Trivia - worst maintained stations

[crispy1978]

Which, in your opinion, are the worst maintained stations on the main network? Either from an infrastructure point of view, or just general maintenance - obviously stations vary significantly, so let's split them between:

Urban, Rural, Staffed and Unstaffed

Came across the idea from a couple of Twitter accounts I follow that are part of the ACoRP system, but still suffer from flytipping and graffiti.

I wonder, of those we list, are genuinely neglected by the TOCs and which are just not feasible/financially viable to deal with.

 

[bramling]

Which, in your opinion, are the worst maintained stations on the main network? Either from an infrastructure point of view, or just general maintenance - obviously stations vary significantly, so let's split them between:

Urban, Rural, Staffed and Unstaffed

Came across the idea from a couple of Twitter accounts I follow that are part of the ACoRP system, but still suffer from flytipping and graffiti.

I wonder, of those we list, are genuinely neglected by the TOCs and which are just not feasible/financially viable to deal with.

Not so long ago the winner would almost certainly have been Wakefield Kirkgate by some margin, although quite a bit of remedial work has been done since.

 

[Deepgreen]

Just from my regular personal experience - Betchworth. Platform lights frequently fail, the eastbound platform's train indicator has been broken for approximately 30-40% of the whole time I have been using the station over the last four years. The P.A. has not worked on the eastbound platform for the whole of those four years and the help points usually either don't work and have their calls unanswered.

This is my view, but I don't know what the other passenger there thinks.

 

[greaterwest]

Just from my regular personal experience - Betchworth. Platform lights frequently fail, the eastbound platform's train indicator has been broken for approximately 30-40% of the whole time I have been using the station over the last four years. The P.A. has not worked on the eastbound platform for the whole of those four years and the help points usually either don't work and have their calls unanswered.

This is my view, but I don't know what the other passenger there thinks.

I have to add, Redhill follows on shortly from Betchworth. CIS screens taking months to get fixed (ahem Southern), announcements that stutter a lot of the time; its just a generally grubby station.

 

[Segedunum]

Dalston (Cumbria) could do with some love. The waiting room on the Carlisle platform is essentially a very dark barn with no seating, and it smells accordingly.

The Carlisle platform at Green Road also needs work on its own waiting room. The door is left ajar and the waiting room again lacks seats or any sort of pleasant waiting area. It looks abandoned!

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[crispy1978]

Definitely would have said Wakefield Kirkgate too, but yes - it seems to have improved of late. Keighley is another in need of a lick of paint too!

Gainsborough Central - it's one they seem to try with but the locals keep it difficult with flytipping and graffiti from what I see.

 

[DarloRich]

entirely subjective. What are the criteria for deciding?

For example my little station is usually very clean however recently we have had a spate of kids pulling the bin bags off and some low level graffiti and one of the trees from the neighbours gardens is out of control. Is that a bad example?

 

[thenorthern]

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.

 

[Deepgreen]

I have to add, Redhill follows on shortly from Betchworth. CIS screens taking months to get fixed (ahem Southern), announcements that stutter a lot of the time; its just a generally grubby station.

Yes - absolutely - and Southern blatantly and repeatedly lying to complainants (e.g. me) about the background and the likely means of repairing, including the assertion that the track would need to be dug up to do so! The only reason I didn't rate it first was its recent re-painting! The main issue with Redhill from my experience is the attitude of the staff there, which is best described as 'bumbling' in my experience! Very little attempt to provide useful information/announcements, poor passenger interaction, apparent inability to be in the right place to despatch trains at the required time (but, conversely, an almost supernatural ability to send off London trains at the precise moment that an incoming GWR train on the same platform disgorges its passengers, many of whom are bound for London!) and a seemingly constant state of surprise at the state of the train service!

Plus the infamous 'information' screens which spend inordinate lengths of time broken, or showing the wrong/incomplete information. I have to end there as I have used my daily quota of exclamation marks.

A worthy second place, and it's the second station I encounter on most of my morning trips.

 

[185143]

Wonder how Redcar British Steel is doing these days...

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[MidnightFlyer]

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

 

[tsr]

Have any of you actually had a good look at Streatham? (Not that you really want to!)

The roof/underside of the bridge over the platforms outdoes almost anything else I've seen in Great Britain, then there's the rest of it...

It's a bit weird because almost all the other stations in the area are in much better nick. OK, Tulse Hill is awkward, for example, and Hackbridge is the coldest place on earth in winter, but nothing else on any adjoining line quite competes.

 

[MidnightFlyer]

Have any of you actually had a good look at Streatham? (Not that you really want to!)

My overriding memory of Streatham station was the 'This station is served by First Great Western' sign in the booking office window That was a good few years ago now so I've no idea if it still survives.

 

[swt class 450]

I would say Box Hill & Westhumble / Holmwood / Ockley / Warnham are very poorly maintained. No help points. The PERTIS machines have been broken for years and years. The TVMs are very unreliable. Everything takes ages to get fixed.

I do agree with Deepgreen about Betchworth. The screens and lights always seem to be broken. FGW/GWR take ages to fix anything at Betchworth. Ive lost count of the amount of times i have alighted at Betchworth in the evening and some of the lights have been broken making the platforms very dark. I have to walk down a dark country lane to get home in Betchworth so am used to it but if a passenger is not familar with the area than it is not that great.

