What is your favourite London terminus?

[Class 33]

My favourite is Liverpool Street. Not sure why exactly, but there's something about that station which makes it my favourite of the London termini.

 

[Pumbaa]

Urm... Probably Paddington at the moment, or Victoria. I hate Euston, although I hope KX is decent once they've finished with it.

 

[asylumxl]

Hmm. Paddington too I think.

 

[mrcheek]

Marylebone. Quieter, and far more relaxed than any of the other terminals. Plus, it always seems to be full of cute Asian girls

 

[williamn]

Kings Cross - its ungated.

 

[slick]

Best - Liverpool Street, Just has a nice airy feel to it.
Worst - Euston. a) because I work there b) because everything is grotty. Because of the shape of the station with its low roof, you can have a HST unit measurement train on Plat 16 and be choked to death on 2 by the same train, fumes just dont escape.

 

[87031]

Used to be Euston but it looks awful with lines of Virgin Plastic junk lined up so id have to go for Paddington great piece of architecture and looks great with loads of HSTs lined up on the banked curve

 

[monkey]

^^euston is UGLY. I read somewhere its "allergic to light" and it is exactly that, just ugly blocky cave...

 

[Lampshade]

Paddington is good, I love the architecture in that place and loads of HSTs as well

That said, St Pancras is mighty impressive now but my favourite has to be Waterloo, I just remember going there the first time I ever went to London so I have a soft spot for it.

 

[slick]

^^euston is UGLY. I read somewhere its "allergic to light" and it is exactly that, just ugly blocky cave...

Perfectly described!

 

[mumrar]

Perfectly described!

My favourite is Euston, as the linespeed out is the fastest, therefore I leave London quicker. A more insufferable place in the UK I cannot think of. Why do so many people live there?

 

[Daimler]

My favourite is Euston, as the linespeed out is the fastest, therefore I leave London quicker. A more insufferable place in the UK I cannot think of. Why do so many people live there?

Are you quite sure? The climb out of/descent into Euston up/down Camden Bank is excruciating! I've always believed the Great Western to have the fastest run into their terminus, where HST seemingly leave the station and open up almost at once.

Of course, not having seen the actual linespeeds, this is purely from experience...

 

[SouthEastern-465]

Mines got to be Cannon Street and Charing Cross I just took to them espicially cannon street.

 

[mallard]

Marylebone.

It's nice an open and it was modernized just before the current trend for great expanses of white everywhere. It also has lots of great original features still in place, the plants really make the place look "homely" unlike the utilitarian decoration of the other former NSE terminals.

It really feels welcoming, without the overwhelming grandeur of St Pancras or Paddington.

 

[jopsuk]

Curve ball- can I nominate Hammersmith on the H&C? I realise it's not a "London Terminal" in the ticketing sense. I've only been there a couple of times, and off-peak, but to me it felt like, inside, that a terminal from a small seaside town had been abducted and transplanted in to the middle of London.

Thoughts on the actual termini?
Happened to be walking past the other week and took a inside Marylebone. It seemed OK, though suffering from the diesel fumes.

St Pancras is obviously rather swish, whilst Kings Cross is currently even more of a hole, and will be until they finish the works there. Liverpool Street is OK, though the platforms are rather hidden from the concourse, and I've only ever used the West Anglia side- the Great Eastern locals platforms look a bit more claustrophobic?

Euston is a dive. Nasty dark concrete box, with those stupid massive ramps between the concourse and trains- poor layout.

Never used Fenchurch Street. Think I've once used Cannon Street, and it was a bit anonymous, same with Charing Cross. Blackfriars will be interesting in its new layout. London Bridge is confusing being essentially two adjacent stations (the terminus and the through station).

Not used Waterloo in years- I know there's a lot changes since, including ticket barriers.

Half of Victoria is nice. Half is nasty. The Jekyll and Hyde of termini.

Paddington suffers a bit from this as well, though I've never had to get a train from the dark part. The Mainline shed is spectacular, and the W&C platforms are quite light airy- it's the bit between that it falls down on, and I hear that's to be sorted?

 

[Daimler]

Marylebone.

It's nice an open and it was modernized just before the current trend for great expanses of white everywhere. It also has lots of great original features still in place, the plants really make the place look "homely" unlike the utilitarian decoration of the other former NSE terminals.

It really feels welcoming, without the overwhelming grandeur of St Pancras or Paddington.

