Trivia - worst maintained stations

[All Line Rover]

Crewe never looks particularly welcoming to me. Maybe it functions adequately but it always looks a bit grimy and uncared for.

Crewe is a perfectly nice station, with Virgin Trains making a steady stream of improvements. Only the older sections of roof at the extremities of the station are what I would describe as "grimy".

 

[xc170]

Crewe is a perfectly nice station, with Virgin Trains making a steady stream of improvements. Only the older sections of roof at the extremities of the station are what I would describe as "grimy".

I passed through Crewe earlier and have to say, it's screaming out to be flattened and started again.

Credit to Virgin though, they've done the best they can with what they have.

 

[dk1]

Lowestoft and Great Yarmouth stations are both horrible. Apart from LED departure screens and new taxi rank and bus stop, nothing's been done to Lowestoft since the overall roof was removed in the early 1990s. There was an effort to renovate the vacant units in the station structure a few years ago which saw a newsagents open in one of them, but it's closed down once again.

Yarmouth station is dingy as all hell, and feels like it is decaying. I'd recommend not going to these stations at night if you can help it, they're both located in...less salubrious parts of the town, to be kind.

Great Yarmouth has been improved a bit in the last few years. The excellent staff take pride in station flowers & at least it has a cafe open morning to late afternoon. Agreed it's not sited as well as the other two now closed stations in the town.

Lowestoft is in need of upgrading but is neat & tidy. Wetherspoons decided to spend a large amount of money by moving into a long closed department store across the road after no agreement could be reached in converting the old station buildings & part of the concourse. However the station has one of the best railway station locations & that was recognised in its original name of Lowestoft Central.

 

[Class455]

Kenley is unstaffed most of the time (ticket office closes at around 3pm) and has recently been having an issue with Rats running around Platform 1! But they seem to have called in Pest Control as I saw a box near where the rats used to run into. But it smells of sewage in that area now! Also, its funny how there's no ticket barriers installed at the station, when they've installed them in similar stations such as Coulsdon South. I could have fare dodged my journey today between Kenley and Purley (ticket barriers were left open at Purley), but didn't want to risk a £20 fine.

 

[All Line Rover]

I passed through Crewe earlier and have to say, it's screaming out to be flattened and started again.

Credit to Virgin though, they've done the best they can with what they have.

Meh. Modern is not necessarily better. St Pancras couldn't be more modern and is indeed a lovely station overall, but for EMT passengers who don't wish to shop it is woefully lacking in facilities.

Crewe has at least three waiting rooms (including one with desks and plug sockets), has a first class lounge which still looks new despite being many years old, is easily navigable between platforms, has multiple entrances, has generally good staffing levels, has comfortable seats scattered about the platforms, has at least three sets of toilets, has non-automated announcements and has departure boards that are plentiful and detailed and work consistently.

Then look at Chester (which is, statistically, busier) or Shrewsbury. No comparison.

Any wholesale redevelopment of Crewe station is off the cards since the station would, in the long term, be better located off the A500.

 

[jindivik]

Bolton is a dive, leaking roofs on every platform, toilets (male) are frequently broken/overflowing and toilet roll has been stuck to the ceiling for years but the real cherry on the cake is the carpark end, if anyone is familiar with rail replacement services from the carpark end, have a look up at the roof! One day some of the boards actually fell down, last time I checked it hadn't been repaired, just a couple of metal barriers arranged into a small square where the boards fell down

 

[yorksrob]

Bolton is a dive, leaking roofs on every platform, toilets (male) are frequently broken/overflowing and toilet roll has been stuck to the ceiling for years but the real cherry on the cake is the carpark end, if anyone is familiar with rail replacement services from the carpark end, have a look up at the roof! One day some of the boards actually fell down, last time I checked it hadn't been repaired, just a couple of metal barriers arranged into a small square where the boards fell down

It's a shame really, because Bolton's canopies and platform buildings have the potential to be some of the most impressive in the North.

Hopefully they're not allowed to fall into rack and ruin like the train shed over the Metrolink platforms at Victoria.

 

[godfreycomplex]

Isn't Byfleet & New Haw meant to be in particularly poor nick?

Yes; it certainly is. Chertsey and further afield Forest Gate are also a bit tired.

 

[HowardGWR]

Why does the OP consider the subject a 'trivial' one?

 

[MidnightFlyer]

I have noticed 'Trivia: ...' seems to be appearing an awful lot over the last few months, indeed in some cases when the content is nothing of the sort!

 

[godfreycomplex]

I suppose it is a bit of a first world problem...
Doesn't mean it isn't worth discussing though, obviously

 

[Howardh]

Manchester Piccadilly Platforms 13-14 aren't very well maintained in my opinion.

For many years Peartree was poorly maintained but its much better now.

Arrived at those platforms yesterday and was looking forward to a drink and bite to eat > both outlets with shutters down. 2.30pm :cry:

 

[yorksrob]

]

I passed through Crewe earlier and have to say, it's screaming out to be flattened and started again.

