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The only station I know of that had an underpass only accessible by lift was Birmingham New St before the rebuild. Preston has ramps or stairs down to it as well as the lifts (though I can't remember if there's a ramp on the "disused" P7).
Edit: Oxford Road itself used to be like that, then the lifts were closed for a while, then they were reopened, but I'm pretty sure there is now an emergency exit from the lift subway to allow that reopening.
My wife and I walked through an underpass at Faversham the other week to get a much needed bottle of wine from the local Co-op (we had left the chosen bottle at home in the panic to get the train , which we missed in any case !)
The underpass stank to high heaven with urine , but I philosophically thought that it had been used as a "pissoir" since the railway was built in the 19thC. It had a strategic drainage channel.
Of course there has, but there was undeniably a bit of culture shock. I can't think of a single violent attack in my part of the countryside, but lost track of the number I've heard about here. May be nothing more than population density increases the chances of encountering someone with a knife in a dark and secluded place, but it was there.
Of course they've been over-hyped. The media (especially the right-wing media) lives to make you scared of everything: young people, minorities, immigrants, etc...
Is there a problem with knife crime? Yes. Is it significantly worse now than at any time in the past? Probably not. Is it likely to directly affect you? As long as you aren't deliberately provoking an incident, almost certainly not.
Wakefield Kirkgate...the artwork and music on loop seems to put off youths gathering there for too long! There was also a very large underpass under the road in Kirkgate itself which always felt a bit uncomfortable to walk through but I believe they remodelled the area now and that no longer exists
Not an underpass but Barnsley Interchange at one point (more the bus station than the rail side) used to play that high pitched whistle sound to deter groups from hanging around!
Of course they've been over-hyped. The media (especially the right-wing media) lives to make you scared of everything: young people, minorities, immigrants, etc...
Is there a problem with knife crime? Yes. Is it significantly worse now than at any time in the past? Probably not. Is it likely to directly affect you? As long as you aren't deliberately provoking an incident, almost certainly not.
I'd probably say that our big cities are considerably safer than they were 30 years ago. For instance, Toxteth used to strike fear into many Scousers, but now it's heading (slightly) up in the world. There are lots of reasons for this (CCTV and the likes but also increasing house prices causing "rough" places to gentrify a bit, plus a trend for city living in young people), but it is happening.
The problem is that with the Internet and social media we hear about everything. Another example is paedophiles. There's this social-media-pushed view that there's one on every street corner and it's far worse than it was. I doubt that...when I was a kid it was a "dodgy old bloke you stay away from", and it was no doubt a bit harder to catch him than just being able to bust a dodgy website and trawl the logs for who's looked at it.
One with a railway connection that is decidedly dodgy (to the point that they repeatedly talk about closing it) is in Edinburgh, from Dalry past the platform entrances (bricked up) of the old Dalry station (of which there's a bit of evidence on street level - platform edges etc) to by the Cineworld cinema. Has a big drugs problem, I understand. It's called the Telfer Subway if you want to find out more about it.
I wouldn't say I'm a frequent user of that subway but have used about once every couple of months for the last decade.
It's clean, well-lit and I've never seen anyone hanging around it.
I've only used during the daytime though.
My wife and I walked through an underpass at Faversham the other week to get a much needed bottle of wine from the local Co-op (we had left the chosen bottle at home in the panic to get the train , which we missed in any case !)
The underpass stank to high heaven with urine , but I philosophically thought that it had been used as a "pissoir" since the railway was built in the 19thC. It had a strategic drainage channel.
Funnily enough I walked through that underpass recently too and it always stinks of urine when I walk through it. At least it isn’t covered in graffiti like it would if it was in Canterbury!
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The underpasses in Canterbury are pretty grim. Regularly filled with rubbish as it all just blows down there, often smells of urine, covered in graffiti tags and has flooded after heavy rain. One positive is that it provides good shelter for the homeless people (when it doesn’t flood) who I never find intimidating at all and are generally friendly.
Thankfully the tracksuited yobs never seem to be down there - Although they tend to be attacking people or winding people up in the high street (one of the worst things they have done is stamp on a German student’s head giving him permanent damage over a year ago, and have yet to even go to court)
Worth mentioning though that the vast majority of young people are really decent people, maybe even more so than the past. It’s a shame the vile minority get so much attention from the media.
I know someone who no longer wants to go to London because he is scared of getting stabbed, which is still highly unlikely to happen. In some ways, I feel safer in many parts of London compared to where I live.
Another example is paedophiles. There's this social-media-pushed view that there's one on every street corner and it's far worse than it was. I doubt that...when I was a kid it was a "dodgy old bloke you stay away from", and it was no doubt a bit harder to catch him than just being able to bust a dodgy website and trawl the logs for who's looked at it.
Oh, completely. There's very few of them, but it's not a new problem. When my mum was at primary school, one of her friends wasn't at school for a couple of days, and then a policeman came to the school and warned all the pupils not to walk home alone through the woods nearby.
News broke very soon afterwards that the kid had been murdered. This was 1949, a supposed "golden age" in which we're led to believe these things never happened.
The chances of anything like this happening to anyone have always been vanishingly tiny. 99.99999999% of adults can be trusted to do the right thing, and the paranoia around abuse is largely unwarranted.
I mean if they were even listening to Drake it might be ok to walk through said underpass
God help some of the younger generation with proper music. Suppose they don't want to play Rick Astley or Wham for fear of being perceived as a bit "soft" when in reality that is the kind of music that leaves its legacy, not Cardi B (Drake may well be remembered for a few of his hits in all fairness and I have a soft spot for his "What's My Name" feat. Rihanna).
I mean if they were even listening to Drake it might be ok to walk through said underpass
God help some of the younger generation with proper music. Suppose they don't want to play Rick Astley or Wham for fear of being perceived as a bit "soft" when in reality that is the kind of music that leaves its legacy, not Cardi B (Drake may well be remembered for a few of his hits in all fairness and I have a soft spot for his "What's My Name" feat. Rihanna).
Wolverhampton High Level to Low Level subway was always notorious in the 90s - several murders and many robberies. It has been closed a few times but the last time I used it it seemed far better. Always tickled me that it emerged immediately adjacent to a police station yet had so many problems!
Yes, the main exit on the north side
For the horrors of subterrania one could try the U-Bahn complex Rathaus/Jungfernstieg in Hamburg, seen on the map it spreads out like a spider with dozens of exits
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