The helps points are indeed especially dodgy at Betchworth. They often start calling and then disconnect before someone (in India) answers. Sonetimes you have to try three times to get it to work.

Chilworth also regularly has broken screens and lights as well. The announcements at Dorking West / Gomshall / Shalford are also broken a lot. Surprisingly the ones at Dorking Deepdene seem far more reliable.

 

[greaterwest]

Yes - absolutely - and Southern blatantly and repeatedly lying to complainants (e.g. me) about the background and the likely means of repairing, including the assertion that the track would need to be dug up to do so! The only reason I didn't rate it first was its recent re-painting! The main issue with Redhill from my experience is the attitude of the staff there, which is best described as 'bumbling' in my experience! Very little attempt to provide useful information/announcements, poor passenger interaction, apparent inability to be in the right place to despatch trains at the required time (but, conversely, an almost supernatural ability to send off London trains at the precise moment that an incoming GWR train on the same platform disgorges its passengers, many of whom are bound for London!) and a seemingly constant state of surprise at the state of the train service!

Plus the infamous 'information' screens which spend inordinate lengths of time broken, or showing the wrong/incomplete information. I have to end there as I have used my daily quota of exclamation marks.

A worthy second place, and it's the second station I encounter on most of my morning trips.

Why they needed a line block to accomplish a "fix" I will never know... especially as the indicator at the other end of the same platform was still working!

I'm sure they take a great deal of pleasure in dispatching that London train, my experiences with staff at Redhill have never been good. You'll usually find them in the "passenger assistance" waiting room area in the office, sat down well hidden behind the wooden desk. Barrier staff there always seem reluctant to let me through even when my ticket throws an "09"!

 

[70014IronDuke]

Where is the 'de-Trivia' button?

or, if not available:

mods, can you un-Trivia a thread, please?

 

[GrimsbyPacer]

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

 

[90sWereBetter]

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.

 

[306024]

Didn't know Great Yarmouth had a salubrious area. Certainly the station concourse is a big empty space, a remnant of former glory.

Lowestoft is Central for the town. If that is a rough area that's hardly the railways fault, but the station itself is not as run down as you portray. The question was the worst maintained station.

 

[1179_Clee2]

Which, in your opinion, are the worst maintained stations on the main network? Either from an infrastructure point of view, or just general maintenance - obviously stations vary significantly, so let's split them between:

Urban, Rural, Staffed and Unstaffed

Came across the idea from a couple of Twitter accounts I follow that are part of the ACoRP system, but still suffer from flytipping and graffiti.

I wonder, of those we list, are genuinely neglected by the TOCs and which are just not feasible/financially viable to deal with.

Denton and Reddish South in Manchester. 1 train every week!

 

[urbophile]

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

 

[anti-pacer]

Not so long ago the winner would almost certainly have been Wakefield Kirkgate by some margin, although quite a bit of remedial work has been done since.

It's been done up to a certain degree, mainly externally which looks fine. However, the entrance is strewn with bird poo and the platforms are almost always littered. It remains unstaffed and internally the refurb was very basic.

They do have a nice cafe though.

 

[Master29]

20 odd years ago Westbury was horrendous. I remember being stuck there for nearly 3 hours on a wet october day. Not too bad now though.

 

[Ships]

Why they needed a line block to accomplish a "fix" I will never know... especially as the indicator at the other end of the same platform was still working!

I'm sure they take a great deal of pleasure in dispatching that London train, my experiences with staff at Redhill have never been good. You'll usually find them in the "passenger assistance" waiting room area in the office, sat down well hidden behind the wooden desk. Barrier staff there always seem reluctant to let me through even when my ticket throws an "09"!

Guessing it's within 3m of the running line which would come under on or near the line as opposed to lineside

 

[fairysdad]

I know you said mainline stations, but whenever I pass through Stepney Green on the tube, I always think that station is one that could really do with a bit of a refurb. Or at the least, some paint.

 

[greaterwest]

Guessing it's within 3m of the running line which would come under on or near the line as opposed to lineside

https://twitter.com/kevinrussell878/status/775568096266518529

I've seen people working on equipment on a platform before, why is this distance an issue?

 

[Harbornite]

Kings Norton, Northfield and Small Heath are quite bad, and Snow Hill is also a bit downtrodden, what with all the vegetation growing at the end of the platforms and next to the Metro track into platform 4 which hasn't been used since the Tram service was diverted via the new platform.

 

[8A Rail]

St Helens Junction could do with some tender love and care, especially the main building - talking about flaking paint is an understatement!!

 

[Parallel]

Some of the ATW managed stations on the Borderlands line between Wrexham and Bidston are very poor, from what I saw a few days ago on my first trip over the line.

Also, not sure what is going on with Portsmouth Arms station at the moment. Looks like some form of work was being done to it with temporary fencing and platform covering but the shelter is fenced off, as is the help point. Which I managed to reach, and it did nothing. Looks like it's been forgotten about.

 

[xc170]

Can I nominate my local, Tamworth, as it currently looks to be held together with scaffolding..