62613 Posted July 25, 2017 Share Posted July 25, 2017 (edited) There was no shortage of depressingly 'Dickensian Workhouse' stations before the 1960's especially in Cottonopolis. Oldham Werneth, in a cutting and adjacent to a dank smelly tunnel, was a bad 'un. Middleton with it's skeleton roof was another. Even Royton with its open aspect was pure cotton town grot. Oldham was an utterly depressing district anyway. The L&Y Summit line via Todmorden was depressing even by the lineside, whereas the LNWR Standedge line over the Pennines seemed exciting. Same with the Woodhead line before 1954 although Guide Bridge was depressingly cold and draughty when all the platforms had canopies as was Denton. Oxford Road station in Manchester also springs to mind as depressing, not helped by those dark green EMU's. Having mentioned electrics, the whole Manchester-Bury electric line was depressing especially when the old L&YR Units were LMS brownish maroon. Jeepers, I nearly forgot to mention Blaenau Ffestiniog North. Never knew it when it was open, but how was Oldham Glodwick Road? A restricted-site station in a cutting. Talking of Guide Bridge, all the stations on the Woodhead Stump are depressing now; the whole line is depressing in the extreme Edited July 25, 2017 by 62613 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rivercider Posted July 25, 2017 Share Posted July 25, 2017 and the people - don't forget the people ....................... I remember a couple of years shift working at Westbury where one week in three I caught a 22.10 departure back to Bristol, the passengers who joined at Trowbridge were an interesting crowd, the guard would often have a challenging time when checking tickets, cheers Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liam Posted July 25, 2017 Share Posted July 25, 2017 Some of the stations in Birmingham, like Northfield, Small Heath, Duddeston and Stechford are pretty grim and run down. Away from there, these days Holyhead station isn't as glamorous as it once was. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AberdeenBill Posted July 25, 2017 Share Posted July 25, 2017 Southend Airport is pretty grim when the Essex marshes are shrouded in freezing fog and there's a huge queue of confused people off diverted flights from London City... Bill Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim R-T-C Posted July 25, 2017 Share Posted July 25, 2017 Perry Barr in Birmingham is the most grim I have used in a while. Wouldn't want to spend time there at night, very reminiscent of the North London Line stations pre-LOL. On the positive side though, it is amazing how the London termini have avoided that terrifying seediness that seems to permeate most of the major European city stations. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold phil_sutters Posted July 25, 2017 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 25, 2017 (edited) Three contenders from me: Gatwick Airport - Hopelessly overcrowded and utterly inadequate for the airport it purports to serve, essentially seven dingy platforms with a glorified tin shed over the top of it and very luggage unfriendly!!! Euston - Nasty Concrete carbuncle that needs flattening ASAP But worst of all, [Drum Roll please] the prosecution enters the following into evidence. Crawley, I mean , look at it: Crawley0001.jpg Gatwick is horrible -all concrete with virtually continuous, annoying, automatic announcements that you are approaching the end of the escalator. I suppose it is one way of getting people to spread along the platform. All the catering apart from a few vending machines is up in the area around the airport entrance, so if you are just changing trains e.g. Reading to Gatwick - Gatwick to Lewes - you can't get coffee without leaving the platform - and then Southern say they don't think on-board catering is viable because everyone buys before they board. Mind you getting a trolley to pass through many of Southern's trains must be well nigh impossible. Rant & ramble over! Edited July 25, 2017 by phil_sutters Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
28XX Posted July 25, 2017 Share Posted July 25, 2017 Bordesley. No shelter on the platform. Wind blows continuously. And hardly any trains stop there. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold russ p Posted July 25, 2017 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 25, 2017 Skegness faded glory everywhere you look, Lowestoft and Yarmouth also fall into the category but not quite as bad....yet! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
coachmann Posted July 25, 2017 Share Posted July 25, 2017 (edited) Never knew it when it was open, but how was Oldham Glodwick Road? A restricted-site station in a cutting. 'Gloddik Road', another depressing Oldham station. The other end of the line at Delph was an unprepossessing place in shadow much of the time, but the rest of the lines stations were fine until closure in 1955. Edited July 25, 2017 by coachmann Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Saunders Posted July 25, 2017 Share Posted July 25, 2017 Skegness faded glory everywhere you look, Lowestoft and Yarmouth also fall into the category but not quite as bad....yet! Backpool South! The faded glory removed and only a small 1970's platform and a Bus Shelter! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
