Trivia: Your least desirable station to wait at

[Glasgowbusguy]

Springburn

 

[urbophile]

Though unlikely than you will be waiting 60 minutes.

A reminder that a massive Tesco with cafe is five minutes walk away.

I did, earlier this year, until I realised that trains on the Wrexham line had been cancelled for the rest of the day. And I did find a retail park (not sure if it had a Tesco) after a fairly pleasant but meandering walk through a nature reserve. Not something I'd want to do on a dark winter's evening.

 

[Russel]

The bar on platform 6 at Crewe might still be open; not sure about Preston's amenities.

I think the pub at Crewe closes early, I've been there around 9pm a few times and it's never been open at that time.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I'm amazed it hasn't been included, so.........
Dyfi Junction. especially if there's a cold and wet westerly blowing.

Lovely in summer, though, provided you've got your own snacks.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Either Crewe or Preston would be no problem IMO.

A few people around even late at night.

The bar on platform 6 at Crewe might still be open; not sure about Preston's amenities.

Preston feels safe enough but gets utterly freezing. It's quite atmospheric, though, I miss the announcer from the late 90s who used to sing the announcements. She had a lovely voice that really added to it.

 

[Howardh]

A shout for the "larger" stations where pax facilities are, well, limited, such as Salford Crescent and Deansgate. While both have disabled toilets, which might even be working and open, there's not much else, no waiting room as such, and to keep out of the cold wind/rain you have just the overbridge or tunnel. Neither are a particular pleasant place to wait long, at least Deansgate has a couple of pubs below, no such luck at Crescent!

 

[Russel]

Lovely in summer, though, provided you've got your own snacks.

On that note, I visited in about 2010, two people, who I assume were locals, jumped down off the Aberystwyth platform, picked a bag full of apples off of a tree near the track, climbed back up onto the platform, offered me a couple of apples out of the bag and left!

Strange experience.

 

[ScotsRail]

Springburn

Great pub over the road, plenty of cover if its raining.

Coatbridge Sunnyside is surely the worst place in Scotland to wait.

 

[Llandudno]

I think the pub at Crewe closes early, I've been there around 9pm a few times and it's never been open at that time.

I doubt whether the soulless cafe/bar in Crewe station can be be described as a pub, then again I doubt the ‘pubs’ near Crewe station are any better…

Some good ones in Crewe town centre mind you but at least 15 minutes walk away and it’s uphill getting back to the station!

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Wakefield Kirkgate.
Assuming from the OP's question that it's a cold wet evening, so the café definitely won't be open. Supposedly the Wakefield Arms is being redeveloped but for now it's still derelict, there's a rough estate nearby and even the Snooty Fox, rough as it was, is closed down. You're at the scratty end of Wakefield (which is saying a lot) and have to cross six lanes of traffic to get to the city centre anyway.

At least the roof of the station building no longer leaks, I suppose!

 

[JD2168]

Quite a number of Hope Valley line stations look very bleak at night with poor lighting, hopefully a nice pub is nearby

Worksop Station looks not bad but the area it is in is pretty bleak in the daytime & looks rather uninviting for waiting in the dark or late at night

 

[Russel]

I doubt whether the soulless cafe/bar in Crewe station can be be described as a pub, then again I doubt the ‘pubs’ near Crewe station are any better…

You're right, it's just another soulless SSP outlet.

Whenever I have any time to wait at Crewe I'll head to the McDonalds about 5 minutes from the stations, it's usually warmer and the coffee is cheaper than anywhere still open on the station.

 

[Russel]

Quite a number of Hope Valley line stations look very bleak at night with poor lighting, hopefully a nice pub is nearby

This comment makes me want to spend some time exploring the Hope Valley line soon, I can already imagine the atmosphere at the likes of Hope and Bamford on a winters night!

 

[Glasgowbusguy]

Great pub over the road, plenty of cover if its raining.

Coatbridge Sunnyside is surely the worst place in Scotland to wait.

Pub is awful and there is only really 1 shelter and it's mostly full of drunk neds

 

[Iskra]

A shout for the "larger" stations where pax facilities are, well, limited, such as Salford Crescent and Deansgate. While both have disabled toilets, which might even be working and open, there's not much else, no waiting room as such, and to keep out of the cold wind/rain you have just the overbridge or tunnel. Neither are a particular pleasant place to wait long, at least Deansgate has a couple of pubs below, no such luck at Crescent!

Warrington Central fits into this category too.

