My most depressing station is ...

[Mark Saunders]

Pilning has to be top of the list.  Only one stopping train a week on a Saturday (and in one direction).  Imagine being stuck there for a week waiting for your next train     

 

Julian Sprott

At least Teeside Airport is one in each direction on a Saturday!

 

Mark Saunders

[Peter Kazmierczak]

I quite like Pilning, though I drove to get there.

[runs as required]

 Hope the Aussies were fast asleep as the Cally Sleeper passed my home as I climbed into bed.

Brit15

Mmm...

in the August run up to the Glorious Twelfth, Inverness bound sleepers have been known to topple over onto Wigan in the past!

dh

[Gwiwer]

 

 

Most depressing station - London Euston last Friday.

 

I spent an hour at Euston last Thursday afternoon around 4pm.  I found plenty of seats including some new ones up on the gallery, though many were already occupied.  However I had no trouble finding a choice of places to sit and the transient nature of the waiting people meant that seats were vacated - and reoccupied - very frequently.  The large open space (not as open and uncluttered as it once was) in the middle of the concourse serves its purpose well - it acts as a standing area and allows relatively free passage for those passing through, often those just alighted from an arriving train and bound for the tube, the taxi rank or the bus station.

 

However each to their own and one person's depression is another's point of interest.

[D854_Tiger]

I spent an hour at Euston last Thursday afternoon around 4pm.  I found plenty of seats including some new ones up on the gallery, though many were already occupied.  However I had no trouble finding a choice of places to sit and the transient nature of the waiting people meant that seats were vacated - and reoccupied - very frequently.  The large open space (not as open and uncluttered as it once was) in the middle of the concourse serves its purpose well - it acts as a standing area and allows relatively free passage for those passing through, often those just alighted from an arriving train and bound for the tube, the taxi rank or the bus station.

 

However each to their own and one person's depression is another's point of interest.

 

 

The frequency of the trains nowadays from Euston how likely is it that you would ever have to dwell there unless everything has gone belly up.

 

My routine tends to be straight up the escalator from the Tube, two cans of Guiness from the offy, something unhealthy to eat from one of the vendors then where is the nearest train.

 

If everything has gone belly up then I just don't hang around at Euston as there are plenty of other options to get home to the West Midlands even via Leicester if need be.

[big jim]

i think i'm going to throw liverpool lime street into the ring, went there last night with a test train

 

what a thoroughly depressing mish mash of the classic mixed with the 80's, im sure there must be lots of lovely architecture somewhere behind the buildings that appear to be randomly plonked on the forecourt area, no photography locations to be had, a right miserable hole of a place 

[russ p]

Stratford international is a pretty awful place,lotsbof horrible rough cast concrete

[Gwiwer]

Stratford international is a pretty awful place,lotsbof horrible rough cast concrete

 

And not a single solitary international train calling either.  Huge waste of money if you ask me.

[APOLLO]

As Gwiwer states - each to their own. I didn't know about seating in the gallery "upstairs" at Euston - must have a mooch around next time.

 

Just back from a day out in Liverpool. Lime Street station ain't that bad Jim, though we didn't dwell as there is a Wigan train every 20 minutes or so. I must say I like Liverpool. A nice Italian meal (Casa Italia Stanley St highly recommended) a walk round Albert Dock and a bit of shopping at Liverpool One. (which is far, far better & cleaner / safer / friendlier than Oxford St in Londinium).

 

You have to laugh though, Everton football clubs shop in Liverpool One is called Everton Two -  Scouse humour at it's best !!!!!!

 

 

Brit15

[jmh67]

On 04/08/2017 at 18:35, D854_Tiger said:

Has anyone mentioned Severn Beach yet, let's just say Beach might be something of a misnomer.

 

If the weather is nice, not so depressing, but, as stations go, the very epitome of basic.

 

Somehow, I doubt Severn Beach has ever appeared on anyone's model railway project list.

 

...

 

Well, it would be a fairly cheap layout, if nothing else. Rather minimalistic, the whole setup.

