Northern rail-local station question

[Jimbob1984]

I was once asked at a northern rail interview what my local station was

After telling them my 2 nearest stations they asked me to tell them about them and I didn't have a clue

My question is what sort of information are they wanting me to tell them. I expect in future interviews this question will crop up again and I'd like to be able to answer properly!

Thanks in advance

 

[northwichcat]

If you use a station regularly then you must have an idea of either what improvements the station needs or why it's better than other stations (if it needs no improvements.)

 

[302PS]

I got asked the same question, my local station is currently undergoing a big regeneration project so was able to talk about that

 

[Greenback]

I expect it may have been used as both an ice breaker and also as a way of finding out what sort of knowledge the applicant has about railways in general.

 

[transmanche]

My question is what sort of information are they wanting me to tell them.

I suspect this isn't a question with a 'right' or 'wrong' answer, but they're interested to see what you think is important about the station and see what kind of customer service ethic you have. Such as how frequent the trains are. Are there long ticket queues at peak times? Does the TVM screen face into the sun? Can the PA be heard clearly? And so on.

 

[ANorthernGuard]

Many moons ago when I started I got asked what number the platform was for the Manchester direction nothing more

 

[Withnailandi]

They will want to know how many platforms it has, what services and to make it sound better add how many passengers use it. All Northern Rail stations have a Wikipedia page. See below for example.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guide_Bridge_railway_station

 

[Red18]

I got asked this at my DMI and I although I could name my local station I couldn't tell him anything about it because I've never been as I never travel by train.
I think they appreciated the honest answer.
Still got through

 

[Beveridges]

It is an ice breaker question.

Usually they ask "tell us about yourself" or "tell us about your local station" as the first question.

Your answer is given a score out of 4.

1 = Poor
2 = Satisfactory
3 = Good
4 = Very Good

If there are 10 questions each one is given a score out of 4 and your total score will be out of 40.

 

[Jimbob1984]

Thanks for your advice folks some fantastic hint and tips from you all-I shall be doing some research after work tonight!