[Closed] England's Best Stations

At least one of the ones in the list (Wolferton, Norfolk) isn't even a station any more - it's somebody's* house!

* a very nice man, actually - ended up chatting with him once for most of a lazy afternoon!!

Rachel

Mornington Crescent?

I've spent a lot of time working below Paddington. The NR refurbishment works to Arches 1-3 should transform the stations appearance from what it is currently.

Stalybridge and Sheffield. For the bars.

Manchester Oxford Road is a bit different from the more traditional, but still rather nice. Bit tatty nowadays, but then thats got a certain charm

[img] [/img]

I like the new roof in KingsX and the way they have opened up the front of the station.

[img] [/img]

st pancras for me.
the place is a cathedral.

[img] [/img]
[img] [/img]

I forgot Oxford Road completely. Definitely a good shout.

Nice to see Huddersfield in that list- the station area is by far the nicest bit of the town centre and lifts the whole of the centre from being a bit grim to reasonably pleasant. Which takes some doing.

May I commend to the forum one of the finest remaining pieces of post-Stalinist architecture in the country? Stafford(ski) station:

[img] [/img]

[img] [/img]

You can actually rent the apartment in that tower at St Pancras...!!!
Its on one of those holiday let sites.
My boys would love it.

Oooh... one more I'd forgotten is Birmingham Moor Street
[img] [/img]
[img] [/img]
[img] [/img]

St Pancras is one of our contracts.
The apartment in the clock tower is part of the Renaissance Hotel - £1k per night.
The penthouse in the tower above the entrance is privately owned with a custom woven carpet including his name, fibre optics, lights, etc - got £10M?

Not read the link but York HAS to be there. Its epic and has load of varied trains running through it.

No thread on here would be without a mention of Hebden Bridge. As you might expect, its like a station on a preserved railway line. Doubt its changed much in 40/50 years. Even has interesting train patterns sometimes - odd goods train, specials and theres a Leeds train which terminates at Hebden and has to switch platforms. Exciting stuff :S

Another couple purely because of their location - Dawlish and Ryde Pier.

Are we allows preserved railways? Havenstreet on the Isle of Wight is an ace little station.

Nowhere near the same scale as some of those above, but Kidderminster on the Severn Valley Railway, built in 1984, is a great copy of a GWR station.

[img] [/img]

http://www.kfriends.org.uk/

Can I nominate that Bradford Interchange doesn't appear anywhere on the list as well.

Awful place, awful staff who spend most of their time outside smoking when I think their job is the 'man' the 'automatic' gates (I did ask them to explain that to me once...), unreliable trains... I spend far too much of my life there waiting for non-existant trains.

Do ex-stations count?

[img] [/img]

Not bad for an old shipyard halt:

Monkwearmouth Edit: ooh I see it made their list!

@Digga, ah yes the old BR Brutalist movement. We have one of those up here:
[img] [/img]Sunderland

Worldwide, this is pretty much my favorite. Total bonkers Calatrava extravagance.
[img] [/img]Lyon Satolas TGV Interchange

I like this place..

[img] ?zz=1[/img]

Wemyss

King's Cross and Birmingham aswell, never seen that one.
Anyway, why limit to England?
Glasgow central
[img] [/img]
[img] [/img]

..and another for Wemyss
[img] [/img]

Stafford is an architectural wonder next to Harlow Town Station...
[img] [/img]

And it's a listed building to boot.

A serious suggestion, from my old manor...
[img] [/img]

Anyway, why limit to England?

Not much of a train fan but I love a good station - [b]English Heritage[/b] have published a list of their favourites and I thought some of the railway/architecture fans might be interested:

ps. There must be some great scottish and welsh stations too - I only really know edinburgh waverley and glasgow central.

😉

D'ya know, Hot_Fiat, you may have just completed a circle in my head. I have a picture I use a lot of a yellow Fiat van in front of a weird building - always kinda assumed it was Italian - and I think you just nailed the location.

Now I can look like an architecture geek and not just some nutter who knows a bit about van insurance.

Ta v much!

Nowt to add to the station thread, BTW. New Pudsey?

hot fiat
I will see your harsh Sunderland ,and give you this moon station effort from Dundee.

[img] [/img]

Never mind,at least they got rid of this eyesore 🙄
[img] [/img]

As with most things in Warrington, the station is a thing of beauty and wonder....

[img] [/img]

Dundee is one of the most miserable stations ever to have existed.

I can't wait to see Manchester Vctoria when it's finished.

For me it's got to be the perfect little station at Kirkby Stephen, especially since it sheltered a very grateful me and my son at the end of a horribly wet and windswept ride out from Settle, as we waited for the train back.

[img] [/img]

Internationally - Milan Central
[img] [/img]

and Venice (hmmm, three straight lines should do it, now what's for lunch?)
[img] [/img]

Dundee - 😯

Yay for Huddersfield station (and a couple of the buildings in the vicinity too, not in the pic)

lemonysam - Member

Anyway, why limit to England?

