Stations on the up (better now than they have ever been)

[CyrusWuff]

I'd go with Marylebone (and Chiltern in general.)

Whilst it's still not back to pre-Covid levels, over the course of thirty years it went from being threatened with closure and just having services to High Wycombe and Aylesbury and an infrequent service to Banbury to having half hourly services to Birmingham and Oxford, and direct services to Stratford-on-Avon.

Not bad for a railway that's only double track for most of its length.

 

[leytongabriel]

Lots of DLR stations which started life with just small bus/tram-style shelters on the platforms and are now 'proper stations' with canopies.
Some GOBLIN line stations were absolute dumps - Wanstead Park won 'worst station in London' award in the Evening Standard one year. They
are still basic but with a greatly improved ambiance.
Birmingham Moor St and Marylebone for lovers of nostalgia (despite frequently inconvenient train parking at the latter).
Dalston Junction is unrecognisable.

 

[Cricketer8for9]

Dalston Jut is interesting. Compared to 1984 a vast improvement - compared to 1900 (pre-electric trams) a great come down. How long is your historical telescope?

 

[Mikey C]

Dalston Jut is interesting. Compared to 1984 a vast improvement - compared to 1900 (pre-electric trams) a great come down. How long is your historical telescope?

That equation applies to a number of stations who fell from grace, but have subsequently been much improved, albeit not with the "style" they once had. Highbury and Islington is another one

I was also thinking of Dartford, which when expanded from 3 to 4 platforms in the 70s was rebuilt in a horrible style, but which has more recently been rebuilt again.

 

[Halish Railway]

University? A station that didn’t exist until the 1970s is now the busiest station in the Midlands without a direct London service and is currently being rebuilt into quite an impressive station as the original station had severe overcrowding issues.

Direct Bristol trains please! They’d be incredibly well used by students returning home.

 

[BeijingDave]

University? A station that didn’t exist until the 1970s is now the busiest station in the Midlands without a direct London service and is currently being rebuilt into quite an impressive station as the original station had severe overcrowding issues.

Direct Bristol trains please! They’d be incredibly well used by students returning home.

Then arguably the station should be renamed. (in fact, it should never have been named just 'University' in the first place)

One could well imagine foreign students boarding a train at Parkway or Temple Meads thinking they had found a convenient rail link to the UWE campus or something.

 

[Mordac]

University? A station that didn’t exist until the 1970s is now the busiest station in the Midlands without a direct London service and is currently being rebuilt into quite an impressive station as the original station had severe overcrowding issues.

Direct Bristol trains please! They’d be incredibly well used by students returning home.

And yet it's got its frequency cut!

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Then arguably the station should be renamed. (in fact, it should never have been named just 'University' in the first place)

Also a 'University' station on the Tyne & Wear Metro (near Sunderland) but doubt it ever gets confused with its Birmingham or Coleraine counterparts.

 

[DelW]

Idk if it counts but Guildford station is getting redeveloped and the new design doesn't look half bad tbh. Going from a grey and empty site to a denser one is always good in my books.

Personally, I prefer the present open-air version to the proposal to bury it under a commercial development, especially as there will now be GWR turbos pouring out diesel exhaust four times an hour for years to come. (The 769s might have produced an almost all-electric station had they been introduced.)

Will the development ever happen though? I haven't kept up with progress, but it was proposed quite a time ago, and my impression is that demand for both office and retail space has dropped considerably post Covid.

 

[Fazaar1889]

Personally, I prefer the present open-air version to the proposal to bury it under a commercial development, especially as there will now be GWR turbos pouring out diesel exhaust four times an hour for years to come. (The 769s might have produced an almost all-electric station had they been introduced.)

The platforms themselves will remain unchanged I'm pretty sure so it's still open air. Only the main building itself is getting redeveloped.

Will the development ever happen though? I haven't kept up with progress, but it was proposed quite a time ago, and my impression is that demand for both office and retail space has dropped considerably post Covid.

