What is your favourite London terminus?

[Geezertronic]

Poor Euston, so mistunderstood (like BHM)

You have to wonder whether the waccy baccy had some involvement in the design of stations in the 60's

 

[Class 33]

I gotta agree about Euston. It's a horrid terminus, what with those massive ramps down to the platforms. Don't like that station atall. And definitely my least favourite terminus, or more appropiately described as what I regard as the worst terminus I've even seen - not just in London but anywhere.

Fenchurch Street - A bit of a boring characterless station as others have said. Plus it doesn't exactly have a good variation of trains using it. It's 357's, 357's, 357's, and yet more 357's! Plus I'm not a huge fan of those trains as well.

Wateroo - Not really a massive fan of to be honest. At peak times it's just FAR too crowded. Plus nowadays these modern EMU's that run to and from this station, I don't really like. Though I do like the 455's.

As for some of other favourites. Gotta agree about Marylebone and Paddington too. Though Paddington isn't quite the same now that the Valenta HST's have all been replaced with the MTU engine'd HST's. The sound, ambience, and atmosphere of the station isn't quite the same. And going even further back to the BR years when claggy 47's and 50's were regulars at this station , that was when Paddington was at it's best in my opinion. Still a nice station nowadays though, and I'd say it was my second favourite London terminus.

 

[johnb]

Euston is by some margin the best terminus to *actually use* (as opposed to "admire the architecture"). Passenger flows are really well designed, rather than having randomly evolved over 150 years as the station's grown.

Paddington's a good example of the latter: yes, it's pretty, but the random selection of platforms is confusing - and the Underground interchange is properly horrible (at least next year there'll only be one place to get trains to the City...). In a similar vein, the worst terminus to use is London Bridge... well, actually the terminus isn't as bad as the through platforms, but in general it's a confusing, unwieldy nightmare.

Liverpool Street is good. King's Cross is overloaded; St Pancras is very pretty but some of the flow planning is criminally bad (although hopefully this'll improve when the Northern Tube ticket hall opens); Cannon Street and Charing Cross are functional; Victoria's scarily huge and overloaded; Marylebone is lovely but hardly a London terminus; and I've never used Fenchurch Street as I've no desire to go to Southend...

 

[jopsuk]

Euston would be a lot better for passenger flow if the distance from concourse to platform was shorter and the platforms were level with the concourse. The big ramps are not a nice feature in this respect.

And, of course, if the Subsurface lines underground station was shifted to be closer to the mainline station

 

[HSTfan!!!]

only ever really been to paddington, been in euston but went on the tube there so didn't see much past the concourse

 

[rick9525]

Have to say Marylebone followed by St Pancras.
Worst is King Cross though Fenchurch Street was a big let down though of cause its not exactly a long distance station, They should be taken off the Monopoly board.

 

[37372]

I prefer Marylebone for various reasons, one of them is because it doesn't have the annoying Sarah auto-announcements.
It also seems like a more pleasant environment.

 

[mathmo]

The one (and only!) thing I like about Euston is the departures board - in my mind, a perfect example of how these things should be done. It's clear, pretty simple, and at just the right height. Compare to King's Cross (poorly laid out and in a cramped place) or Liverpool Street (so high up I can barely read it, and that requires straining my neck!). But otherwise Euston is horrible.

I do like Paddington but for the horrendous diesel pollution in there (bring on the GWML electrification!) and the difficult-to-hear echoey announcements. Haven't been in St Pancras though so I can't compare to that.

 

[Daimler]

Euston is by some margin the best terminus to *actually use* (as opposed to "admire the architecture"). Passenger flows are really well designed, rather than having randomly evolved over 150 years as the station's grown.

I actually disagree with that quite strongly. What makes Euston 'good to use'? Is it the almost universal absence of places to sit and wait, meaning that passengers glumly mill around on the main concourse? Is it the fact that if you go up from the underground onto the suburban platforms, and find that your train is actually leaving from elsewhere, you have a long trek all the way back to the concourse and back down again (this is particularly fun when you're in a hurry)? Is it the paucity of ticket machines/ticket windows for suburban trains - apart from, again, down at the entrance to platforms 8, 9, 10, and 11 - and even there I believe there are only 2 windows/2 machines! This, again, makes Euston something of a nightmare if you're in a hurry and need to buy a ticket for a suburban train. Is it the way that it's almost impossible to get from Euston Road to the station without having your path blocked by various railings (seemingly there deliberately to hinder your passage!)? Is it the windswept nature of the exterior 'plaza' (hah!), with its peculiar mini-tornadoes of litter and strange walkway routes?

None of these seem to be plus points to me! And it's ugly too.

 

[Waddon]

Favourite London Terminus? How about Tower Gateway on the DLR? (no, not really. Certainly the smallest London Terminus, with two platforms but only one track)

Marylebone is the nicest, But London Bridge is the one I use most (until they start rearranging it in a few years time, when it will be hell on earth)

 

[SWT Driver]

Paddington - It's great spans are brilliant.