 

I thought of this station as rather depressing, too, when I chanced upon it one evening in summer 2004. Even though the weather was all right, I took a bus back to Bristol, if only because it left earlier than the train, and I didn't feel like waiting for longer than I had to.

 

St Albans Abbey must have been similarly grim, if https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:S_Albans_Abbey_6_77479_1.jpg is any indication.

 

-jmh

Edited February 11, 2019 by jmh67
typo

[Pete the Elaner]

Most depressing station - London Euston last Friday.

 

After a great day out in London we arrived at Euston around 8pm for the 9.10 home to Wigan.

 

Nowhere to sit, hundreds standing in the concourse staring up at the departure screens. Every now and then a London Midland service is announced then a rugby scrum to the platform. One wag had everyone laughing shouting "Don't Panic" in a comical voice !! We walked outside for a bite to eat met by pigeons circling and fighting over a discarded chip !! - no better in Marks & Spencers food outlet - pigeons in there also !!. The new Japanese Sushi shop was nice though, and did half price food half an hour before they closed. 

 

Back to the concourse and staring skywards. I felt sorry for an Australian family booked to Fort William on the Caledonian Sleeper, Kids, luggage & nowhere to sit. Our train came up at 8.55, at least no scrum as we had reserved seats

 

What a total shyte station Euston is.

 

Well our train left bang on time, got us in Wigan 3 mins early too. Well done Virgin. Straight into the car and home. Hope the Aussies were fast asleep as the Cally Sleeper passed my home as I climbed into bed.

 

Brit15

I am struggling to think of how any railway terminal would differ.

What did you expect to do in a railway station for over an hour? It is not like an airport where you are trapped in the terminal after going through security.

I thought you were going to say there was a fatality which delayed your departure by an hour, then I read your train left spot on time.

As a commuter, I am glad it is my local terminus.

& there are 4 really good pubs nearby should my train be delayed.

Edited August 17, 2017 by Pete the Elaner

[Pete the Elaner]

As Gwiwer states - each to their own. I didn't know about seating in the gallery "upstairs" at Euston - must have a mooch around next time.

 

The food court which has only been open for about a year.

[D854_Tiger]

At the end of day, I'm guessing, from all our perspectives, the most depressing station is a closed one, with the railway dismantled.

 

Sights like that were all too common in the 1960s, I remember a school coach trip to the Peak District, passing through Ashbourne and seeing the station, after closure, signals and track all mostly intact but the disrepair and rust gave away the fact it hadn't seen any use in years.

 

All terribly depressing for a school boy that loved trains and it felt as if the entire network could all disappear before I even got the chance to explore it.

[APOLLO]

I am struggling to think of how any railway terminal would differ.

What did you expect to do in a railway station for over an hour? It is not like an airport where you are trapped in the terminal after going through security.

I thought you were going to say there was a fatality which delayed your departure by an hour, then I read your train left spot on time.

As a commuter, I am glad it is my local terminus.

& there are 4 really good pubs nearby should my train be delayed.

 

Some seating in the "great hall" would help, as would signage to the upstairs waiting area Gwiver mentioned.

 

Earlier announcement of platforms to reduce the "rugby scrum" Other terminals (Liverpool Lime St) allow you you to wait on the platform even if the train is not ready / present (though smaller numbers of people involved).

 

Get rid of the pigeons outside - a health hazard  at least.

 

Perhaps a covered area outside around the food outlets with with several departure monitors to "dilute" crowds inside. Pubs of little use for people with children / luggage.

 

Euston - a 1960's station with 2017 traffic. I hope they vastly improve it when HS2 arrives.

 

Brit15

[The Johnster]

'Pubs of little use for people with children / luggage'.

 

Another reason for going to a pub is that they serve beer.  People with children and luggage are of little use to me...

[rodent279]

I am struggling to think of how any railway terminal would differ.

What did you expect to do in a railway station for over an hour? It is not like an airport where you are trapped in the terminal after going through security.

I thought you were going to say there was a fatality which delayed your departure by an hour, then I read your train left spot on time.

As a commuter, I am glad it is my local terminus.

& there are 4 really good pubs nearby should my train be delayed.

