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As the title suggests which are the bleakest stations on the network where services terminate:
Can be one or more of the following criteria:
Remoteness
Cold, windswept, no facilities
Or feeling of having to look over your shoulder due to potential anti-social behaviour!
Round here it has to be between London Euston and Bletchley (the latter a terminus for the Marston Vale services). Both are beyond bleak. St Albans Abbey is basic, as are many branch termini, but I'd not see it as bleak.
Elsewhere, one of my least favourite stations is Newquay, though some would say it's in keeping with the town. Grim.
Round here it has to be between London Euston and Bletchley (the latter a terminus for the Marston Vale services). Both are beyond bleak. St Albans Abbey is basic, as are many branch termini, but I'd not see it as bleak.
Elsewhere, one of my least favourite stations is Newquay, though some would say it's in keeping with the town. Grim.
London Euston is an interesting choice, I agree it’s awful - I guess the outside waiting area with cheap looking, but expensive food outlets is pretty grim though!
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Probably friendlier than Blackpool North though….!!!
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Ribblehead must be the most remote for the couple of trains a day that terminate/start from there, especially the last train at night in the winter : 2145 Ribblehead to Leeds.
London Euston is an interesting choice, I agree it’s awful - I guess the outside waiting area with cheap looking, but expensive food outlets is pretty grim though!
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Probably friendlier than Blackpool North though….!!!
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Ribblehead must be the most remote for the couple of trains a day that terminate/start from there, especially the last train at night in the winter : 2145 Ribblehead to Leeds.
Ribblehead can equally be a stunning place to wait, so seems slightly unfair.
Wrexham Central, Llandudno, Holyhead, Skegness, Penarth, Heysham Port, Bradford Interchange, Barrow in Furness, Barnsley, Morecambe, Heysham, many of the branch-end stations where Northern and Merseyrail services meet.
Ribblehead can equally be a stunning place to wait, so seems slightly unfair.
Wrexham Central, Llandudno, Holyhead, Skegness, Penarth, Heysham Port, Bradford Interchange, Barrow in Furness, Barnsley, Morecambe, Heysham, many of the branch-end stations where Northern and Merseyrail services meet.
Agreed that Ribblehead is a stunning place to wait, not sure at 2145 on a freezing January evening though…mind you there is no chance of encountering any anti-social behaviour…!!
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I wonder which terminal stations the train crew dislike the most, and are there any which have an uncomfortable amount (ie too much!) of turnaround time in areas subject to antisocial behaviour!
Agreed that Ribblehead is a stunning place to wait, not sure at 2145 on a freezing January evening though…mind you there is no chance of encountering any anti-social behaviour…!!
If you looked upwards on said evening, I expect you'd be pleasantly surprised Also, it's something of a moot point, because I suspect the number of non-enthusiasts (returning on the return working) who ride that service all the way to Ribblehead, is close to zero.
Ribblehead must be the most remote for the couple of trains a day that terminate/start from there, especially the last train at night in the winter : 2145 Ribblehead to Leeds.
I've taken an evening train from there last December in the snow. However it didn't feel bleak to me, mainly due to the warmth (and cider) from the decent pub at the bottom of the lane. Certainly cold though! It's in beautiful surroundings which takes away some of the bleakness to me.
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Dunno about that, it's a charming little station these days with some lovely olde-worlde features still in place. It was bleak in the 90s though, it felt like it was going to close any day.
Some of them. Chester is fairly charming, Southport has a nice trainshed even if the attached shopping arcade is a 1960s dump, Ormskirk has a nice bit of Victorian charm and a traditional (small) canopy, Headbolt is decent as a new-build with a good quality building. Bidston is a bit bleak, I'll give you. Ellesmere Port is an OK station but the town on the other hand... . Hunts X is just a typical Merseyrail suburban, very similar to Fazakerley.
To throw another faded seaside one in, Cleethorpes is definitely bleak. I guess seaside resorts generally seem to be like that as the stations are a shadow of their former selves but often haven't had a decent amount spent on them to make a smaller station look nicer, aside from I guess Southport and Blackpool North*.
Preston can be a bit bleak at night in the "absolutely ****** freezing" sense of the word. Similarly Wigan North Western (terminus of some Liverpool services), and of course Manchester Picc 13/14, though the latter isn't a terminus.