I agree. To catch a train, Marylebone is the best of the London terminals - it's got everything you could want from a terminal - large overall roof, grand entrance, historic architecture, but scaled down to a more approachable level. You feel welcome at Marylebone - partly, I suspect, this is due to ownership by Chiltern, whose sympathetic work on the station - new platforms in keeping with original style, beautiful GCR iron gates, old-fashioned shops/ticket office, nice seating areas, and lots of well-tended flowers, as you say. It's a pleasure to travel from Marylebone.

However, as a place to watch trains, I'll still go for Kings Cross. Yes, it's run down, but it has oodles of atmosphere and history, and the work-stained nature of the building only adds to this. Once the ghastly '70s concourse has been removed, exposing the beautiful Cubitt frontage, it'll be even better.

 

[37401]

Kings Cross and Liverpool St (joint fave) dont know why but I just like em!

 

[The Snap]

Of the termini I've been too, I don't like any really. Euston is dark, dingy and boring (although I quite like a clagging HST or 57/3 under that low roof! ). King's Cross was OK when I went, but that was a few years ago and from what I've read, it's changed a lot since! Charing Cross is boring and bland, Waterloo is too busy and full of crappy units I have no interest in, and Paddington was about 50% building site when I last went (maybe that's changed?).

I have never been to Marylebone, but having read mallard's and Daimler's descriptions, I think I should! It sounds like a very charming station. I think, based on those descriptions and a few photographs I've seen, I'll say Marylebone is my favourite (is that allowed, considering I've never been? )

 

[Aictos]

I do like Kings Cross and St Pancras but they're far too small in terms of platform accommodation, Kings Cross really should be looking at having 15 platforms and St Pancras should be looking at about 12 platforms.

Which is why I despair when I see Liverpool Street, Waterloo, Victoria, Euston and even Paddington.

Saying that, I went to Wrexham earlier this year from Marylebone and it was like stepping back in time like it is every time one goes down the Northern City Line,

 

[EM2]

I do like Kings Cross and St Pancras but they're far too small in terms of platform accommodation, Kings Cross really should be looking at having 15 platforms and St Pancras should be looking at about 12 platforms.

Well KX will soon have 12, and St P already has 15...

 

[ian959]

I would say St Pancras is the best - really the first time I have been reduced to "wow" when getting off the train. Done a truly superb job with it.

Paddington is an all time favourite though along with Liverpool Street, both for the work they have done on restoring them whilst retaining their character (I remember fondly many a journey out of Paddington to Wolverhampton Low Level in the 1960's as a kid, including my last ride on a mainline steam-powered service). Marylebone and Kings Cross would rank next, although it will be interesting to see how Kings Cross scrubs up when they finish the redevelopment.

The worst by far is Euston - like all the other modernised stations built in the 1960s WCML electrification, none of which have aged well at all, it is a disaster hole only marginally better than the travesty they created at New Street (and unfortunately the London terminus that I most often visit). Fenchurch Street is a characterless place and Cannon Street is barely describable as a railway station. Victoria is always too busy and leaves a big blank of my mind whilst Waterloo is a mishmash that needs a lot of work to restore it to something worthy of mentioning in the same breath as say Paddington.

I have not been to Charing Cross in many a long year but I remember it as a filthy hole as a kid so hopefully it has improved (I finally get to visit it again after 40 odd years on a trip in December).

 

[Pumbaa]

Re Daimler - yes Euston opens up the quickest. Camden Tunnels mark 40mph, and it quickly rises to 90 by Queens Park, and its 125 (EPS) by Willesden.

And although the climb into Camden is bad, the flying junctions seem pretty quick in the 350s, and 390s.

 

[fgwrich]

Re Daimler - yes Euston opens up the quickest. Camden Tunnels mark 40mph, and it quickly rises to 90 by Queens Park, and its 125 (EPS) by Willesden.

And although the climb into Camden is bad, the flying junctions seem pretty quick in the 350s, and 390s.

Having said that paddingtons still quite a fast exit, and simularly on the approach...40 In, 40 Out, Increasing to 50,then just near The Oak, 125...

But my favourate London Termini has definatly got to be:

Paddington

Amazing wonderfull GWR Architecture, with the very smartly done stone platform surfaces, combined with the wonderfull sounds and smells of the HST's, with the smarlty done 'The Lawn', and if youve been there recently, you might have noticed that the Hilton Hotel even has added the GWR logos onto the windows! And to complement that, Now that Span 4 is being re-opend up to the light again, the building site will be no more, and the station will be even better and brighter...

