UKs flagship station

[fwsmVor]

Surprised Yeovil Pen Mill hasn’t been mentioned yet

Why?

 

[htafc]

Outside of any of the major city termini (Waverley, Glasgow Central etc) or the stations on the marginal scenic lines in Scotland, Wemyss Bay would be right at the top of most lists (architectural quality, historic significance and indeed, 'picture perfect stations'). One station that's arguably better-known than the town/village that it's named after, and for good reason.

There's a reason Wemyss Bay was a 5-star station in Simon Jenkins' Britain's 100 Best Railway Stations...!

What about York or Crewe

Was just going to add York to the mix before I saw this...
Outside London, it is definitely up there.

 

[ijmad]

In modern naval warfare, a flagship is not the largest, fastest or most heavily armed ship. It is a ship where a certain portion of the space is given over to the Fleet Commander for their quarters, staff and command operations deck. These can often be cruisers or frigates rather than destroyers or aircraft carriers.

So the best analogy is a railway station with an associated large and important ROC, so clearly the answer to OP's question is York.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Surprised Yeovil Pen Mill hasn’t been mentioned yet.

Why?

Quite! What's so special about Yeovil Pen Mill station that would make it UK's flagship station?

 

[D6130]

Quite! What's so special about Yeovil Pen Mill station that would make it UK's flagship station?

I suspect that there may be more than a touch of irony here....which may be lost on some of our more literally-minded members!

 

[newguy]

When I read the title to this thread the first station that came to mind was Berlin‘s Hauptbahnhof. I realise it’s not in the uk but it’s an engineering masterpiece and in my mind a flagship station. does the uk have any modern stations that could compete with something like Hauptbahnhof?

 

[greyman42]

When there's anything to say (good or bad), the BBC seems to turn up at Euston or Paddington.
St Pancras has the international focus (Eurostar).

When the BBC are reporting on industrial action, they seem to favour Euston.
For general rail reporting i thought they used the mezzanine at Kings Cross.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 5 Nov 2022 ==

Huddersfield or Wemyss Bay, both picture perfect British stations.

Huddersfield is OK from the outside but nothing flash once you are through the barriers.

 

[Sunil_P]

Euston? What a dump!

 

[greyman42]

What about York or Crewe

York is a lovely station. The last time i was at Crewe it looked run down.

 

[takno]

When I read the title to this thread the first station that came to mind was Berlin‘s Hauptbahnhof. I realise it’s not in the uk but it’s an engineering masterpiece and in my mind a flagship station. does the uk have any modern stations that could compete with something like Hauptbahnhof?

Personally I always preferred both Zoo and Ostbahnhof, and Hamburg and Koln are both significantly more impressive, but I guess for fans of shiny Hbf is shiny. Either way I don't think it's by any means a shoe-in in Germany.

In UK terms you'll probably have to wait until the HS2 stations open for something in this style. Up to now we've mostly focused on adapting and improving existing stations with, to my mind much more impressive results.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

I suspect that there may be more than a touch of irony here....which may be lost on some of our more literally-minded members!

Would certainly have been lost on me then!

 

[newguy]

Personally I always preferred both Zoo and Ostbahnhof, and Hamburg and Koln are both significantly more impressive, but I guess for fans of shiny Hbf is shiny. Either way I don't think it's by any means a shoe-in in Germany.

In UK terms you'll probably have to wait until the HS2 stations open for something in this style. Up to now we've mostly focused on adapting and improving existing stations with, to my mind much more impressive results.

Thanks. I live in Glasgow so regularly see central, Queen street and even Wemyss Bay, so seeing something modern is quite an experience! But you’re right Ostbahnhof and zoo are quite impressive as well!

 

[Gathursty]

St Pancras - realistic answer
Carnforth - 'Brief Encounters' Nostalgia
Dilton Marsh/Slough - 'Betjeman' fans.

 

[Bald Rick]

In modern naval warfare, a flagship is not the largest, fastest or most heavily armed ship. It is a ship where a certain portion of the space is given over to the Fleet Commander for their quarters, staff and command operations deck. These can often be cruisers or frigates rather than destroyers or aircraft carriers.

So the best analogy is a railway station with an associated large and important ROC, so clearly the answer to OP's question is York.

On that basis, it should surely be a station where a part of the station itself is given over to (say) the Chairman or Chief Exec for their staff and ‘operations deck’ (MS Teams screen).

Which means it’s Waterloo.

 

[Strathclyder]

I would nominate Glasgow Central as a large city terminus flagship. By saying "terminus" I am neatly excluding the low level platforms which are just grim.

Yep. As far as large city termini go, Glasgow Central is about as good as you can get in this country (and I don't just mean in Scotland). Well laid-out, easy to navigate (knocks the socks off Waverley in these first two respects in particular), light/airy and with timeless architecture. All I can really say is: thank god the Bruce Report never came to fruition in it's entirety.

There's a reason Wemyss Bay was a 5-star station in Simon Jenkins' Britain's 100 Best Railway Stations...!