The multi storey car park has been built and Block E is close to completion. They seem to be following this plan quite closely:
(The image on the main page of the website seems to be an old iteration. All the other pictures on the website seem to be up to date)

https://www.guildfordforward.com/

Further improvement works at Guildford station to start​

 

[DelW]

The platforms themselves will remain unchanged I'm pretty sure so it's still open air. Only the main building itself is getting redeveloped.

The multi storey car park has been built and Block E is close to completion. They seem to be following this plan quite closely:
(The image on the main page of the website seems to be an old iteration. All the other pictures on the website seem to be up to date)

Thanks for the link, the annotated aerial photo does seem to show the platforms won't be touched, at least by this scheme. IIRC the version I remember seeing (a few years ago) had a raft over the platforms with buildings above.

The website is overdue an update, though, when it starts by saying "From January 2020, we’ll begin further works as part of the Solum regeneration project at Guildford station." That's over three years ago!

 

[Fazaar1889]

IIRC the version I remember seeing (a few years ago) had a raft over the platforms with buildings above.

Oh what? That would be horrendous! Although, the bridge and platforms do need a little bit of an update.

The website is overdue an update, though, when it starts by saying "From January 2020, we’ll begin further works as part of the Solum regeneration project at Guildford station." That's over three years ago!

Definitely aha.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 14 Mar 2023 ==

After a bit of digging around, I found these photos which is the most likely end result of the redevelopment.

 

[DelW]

After a bit of digging around, I found these photos which is the most likely end result of the redevelopment.

It'll certainly look different.

One amusing thing is that I think of the current station building as being fairly new! I can still remember its rabbit-warren of a predecessor, much of which was closed off and semi derelict.

 

[BeijingDave]

Also a 'University' station on the Tyne & Wear Metro (near Sunderland) but doubt it ever gets confused with its Birmingham or Coleraine counterparts.

I don't get the logic behind not fully naming them, especially when they go into a national ticket database.

 

[Mark24]

I'd go with Marylebone (and Chiltern in general.)

Whilst it's still not back to pre-Covid levels, over the course of thirty years it went from being threatened with closure and just having services to High Wycombe and Aylesbury and an infrequent service to Banbury to having half hourly services to Birmingham and Oxford, and direct services to Stratford-on-Avon.

Not bad for a railway that's only double track for most of its length.

Both stations in Bicester have had expanded services thanks to Chilton Railways. Bicester Village is also about to have its Bletchley service reinstated.

 

[Alanko]

I said in another thread that I have forgotten what Haymarket was like, pre-facelift. Dark and basic springs to mind.

Modern Haymarket is pretty pleasant. Get off a train, go up an escalator, go through a barrier and jump on the (occasionally) waiting tram. Squint a bit and you could imagine you were in a European city with an integrated public transport network.

 

[Kingston Dan]

I said in another thread that I have forgotten what Haymarket was like, pre-facelift. Dark and basic springs to mind.

Modern Haymarket is pretty pleasant. Get off a train, go up an escalator, go through a barrier and jump on the (occasionally) waiting tram. Squint a bit and you could imagine you were in a European city with an integrated public transport network.

Indeed. To be honest Waverley is streets ahead of what it was in the late 70s/early 80s too. Less than a dozen trains an hour, diesel smoke hanging in the air from both trains and taxis. The concourse a roadway where passengers had to dodge dropping off cars and taxis (at one point it was the most polluted spot in the UK). Grey/black stonework and the Talisman bar a magnet for every dodgy, druggy or potentially violent person in East Central Scotland.

 

[William3000]

I said in another thread that I have forgotten what Haymarket was like, pre-facelift. Dark and basic springs to mind.

Modern Haymarket is pretty pleasant. Get off a train, go up an escalator, go through a barrier and jump on the (occasionally) waiting tram. Squint a bit and you could imagine you were in a European city with an integrated public transport network.

Edinburgh is a European city with an integrated public transport network!