Wakefield Kirkgate.
Assuming from the OP's question that it's a cold wet evening, so the café definitely won't be open. Supposedly the Wakefield Arms is being redeveloped but for now it's still derelict, there's a rough estate nearby and even the Snooty Fox, rough as it was, is closed down. You're at the scratty end of Wakefield (which is saying a lot) and have to cross six lanes of traffic to get to the city centre anyway.

At least the roof of the station building no longer leaks, I suppose!

It's a lot better since the arrival of the TP services, at least there's enough normal people about now for it to feel safe all of the time. During the day it's actually fairly pleasant and the cafe in particular is nice. It absolutely would have been top of the list for this thread in the early 2000's but I don't think it justifies a mention anymore, there are many much worse station to wait at.

 

[BeijingDave]

Warrington Central fits into this category too.

Warrington Central does at least have a proper pub across the road from the entrance, though. It's actually a good atmosphere on match day.

Both the Kings Head across the road from Central and the Patten Arms across the road from BQ are 'acceptable' (though don't expect any award-winning niche IPA or such) when waiting for a train - mostly just full of miserable auld wans.

 

[The exile]

Dalmarnock didn’t exactly endear itself to me during a 10 minute wait - I think an hour in the cold on a dreich winter’s afternoon would be an experience not to be repeated.

 

[yorksrob]

I'm assuming from the OP's post that it's dark and wintry so the trek to the Old Hall Hotel would not be a pleasant one!

But it is fully paved, so not too bad in that respect.

 

[yorksrob]

Purely on statistics, going from the BTPs 2024 data the 3 most dangerous stations to wait at were Charing, Tiverton Parkway and Shipley.

These were ones with 100K+ passengers and/or 100+ incidents, as otherwise the data was skewed - the "most dangerous" station was Johnston in Pembrokeshire with 10 incidents but only 7K passengers

Charing !!

Shipley !!!

 

[yorksrob]

Moston

The Gardeners Arms up the road is a decent boozer to wait in.

 

[Russel]

Charing !!

Shipley !!!

I never had Tiverton down as dangerous either!

 

[Tetchytyke]

Purely on statistics, going from the BTPs 2024 data the 3 most dangerous stations to wait at were Charing, Tiverton Parkway and Shipley.

Shipley !!!

Because of the layout of the station there's quite a bit of anti-social behaviour at Shipley. It's not somewhere I like to hang around after dark.

So I don't, I go and wait in The Fox on Briggate which, helpfully, has one of those departure boards next to the bar.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

The Gardeners Arms up the road is a decent boozer to wait in.

Not everyone visits such types of establishments, believe it or not.

 

[Tetchytyke]

Ellesmere Port or Overpool, both dumps full of the local clientele trying to trash the place.

Overpool isn't that bad, and there's the Wetherspoons (admittedly quite a weird one) over the road.

Anyway, I'd nominate either Bristol Parkway or Worcestershire Parkway. Both stations are in the middle of nowhere and have few facilities. And they're always bloody cold.

 

[D1537]

Charing !!

Shipley !!!

Yeah, I know (actually, Tiverton Parkway is the "what?" one for me, I can believe Shipley)

Here's the top 10 as reported in Time Out, but I can't now find the original dataset on the BTP website (it used to be there...)

Crime Ridden Stations

 

[stadler]

Newhaven Harbour deserves a mention. It has a rather grotty feel to it. It is down the end of a road surrounded by derelict abandoned houses and an industrial estate and bus depot. It is not the most inviting place to wait.

 

[yorksrob]

I never had Tiverton down as dangerous either!

Yeah, I know (actually, Tiverton Parkway is the "what?" one for me, I can believe Shipley)

Here's the top 10 as reported in Time Out, but I can't now find the original dataset on the BTP website (it used to be there...)

Crime Ridden Stations

To be fair, I've never visited Tiverton Parkway, so I can't comment on it.

Shipley's never struck me as being too bad though. I'll bear the Fox in mind if I need to wait there.

I really don't get Charing though.

 

[CaptainHaddock]

To be fair, I've never visited Tiverton Parkway, so I can't comment on it.

Shipley's never struck me as being too bad though. I'll bear the Fox in mind if I need to wait there.

I really don't get Charing though.

To be fair they might have meant Tiverton Junction; that really would be a horrible station to wait at!

 

[yorksrob]

Not everyone visits such types of establishments, believe it or not.

That's their loss then

 

[yorksrob]

To be fair they might have meant Tiverton Junction; that really would be a horrible station to wait at!

Not too much risk of being bothered by other passengers though !