The End Of The Line

[cjp]

I kind of feel that that if a line went somewhere then it had a reason for going there. A purpose to celebrate; to mark; to rejoice on arriving safely. Not just end with a whimper.

OK I grew up and steam vanished but I still feel that a long train journey is special. I give up hours of my life and part with money to be going somewhere. Initially at least that "somewhere" is a station and if at the end of the line then a station ought to have, I don't know, a certain grandeur- a presence.

Now it is all mundane with Network rail selling of buildings hiding the ticket office or what ever and leaving the trains an annoyance next to a car park area.

Yes I am talking about you Llandudno.

At least at Wick they try with the mural on the wall.

At Paddington money has been spent cleaning it up although it remains cluttered with poor signage and lots of franchises reducing flow on the concourse.

No mystic, nothing special.


Day by day hundred or thousand of trains run safely run reliably and run well
without a word something goes wrong and it hits the news.
The everyday experience, is badly marketed.

Am I the only one who ever has a word with a driver to speak about a good journey, smooth journey a quick journey?

If one is prepared to moan one should also give praise.

Rant over

 

[VTPreston_Tez]

If the trains were on time we'd have reason to celebrate.

 

[90019]

Errm... what?

 

[MidnightFlyer]

I am sorry, I have absolutely no idea what on earth this thread is about :?

 

[tbtc]

You want a celebration to rejoice the "grandeur-a-presence" of arriving at Llandudno?

 

[Eagle]

You want a celebration to rejoice the "grandeur-a-presence" of arriving at Llandudno?

Which surely would diminish the moment you stepped outside the station and into the town itself (I've been there, and not by choice).

 

[jopsuk]

Felixstowe is a particularly sad "end of line" station in it's current form.

 

[MK Tom]

I sort of know where you're coming from with this - I too see a long journey as being a special occasion that should have a degree of grandeur too it. But I think a lot of Britain's terminal and many through stations do still have that. I even think new builds like my own home station sometimes achieve a degree of it, whilst others, for instance Bedford, totally don't and it just feels like a temporary field hospital rather than a station. I also think that since Network Rail have replaced Railtrack there has been a massive effort to improve a lot of our major stations - Paddington, St. Pancras, Derby and the future plans for Manchester Victoria, New Street, Euston and many others.

 

[jopsuk]

Paddington isn't "finished" as is though, is it? And it'll be getting more work done thanks to Crossrail.

Kings Cross is soon to be spectacular (the light inside in the day is already so much better, where the scaffolding has been removed) and St Pancras rightly is praised.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Now it is all mundane with Network rail selling of buildings hiding the ticket office or what ever and leaving the trains an annoyance next to a car park area........Yes I am talking about you, LLANDUDNO

What has happened to the plans to revitalise the railway station area by having a fully-glazed concourse and a new bus/taxi interchange for the town, together with a 130 place car parking facility. Has the approved funding been withdrawn ?

 

[DXMachina]

Praise be, rejoice in your arrival at Temple Meads.. ok fair enough. but not everywhere would work like that.


Ashes to ashes, Dust to dust. We mourn the next stop, Watford Junction.

 

[cjp]

I sort of know where you're coming from with this - I too see a long journey as being a special occasion that should have a degree of grandeur too it. But I think a lot of Britain's terminal and many through stations do still have that. I even think new builds like my own home station sometimes achieve a degree of it, whilst others, for instance Bedford, totally don't and it just feels like a temporary field hospital rather than a station. I also think that since Network Rail have replaced Railtrack there has been a massive effort to improve a lot of our major stations - Paddington, St. Pancras, Derby and the future plans for Manchester Victoria, New Street, Euston and many others.

Thank you for understanding!

I will try to get up to Derby at some stage to have a look around

 

[Oswyntail]

What about the small, intermediate stations - after all, journeys start and end there as well! Many have now lost their original architecture, which has been replaced with - plastic shelters. Is there not a similarly economic option that would retain some of the feel of the place actually being a station?

 

[umontu]

I understand the OP's thoughts.
What would be wonderful would be to have local members of the community improving the station. To say to passengers "come and visit us!".
Unfortunately I've been to a vast number of places where this will never happen.

 

[cjp]

I understand the OP's thoughts.
What would be wonderful would be to have local members of the community improving the station. To say to passengers "come and visit us!".
Unfortunately I've been to a vast number of places where this will never happen.

The Friends of Penmere Station do just that!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penmere_railway_station

 

[Harlesden]

The concourse at Euston is irritating for arriving passengers as the entire space is filled with people standing with luggage and possibly children gazing up at the departure board, making it difficult for weary arriving passenger to either reach the escalator to the Underground or the front door out to the bus station. It's like trying to fight you way through a crowd each time you come off the train.

 

[Requeststop]

Surely Newquay is a bad advert for the town, but St.Ives has the best view upon arrival especially during the last two curves into the station.

 

[Penmorfa]

The ticket office in Llandudno is where it's always been, it has'nt been hidden away. It also has three platforms, more than many busier terminii.

 

[LE Greys]

The concourse at Euston is irritating for arriving passengers as the entire space is filled with people standing with luggage and possibly children gazing up at the departure board, making it difficult for weary arriving passenger to either reach the escalator to the Underground or the front door out to the bus station. It's like trying to fight you way through a crowd each time you come off the train.

Thinking about Euston, wasn't that the whole point of the Doric Arch? Roman roads often had a triumphal arch at the end, a bit WE HAVE ARRIVED statement.

Oh yes, I really wish they'd bolt the old side pieces onto the new footbridge at King's Cross. The current design is an eyesore. And where has the clock gone? Otherwise, I'm glad it's getting back to it's pre-war glory (most of the glass in the roof was replaced during the Blitz after the station took a direct hit).

 

[jopsuk]

I wonder long it'll be before someone suggests a big statue/sculpture for the new Kings Cross square?

 

[Gathursty]

There's three end of the line stations which I feel are unloved or lack that 'I have arrived' feeling like you get in Edinburgh or Fort William for example:

Ellesmere Port - Don't really know how to describe it. It's just like any other suburban Merseyrail station which is a bit sad but I'll not go on about the Helsby connection in this thread as it's been done to death elsewhere.
Southport - There has been an effort made just outside of the station to pedestrianise the street but I think the station could be spruced up or made to be less open to the elements.
Blackpool South - Just a quiet stub near the car park and the beach, quite unlike Blackpool North.

 

[tom1649]

I quite like the arrival into Llandudno myself. It still has 3 platforms which is ample these days. The ticket office is still in the original station building and the station is actually very close to the town centre.

Harwich Town on the other hand...

 

[jopsuk]

Only visited Southport once, but you've got what's quite a nice station that becomes a slightly dingy shopping centre. odd.

Some LU lines have rather nice terminals- the likes of Uxbridge on the Met/Picadilly or Hammersmith (H&C/Circle). Heathrow T5 Underground is fairly special but doesn't "feel" like a terminal due to the turnback siding.

 

[Accura]

I kind of see where the original poster in this thread is coming from. When I first went to Colne, I was expecting something at least decent. My reaction upon getting off the train was 'Oh..................'.

 

[Gareth]

Lesson to be learned, Accy, don't consensually go to Colne!

 

[Max]

Hull Paragon is, in my view, a station which retains a 'terminus' grandeur:

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7R5pWnJSNi0/SaQWRzYJSoI/AAAAAAAAA40/T2iYyJy5kMc/s400/DSCF9723.JPG

Having become rather dilapidated in recent years, the redevelopment of the station (and, more recently, the adjacent Royal Station Hotel), has created a terminal that the city can be proud of once again.