Credit to Virgin though, they've done the best they can with what they have.

I have to agree with All Line Rover here.

The trainshed's were looking rusty when I changed there in the 1990's, but the last couple of times I've been there they, along with the buildings have looked very tidy and welcoming.

 

[PaxVobiscum]

I posted a link to this picture on another thread some time back, but perhaps it is relevant here. If the Close Encounters of the Turd Kind have been removed from track in Pwllheli station since this was taken I apologise to Arriva Trains Wales.

 

[LowLevel]

Thornton Abbey has long grass where the platform should be last time I visited.

Also Brigg, Gainsborough Lea Road (yes the weekday one), Cleethorpes, March, look badly maintained

March is having a fair amount done to it at the moment - the footbridge has had a refurbishment, the signage has been replaced and it's all being repainted in GER colours - it's starting to look rather nice (if you ignore the rather dilapidated Joint line platforms!).

 

[thenorthern]

Tamworth I generally find could be better as Platform 2 only has a small bus stop style shelter and the stairs within the station are showing their age from the last major rebuild which was during the electrification of the West Coast Main Line.

 

[RichmondCommu]

Why does the OP consider the subject a 'trivial' one?

I'm guessing here that it was added to the title by the moderators.

 

[causton]

As per the forum rules:

If posting a thread requesting a list of examples of a specific, or combination of characteristics, you should start the thread title with "Trivia:".

 

[yorksrob]

On a positive note, I was very pleased to see that the up side buildings at St Austell, which had become a derelict eyesore over several years, have now been properly restored and are in use. Now, if the GWR footbridge could be similarly restored, that would be superb.

 

[jindivik]

It's a shame really, because Bolton's canopies and platform buildings have the potential to be some of the most impressive in the North.

Hopefully they're not allowed to fall into rack and ruin like the train shed over the Metrolink platforms at Victoria.

Agreed, quite frequently people ask about the Windows to the offices/old changing rooms and if they can buy them, apparently (if and when) the station Windows get upgraded they will be finding a new home at the museum at York, it's such a waste of a building in its present state, upstairs in the platform building is completely empty, just derelict offices up there

 

[yorksrob]

Agreed, quite frequently people ask about the Windows to the offices/old changing rooms and if they can buy them, apparently (if and when) the station Windows get upgraded they will be finding a new home at the museum at York, it's such a waste of a building in its present state, upstairs in the platform building is completely empty, just derelict offices up there

A cask ale buffet perhaps !

 

[Harbornite]

I posted a link to this picture on another thread some time back, but perhaps it is relevant here. If the Close Encounters of the Turd Kind have been removed from track in Pwllheli station since this was taken I apologise to Arriva Trains Wales.

I should also mention Shrewsbury as being one of the tattier stations I've been to, and one thing that stood out was the amount of crap in the four foot.

 

[GrimsbyPacer]

March is having a fair amount done to it at the moment - the footbridge has had a refurbishment, the signage has been replaced and it's all being repainted in GER colours - it's starting to look rather nice (if you ignore the rather dilapidated Joint line platforms!).

I went through it on Saturday, it looks alot better now I agree.
Hadn't been through in a long while.
I still don't get why the Wisbech branch hasn't reopened.

 

[Clansman]

A couple of honerable mentions from North of the border:

Staffed: Perth (Platforms 3 to 7) and Dundee (debatable due to reconstruction currently taking place)
Unstaffed: Barry Links and Springfield
Urban: Crosshill and Bridgeton
Rural: Altnabraec *runs for cover*

 

[alex17595]

Rural: Altnabraec *runs for cover*

Altnabreac is quite pleasant!

I went through Moorgate on Thursday and followed the signs 'Trains fro Stevenage' and ended up in some right scruffy area, down and old staircase and a corridor where old posters were half ripped off the wall. The girl I followed (not in a creepy way) down there didn't look very sure if she should be down there - and neither was I! In the middle of London with only 1 other person around, it was very strange.

 

[moggie]

Euston.

Dull, confined, crowded and constantly stinks of someone else's takeaway. What used to be a fine example of modernity compared with much that came out of that era is now a nightmare for those who just want to get on their train.

 

[matt_world2004]

Londin paddington holy **** you cannot move for leaks,

 

[yorksrob]

Not the worst by any stretch, but on travelling through York, I noticed that the mighty trainshed could do with a lick of paint !

 

[Parallel]

I should also mention Shrewsbury as being one of the tattier stations I've been to, and one thing that stood out was the amount of crap in the four foot.

I think the station is currently being refurbished. They've already done the waiting room, information office and one of the station walls, and now look to be doing work to the roof. The untouched parts are pretty grim though.

 

[MidnightFlyer]

A couple of honerable mentions from North of the border:

Staffed: Perth (Platforms 3 to 7)

I'm the polar opposite, Perth is my favourite station in the country: I love how vast, empty and desolate the western half of the station feels!