* I know there's the issue with the staff at times, but the station itself is OK enough, I've certainly seen worse.
I've taken an evening train from there last December in the snow. However it didn't feel bleak to me, mainly due to the warmth (and cider) from the decent pub at the bottom of the lane. Certainly cold though! It's in beautiful surroundings which takes away some of the bleakness to me.
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Dunno about that, it's a charming little station these days with some lovely olde-worlde features still in place. It was bleak in the 90s though, it felt like it was going to close any day.
Agree, so run down it's sad. Sorely needs completely rebuilding.
Seems OK these days. Better than most of the town, anyway.
Yeah, grim. Really should be rebuilt as part of the Eden work.
Some of them. Chester is fairly charming, Southport has a nice trainshed even if the attached shopping arcade is a 1960s dump, Ormskirk has a nice bit of Victorian charm and a traditional (small) canopy, Headbolt is decent as a new-build with a good quality building. Bidston is a bit bleak, I'll give you. Ellesmere Port is an OK station but the town on the other hand... . Hunts X is just a typical Merseyrail suburban, very similar to Fazakerley.
To throw another faded seaside one in, Cleethorpes is definitely bleak. I guess seaside resorts generally seem to be like that as the stations are a shadow of their former selves but often haven't had a decent amount spent on them to make a smaller station look nicer, aside from I guess Southport and Blackpool North*.
Preston can be a bit bleak at night in the "absolutely ****** freezing" sense of the word. Similarly Wigan North Western (terminus of some Liverpool services), and of course Manchester Picc 13/14, though the latter isn't a terminus.
* I know there's the issue with the staff at times, but the station itself is OK enough, I've certainly seen worse.
Cleethorpes has improved recently due to the ‘new’ platform, a lick of paint, the nice station pub adding a bit of life and quality and the ticket office meaning there is a reasonable staff presence.
I visited Llandudno this January and it was some of the characters around that made it feel unwelcoming.
Barking Riverside feels remote by London standards (perhaps a bit harsh when most of the houses are still to come) and maybe Greenford, West Ealing, Romford or Upminster? I'm not very familiar with the latter four.
There are times when Carlisle and York can be described as cold, but not as having no facilities or (at least relative to a population centre) remote.
Barking Riverside feels remote by London standards (perhaps a bit harsh when most of the houses are still to come) and maybe Greenford, West Ealing, Romford or Upminster? I'm not very familiar with the latter four.
There are times when Carlisle and York can be described as cold, but not as having no facilities or (at least relative to a population centre) remote.
Round here it has to be between London Euston and Bletchley (the latter a terminus for the Marston Vale services). Both are beyond bleak. St Albans Abbey is basic, as are many branch termini, but I'd not see it as bleak.
....
I don't dislike the building but it's presently beyond horrible to use and has been for a few years now. It was made vastly worse by the new departure boards.
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Sheringham was fairly bleak back in the 1990s, as was Llandudno when I was last there in around 2003.
Wakefield Kirkgate used to have terminating services, that's only marginally less bleak now than it was back then.
London Bridge since the rebuild. Nowhere to hide on the platforms and those canopies are high enough to allow rain and snow to hit the platform and to create a wind funnel effect
Ribblehead can equally be a stunning place to wait, so seems slightly unfair.
Wrexham Central, Llandudno, Holyhead, Skegness, Penarth, Heysham Port, Bradford Interchange, Barrow in Furness, Barnsley, Morecambe, Heysham, many of the branch-end stations where Northern and Merseyrail services meet.
Heysham is not bleak. When the one train per day arrives and departs the station usually has plenty of Isle of Man Steam Packet staff present as they have a ticket office there along with a cafe and also there is comfy seating in the waiting area which I don't think anyone would mind train passengers using. Quite often police turn up to give once over to incoming passengers from Douglas thus there is an occasional police presence as well. I would say it was pretty comfortable. I have only used it as a ship passenger to-date but have often observed the train arrive and depart.
For a short period, Gainsborough Central had terminating Northern services from Sheffield (will they ever be reintroduced?). Very few facilities, very run down and pretty bleak.
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Also, it's something of a moot point, because I suspect the number of non-enthusiasts (returning on the return working) who ride that service all the way to Ribblehead, is close to zero.
. Hunts X is just a typical Merseyrail suburban, very similar to Fazakerley.