Second Favourate, St Pancras...
Beutifully restored, very nice and light, love the mixture of shops, resturants and international railway station all tied up with one massive theme, Heritage!

Quite possibly the only reason for marking it down, The EMT Domestic platforms...Cramped, Noisy, cold, drafty and when a HST or 222 starts up and your walking out the FCC platforms, the stench of diesel comes right down from above and stinks the whole place out...All becasue of a poorly desinged roof!

And one other reason, highlighted in my post in the'Time to Clean Up The Cess's' thread...The state of the track is appaling! Welcome to St Pancras International Station, just don't look at the track, already covered in oil,rainwater and overfill water from tanking the Mk3's, Effluent & Coolent, from leaking trains...

Third Favourate...
Marleybone... Lovely Bakerloo Line platforms - excpet the 1980's tunnels from the original platforms to the mainline station...apart from that and the 1990's Network South East Decor everywhere...its a nice and pleasant 'pocket size' station run by a very good TOC...

Only downside...Does get very cold in the winter depending on whichever way the winds blowing!

But whenever im at Marleybone, im usally off to a Wasps Match at High Wycombe

Whereas the london termini i personnaly hate, are, in the following order...

Kings Cross...Will be better when its refurbishment is finnished, untill then its a cold and dark building site...

Fenchurch Street...A wonderfull station lost under BR Devlopment and now left with a drab and very very un-exiting staion... stuck in a identity crisis between NSE & C2C...

Charing Cross...Not bad Concourse, Drab NSE Platforms again lost under BR devlopment and a horrific 1970's Underground station...

Liverpool Street...Again BR devloped although the concourse isnt bad...but the TOC is... but then again, the station layouts a mess and needs tiding out...

Victoria - Will look better when refurbishment is done on the South Eastern side, but again another BR developed station...

London Bridge - DRAB! Simple as...Again another BR devloped station... with a dark and un-inviting terminous platforms...And stuck in a tarmwarp...

Waterloo...Poor Layout, Cold in winter, takes forever to get into in peak hours, councourse can get very crowded, trains anounced just 10 mins before departure, even if there the obvious...not the prettiest of southern Architecture...

Moorgate - Is there anything good about it ? Although unlike the overs it can get fairly warm whenever its open, but still rather dark...

Euston...As usal, Euston deserves to be at the bottom...Dark, Uninviting,Dull,Horrible concourse and dull platforms, noisy and needs instant demolition, bring back heritage! And Quite far from the Sub Surface Underground lines, despite running just outside the front of the station...

rich

 

[Voyager 2093]

Marylebone for me too, its easy to navigate even if your a tourist, and it does have an M&S which also counts, but most of all i like the fact that most services are on time and that chiltern or wsmr tell you if your train is going to be delayed.

 

[Aictos]

Well KX will soon have 12, and St P already has 15...

I didn't know STP had 15 platforms only seems like they have about 8 or 9!

 

[Pumbaa]

Having said that paddingtons still quite a fast exit, and simularly on the approach...40 In, 40 Out, Increasing to 50,then just near The Oak, 125...

50mph is at 1m, 12 ch from Paddington. From Euston its at 70ch on the fast lines, 1m 10 ch on the centre slow lines. 100mph is 3m at Euston on the fasts, 2m 6ch on the Western so you can have that! 125 though is 4m 60ch past Acton Mainline, on the WCML 6m 10ch. So yes, probably Western exit is quicker. But the 390s and 350s make mincemeat of the speed on the WCML, hence it seems quicker in my opinion, unlike the HSTs which dawdle leisurely out through West London.

 

[EM2]

I didn't know STP had 15 platforms only seems like they have about 8 or 9!

Four for East Midlands, six for Eurostar, three for South Eastern...and two for FCC

 

[yorksrob]

Waterloo's always struck me as superb. Beautiful trainshed and impressively big.

I also love St Pancras. Very nice to sit outside of the Betjamen with a beer watching the trains.

 

[Fincra5]

Are you quite sure? The climb out of/descent into Euston up/down Camden Bank is excruciating! I've always believed the Great Western to have the fastest run into their terminus, where HST seemingly leave the station and open up almost at once.

Of course, not having seen the actual linespeeds, this is purely from experience...

I believe the speed just outside the station is 40mph
.

 

[37401]

I like STP too, its fantastic! when i first stepped foot in there I looked up and was left speechless! its a nice change from euston