Personally, I love Euston. I preferred it before they cluttered up the concourse with retail outlets, and I hope they at least manage to preserve that aspect when it gets rebuilt. Looking at photos & maps of the old Euston, I'm glad it's gone. As for the Doric Arch-pig ugly monstrosity if you ask me.

 

But each to their own......

[rodent279]

Has to be said, Market Harborough must be pretty depressing these days, if you remember it as it was. I'm not old enough, but looking at old maps, it was clearly quite an important and busy station, easily twice it's current size.

[APOLLO]

'Pubs of little use for people with children / luggage'.

 

Another reason for going to a pub is that they serve beer.  People with children and luggage are of little use to me...

 

That would help dilute the waiting crowds. but be careful in the pub that they don't dilute your Beer !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Brit15

[Clearwater]

That would help dilute the waiting crowds. but be careful in the pub that they don't dilute your Beer !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Brit15

Theres a way nicer real ale/craft pub just outside the station. Last went whilst i was waiting to catch 46233 back to Birmingham.

 

Agree the scrum when a train is called is quite something - has been like that for years though. I well recall the Friday evening rush for seats on the first super saver weekend train!

[Ronnie MB]

Has to be said, Market Harborough must be pretty depressing these days, if you remember it as it was. I'm not old enough, but looking at old maps, it was clearly quite an important and busy station, easily twice it's current size.

If we are using that criterion, March is another example of a station of much reduced station.

 

Using another criterion, I don't know if it has been refurbished in the 20 years since I used to use it, but Maryland used to be a decrepit place to wait for a slim chance of getting onto one of the trains that deigned to stop there.

[Gwiwer]

Maryland used to be a decrepit place to wait for a slim chance of getting onto one of the trains that deigned to stop there.

 

It still is.  Though it is getting a Crossrail / Lizzie-line makeover.  And just about all the inner suburban trains have stopped there in recent years, with the service doubling from every 20 to every 10 minutes, meaning one is not obliged to avoid the muggers, urine pools and used syringes endure the surroundings for too long. 

[The Lurker]

Birmingham New Street used to be a pretty depressing station in the early 90s. Long Buckby was depressing waiting for the last train back to Northampton, that never came.

[The Johnster]

Not railway so OT, but a station; Swansea bus station before rebuilding, a dark dystopian concrete warren/wind tunnel smelling of p*ss and chips, was the most depressing place of any sort that I have ever been to, ever, anywhere; seriously, ever.  And I've been to Merthyr on a Sunday!  Bus stations can show a clean pair of heels to any railway dereliction for depressiveness, but this was World Class Awful, and actually made me proud of Cardiff's...

 

Pilning comes up a lot here, but I rather like it for it's ghosts and memories.

Edited August 18, 2017 by The Johnster

[Ian Hargrave]

Birmingham New Street used to be a pretty depressing station in the early 90s. Long Buckby was depressing waiting for the last train back to Northampton, that never came.

 

New Street was once a station......never an aesthetic experience or a place to linger.it is now a"shopping experience"....a confusing muddle unaware of its identity.Too much glitz and inattention to infrastructure..i.e. platform space still miserably inadequate and uncongenial. Architects and developers should be forced to spend a week entombed there in order that the disaster is not repeated John Lewis or Pendolino anyone ?

[D854_Tiger]

New Street was once a station......never an aesthetic experience or a place to linger.it is now a"shopping experience"....a confusing muddle unaware of its identity.Too much glitz and inattention to infrastructure..i.e. platform space still miserably inadequate and uncongenial. Architects and developers should be forced to spend a week entombed there in order that the disaster is not repeated John Lewis or Pendolino anyone ?

 

The old Midland Red bus station was even worse.

 

Mind you, nowadays, most places have built bus stations, Birmingham had one (not a very nice one) and then they even manged to close a bus station down.

 

How anyone ever fathoms Birmingham's busses out is beyond me (and I live there), no central location where they all start, you have to work out which bit of the city your bus starts from.

 

Then everything is just numbers and you have to know the number to get where you want to go, a ploy from WW2 that was devised to confuse Adolf Hitler, should he ever invade, still Birmingham will be prepared should he choose to do so.