eastglosmog Posted July 25, 2017 Share Posted July 25, 2017 There are so many to choose from! For many, it depends a lot on the weather at the time - Connel Ferry on a sunny morning is great, in rain and howling wind it is horrible, the bus shelter being totally unable to keep the horizontal rain out. Still, from memories of spending many hours there waiting for connections, I would vote for Birmingham New St in the mid 1970s. It has improved quite a bit since then,though. Merthyr Tydfil is also a depressing place, mainly because of the surroundings. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Reorte Posted July 25, 2017 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 25, 2017 I suppose stations can be depressing for various reasons, but I am always upset by those that have suffered a catastrophic decline in their importance and facilities. Morcambe and Pontypool Road are two that immediately come to mind, but there will be lots of others. There are plenty of more depressing places in absolute terms but for that decline reason I can't catch a train from Chinley without feeling a bit glum. Anywhere apparently consisting entirely of concrete and palisade fencing is really depressing. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve1 Posted July 25, 2017 Share Posted July 25, 2017 Carlisle at 10 o'clock on a cold October night when you're waiting for a train to somewhere (anywhere!) else. steve Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Welly Posted July 25, 2017 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 25, 2017 How about a non-UK station that really depressed me when I passed through it back in Summer 2014? Rodby F in Denmark which is the northern end of the Fehmarnbelt (spelling?) train ferry from Puttgarden in north Germany. Mile upon mile of disused weed and bush strewn sidings with derelict customs sheds. Only one platform and bus shelter for the rail terminal - imagine the wind coming off the Baltic on a cold grey winter's day! Ugh! This must have been very busy with freight wagons being shunted on and off the ferry before the opening of the rail bridges from eastern Denmark to Jutland providing a direct route via Schleswig-Holstein. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium jjb1970 Posted July 25, 2017 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 25, 2017 Personally, I love Euston. Recent retail developments have not helped one bit, but I love the big circulating area with its marble floor and high ceiling. The old Euston, though long demolished before I was born, sounded like a depressing place. And as for the Doric Arch -pig ugly monstrosity! Why try to make a railway station look like a Greek temple? Who are you trying to kid? My nomination for most depressing station today would have to be Swindon though. For all Euston's faults the marble floor is quite wonderful I always think, lovely quality marble. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Kazmierczak Posted July 25, 2017 Share Posted July 25, 2017 Pokesdown - say no more!! Has a slightly sinister air to me, set down in the cutting. I tend to stay on the footbridge if taking pictures, rather than venture down below to the platforms. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockershovel Posted July 25, 2017 Share Posted July 25, 2017 Not so much depressing as incomprehensible, the low-ceilinged concourse inside a black glass flying saucer that is Birmingham New Street.. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clearwater Posted July 25, 2017 Share Posted July 25, 2017 The previous incarnation of Stourbridge Town with the bus shelter... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foulounoux Posted July 25, 2017 Share Posted July 25, 2017 Trowbridge was a depressing place even before the bus shelter. I spent over an hour there waiting for a failed 33, which eventually arrived behind a 47, on a freezing December evening in 1983. That was around the time I was at Trowbridge College. Cold winter evenings waiting for the 33's heading home to Sway via Southampton I was always grateful for the waiting room Bleak was Broxbourne in a 1970's winter with an East wind cutting you in two whilst you switched from Hertford East service to the faster service to Liverpool Street. At times you stuck with the slower service just to avoid getting out onto the platform Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Branksome71B Posted July 25, 2017 Share Posted July 25, 2017 In the 1970s, Bedford St Johns was dire another in this category Manors at Newcastle. Lea Hall Birmingham, not the sort of place a Railman would volunteer to work. By far the worst for me, Sheffield Victoria being taken apart by vandals before co-ordinated demolition. I have photographs of the War Memorials before their removal. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Davexoc Posted July 25, 2017 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 25, 2017 From the 80s I nominate Wembley Central and what back then was Wembley Complex. Central was served by the prison barred 501s, and Complex was a bridge and bus shelter with views of the old Wembley Towers... Dave Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold rodent279 Posted July 25, 2017 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 25, 2017 Regarding non-UK stations, Warsaw Central was pretty grim. Big subterranean concrete maw, bit like New Street, but without the charm. I suppose a lot of these stations had what you might call "atmosphere"-but then so did the Colisseum when they were feeding Christians to the lions.......... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gismorail Posted July 25, 2017 Share Posted July 25, 2017 Birkenhead Green Lane on the Mersyside electric line in the seventies ....cold damp place with green moss covering a lot of the retaining walls ....not a nice place Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest eddie reffin Posted July 25, 2017 Share Posted July 25, 2017 Perth- a real fallen gem that is badly in need of regeneration. Aberdeen is also a bit like that especially platforms 6N and 7N under the shoppping centre. The roof leaks and North end is so gloomy. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guy Rixon Posted July 26, 2017 Share Posted July 26, 2017 Birmingham New Street. Not because it is now a bad station, but because I know how much better it was before the barbarians buried it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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