Quite. At the other end of the Inverclyde Line and in that same list, Glasgow Central was another 5-star recipient. It was also the highest rated station in the UK in 2017 as far as customer/passenger satisfaction went, clocking in at 95.2%. No doubt that has changed to some degree in the 5 years since then, but that just speaks to the station's qualities if nothing else.

 

[Islineclear3_1]

Doleham of course! It's probably the least used station in Sussex...

Years ago, I would have voted London Victoria for the boat trains, the Golden Arrow and the Venice-Simplon Orient Express

 

[htafc]

Rannoch for Macbeth's-witches-style desolate moorland...

 

[Dave S 56F]

Is Darlington North Road Station worth a shout there built by the same N.E.R. architect Thomas prosser who also built York,s and Newcastle Central,s ornate train shed arches. And yellow brick curtain walls.

 

[Killingworth]

What about York or Crewe

'This is York,' I can hear the 1950s lady station announcer still.

The climax of childhood visits to relatives in Yorkshire was climbing aboard City of Truro and other locomotives in the old Railway Museum. Surely the history of railways in the much larger RaIlway Museum just behind the station must make York the flagship for all of Britain.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Huddersfield is OK from the outside but nothing flash once you are through the barriers.

Even speaking as someone from Huddersfield, I know what you mean. The main buildings on the island are quite nice (despite the waiting room often being locked these days) and grade-2 listed but some of the modern amenities haven't been added in a very sympathetic manner. The overall roof is looking a bit shabby too, and the engineer's blue brick signal box is a bit of an eyesore. I'm also not a fan of the rather lazy "improvements" done in the late 1980s such as the shortening of platform 8 at the Manchester end, and the low-maintenance flower bed that occupies the former platform 7.

Hopefully the big rebuild as part of the Trans-Pennine Upgrade will correct some of the errors made in the past. As I understand it the signal box is no longer in use (unless it still controls the northern end of the Penistone line?) so hopefully that can go.

 

[BeijingDave]

York is a lovely station. The last time i was at Crewe it looked run down.

Crewe has a highly unimpressive station building/entrance too (well, 2 of them now).

If we are talking about stations outside London, my vote would probably go to Bristol Temple Meads, especially given the Brunel involvement.

 

[Ken H]

Didnt Hornby model their trainshed model on a UK station. York or KX?
Sorry. Memory fredging..

Anyway surely the one used by Hornby should be the flagship!

Pity Hornby station on the closed Morecambe - Wennington line isnt still open. It would be a fine flagship!
There again Hornby has a fine tea room that happens to have a post office in it.

 

[Oxfordblues]

I nominate the new West London mega-hub at Old Oak Common: it'll be a showpiece station if ever there was.

 

[fandroid]

When I read the title to this thread the first station that came to mind was Berlin‘s Hauptbahnhof. I realise it’s not in the uk but it’s an engineering masterpiece and in my mind a flagship station. does the uk have any modern stations that could compete with something like Hauptbahnhof?

I would still put St Pancras forward. Essentially a thoroughly modern station now with even more connectivity than Berlin Hbf, if you count every train service that uses it (3 national lines, one international, an Underground station serving 3 lines and close links to 3 others)

 

[JohnRegular]

Crewe has a highly unimpressive station building/entrance too (well, 2 of them now).

If we are talking about stations outside London, my vote would probably go to Bristol Temple Meads, especially given the Brunel involvement.

Temple Meads always feels a bit cold, windswept, and like its best days are behind it. Does its job well enough, no complaints, but the higher numbered platforms outside the main trainshed feel unloved, and exiting through the old midland shed (now a car park) makes the whole place feel just a bit run down. Looks great from the front though, and hopefully after the ongoing renovations the whole place will have a lighter ambience.

York is a better non-London choice in my opinion, or Glasgow Central.

 

[Dave S 56F]

Bridlington and Filey railway stations 2 Nice examples of old N.E.R. style stations Filey with its original trainshed like pickering station and Bridlington with its original N.E.R. building facade and N.E.R. canopies despite the signal box levers been out of use and semaphores no longer intact.

 

[Basil Jet]

No-one has mentioned Blackfriars, perhaps because it doesn't look so impressive from without, but no station has better views from within.

 

[BayPaul]

Totnes used to be a good shout, when it had a unique locally produced timetable, which put it at the centre of the rail universe.

 

[PTR 444]

There are so many possibilities, I could give at least one example for each region of Great Britain:

London: Kings Cross/St Pancras
South East: Reading
South West: Bristol Temple Meads
Wales: Cardiff Central
East of England: Peterborough
West Midlands: Birmingham New Street
East Midlands: Nottingham
North West: Manchester Piccadilly
Yorkshire & Humber: York
North East: Newcastle
Scotland: Edinburgh Waverley

I guess I picked all of the above on the grounds that they are served by intercity trains on either the GWML, WCML, MML or ECML.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

East of England: Peterborough

Maybe for spotters... for the average passenger it's an absolute dump. I'd go for Norwich.