St Pancras - It would be even better, if it weren't for the extremely dodgy/shoddy paintwork of the facelifted station & that pig awful tin roof on the end of the wonderful Barlow trainshed.

Waterloo - Now the roofs been done it's bright and airy.

 

[43021HST]

Its got to be Paddington you all know why, unless you dont ,just ask why. I may or may not answer it.

 

[johnb]

Is it the almost universal absence of places to sit and wait, meaning that passengers glumly mill around on the main concourse?

Or you can sit on the gallery with a beer, looking down on said concourse...

Is it the fact that if you go up from the underground onto the suburban platforms, and find that your train is actually leaving from elsewhere, you have a long trek all the way back to the concourse and back down again (this is particularly fun when you're in a hurry)?

Eh? The suburban platforms can also be accessed from the main concourse, it's just that they've built a shortcut from the Tube to them which saves ticketholders time. That's a usability bonus, not a failing.

Is it the paucity of ticket machines/ticket windows for suburban trains - apart from, again, down at the entrance to platforms 8, 9, 10, and 11 - and even there I believe there are only 2 windows/2 machines! This, again, makes Euston something of a nightmare if you're in a hurry and need to buy a ticket for a suburban train.

GB isn't Spain: you can buy all tickets to all destinations via all trains from all windows and all machines.

Is it the way that it's almost impossible to get from Euston Road to the station without having your path blocked by various railings (seemingly there deliberately to hinder your passage!)? Is it the windswept nature of the exterior 'plaza' (hah!), with its peculiar mini-tornadoes of litter and strange walkway routes?

Eh? If you're starting west of Euston Square or east of Eversholt Street, the walking routes are obvious and very simple. If you've come up Endsleigh Street it's slightly more confusing, but most people don't.

 

[Daimler]

Or you can sit on the gallery with a beer, looking down on said concourse...

Not everyone wants to spend money on a drink while waiting...

Indeed, I'd say 90% of people don't want to visit an eating/drinking establishment, only to wait until their train is 'ready for boarding'. And there is nowhere to do that in Euston station.

Eh? The suburban platforms can also be accessed from the main concourse, it's just that they've built a shortcut from the Tube to them which saves ticketholders time. That's a usability bonus, not a failing.

You've missed my point - I'm moaning about the stupidly long distance you have to walk from platform to platform. Meaning that if you take this short-cut, and find your train isn't on the suburban platforms, despite being a suburban train, you have a trek back up and down - not good in a hurry!

GB isn't Spain: you can buy all tickets to all destinations via all trains from all windows and all machines.

Possibly, but all there is to do that on the main concourse is the Virgin travel centre - why no machines near London Midland's area?

Eh? If you're starting west of Euston Square or east of Eversholt Street, the walking routes are obvious and very simple. If you've come up Endsleigh Street it's slightly more confusing, but most people don't.

To me, the forecourt feels like it was designed for everyone except pedestrians, who have to juggle with cars, buses, and pedestrian crossings to get to the station entrance, not to mention circumnavigating ugly statues and monstrous tower blocks, with - as I mentioned before, strategically placed railings, where they will cause maximum obstruction.

I will concede, though, that it's at its worst coming up Endsleigh Street!

 

[90019]

None of them

I don't particularly like any of the London terminii, and would rather be somewhere else :P

 

[Lampshade]

None of them

I don't particularly like any of the London terminii, and would rather be somewhere else :P

I agree, there's loads of stations that I prefer:

- Manchester Piccadilly
- Preston (although not a terminus)
- Bristol Temple Meads
- York

 

[CMS]

The best? Euston, definitely. It's airy and the concourse is nice and open. The tannoy system is unpredictable and tempremental, but is loud and clear. It's always nice to hear her exclaim every station on the Watford DC LO service.

The worst? Waterloo East. It's old and NSE-like. The slopes and ramps into Waterloo are annoying and the station is always dirty.

The most interesting one for me is Fenchurch Street. It's hidden away from Centarl London, in a little back street. It only has 4 platforms, and yet you don't see anyone in the station, yet the trains are usually fairly busy, just like outside on a Mon-Fri. It is really interesting that you can literally see the goings on of a board meeeting, whilst on a humming 357 ready to depart to Shoeburyness, and Upminster in under 20 minutes is amazing compared to the Underground from London Embankment.

 

[RPM]

I've always liked St Pancras, both before and after Eurostar. Marylebone is nice for all the reasons mentioned by previous posters but a bit unexciting for me as I'm there most days of my working life. Liverpool Street is a cracking example of how to modernise a historic station when major redevelopment is needed, but for me it has to be Paddington - superb architecture, steeped in railway history, full of childhood memories - Paddington *was* London for a West Country lad!