culture?

Yeah, can't disagree with that from what I've seen.