I've known Dundee station for 30 years and I can never remember a time when it didn't look old and tired, but the piss stinking bridge to the car park on the other side of the road has gone so it's not all bad!

Good call Globalti. I'm looking forward to seeing it finished. Always loved this

[img] [/img]

joshvegas

The new station should be a [s]lot[/s] bit better. 🙂
[img] [/img]

TBF ,I think Binners has topped the ugly list with Warrington 😉

Not read the link but York HAS to be there. Its epic and has load of varied trains running through it.

Apparently it's not on there because York and Newcastle are essentially in the same style, and the consensus on the railway forums is that Newcastle has the edge. I'm with you though, I think it's great and I'd have put it on there. That and St Pancras are my favourite big stations.

hot_fiat - Member
@Digga, ah yes the old BR Brutalist movement. We have one of those up here:
Sunderland

Stafford's station is much darker. The town had quite a lot of dire concrete turds dumped upon it during the 60s and 70s. Growing up, their broad, soulless corridors and walkways were great places to be chased through by gangs of kids from the other end of town wanting to break your nose because you're going out with the fittest girl in their school. Happy days.

chakaping - Member
Stafford is an architectural wonder next to Harlow Town Station...

Apparently it's not on there because York and Newcastle are essentially in the same style, and the consensus on the railway forums is that Newcastle has the edge.

Beautiful as York is, especially inside, the Neville Street frontage (along with the Royal Station Hotel) is pretty damned spectacular.

No. 2 from the mighty NE.

[img] [/img]

And it looks better now with the new concessions in it too.

Liverpool Lime Street isn't too bad either

[img] [/img]

I think you're right, Harlow clearly take things to the next, desperate, bleak level. Respect.

And that's before you even see the station.

Badum-tish!

st pancras for me.

+1

The only place I ever feel justified in eating at Carluccio's - upstairs, by [i]the [/i]statue & looking straight toward the upper platforms & that roof structure.

One of my favorites Chathill, Northumberland.

[IMG] [/IMG]

Kennington, out of proportion Dome

[img] [/img]

Falmer station because of the amazing backdrop.

[img] [/img]

I'm a big fan of what they've done to Salford Central station, which used to be absolutely bloody awful. . Now its a nice combination of the contemporary, and the old features

[img] [/img]

Love what they've done by leaving the exposed brickwork and lighting the tunnels

[img] [/img]

That tunnel's ace. The last few years have seen some great station modernisations.

Newcastle's looks great but I can't find any photos that show it off well.
[img] [/img]
has become:
[img] [/img]

Newcastle's looks great but I can't find any photos that show it off well.

Yeah there's better photos than that used for the article.

How about the approach to stations?
You can't beat this one.

[url= https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8636/15357556093_b03c1f8a29.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8636/15357556093_b03c1f8a29.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/pp6unT ]Durham[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/people/7904024@N08/ ]jimmyg352[/url], on Flickr

djglover
Kennington, out of proportion Dome

How about the approach to stations?
You can't beat this one.

[img] [/img]

I like this approach to Dingle Station on the Liverpool Overhead Railway.
[img] [/img]

Will someone work the linky magic please...

http://www.scotlandthemovie.com/movies/monstat.html

... recently rebuilt on the original foundation.

Lyon Satolas TGV Interchange

Mmmm, agreed, totally! Saint-Exupery as it now is is an incredible building, made even more mental by the fact it used to have about 5 trains a day, literally! Now has a tramlink into the city and rather more TGVs.

Seeing that pic of the Tay Bridge - you see the row of unused pillars beyond those in use, wasn't so great if you were trying to use that bridge in December 1879...

[img] [/img]

How about the approach to Tirano?
[img] [/img]

I love the beautiful small stations. Big impressive city ones are always great but the lovingly kept smaller stations always lift the spirits.

I went to Birmingham Moor street once - wow! It's like walking into a museum - it's [b]beautiful[/b].

Have never really travelled by train much, but I always admired Newcastle Central Station, even as a kid. There's not many places have the atmosphere of a train station like that, and I'll wholeheartedly agree, many images don't do it justice.

I'll wholeheartedly agree, many images don't do it justice.

I went to Birmingham Moor street once - wow! It's like walking into a museum - it's beautiful.

...and it sits brilliantly in its context standing up against some of the most iconic buildings in the city.

Funny but I've just read that the station master at Aberdour retired today. Always worth watching out for on that line
[img] [/img]
[img] [/img]
[img] http://www.visitscotland.com/cms-images/5x3-large/regions-travel/aberdour-train-station [/img]

Aye ok, Newcastle's canny an all. Not as good as Durham's though but.

[img] [/img]

Stroud,
Wrexham,
Shrewsbury,
St Pancaras,
Huddersfield,
York inside,
Liverpool south Parkway
Liverpool Lime Street
Manchester oxford road and victoria,

A great read is British historic railway Buildings quite expensive but should be in a library and in my bookcaser

Not many of your stations have this feature though...

[img] [/img]

Dent, on the Carlisle/Settle...many a long hour has been spent here having slogged up the Coal Road and just missed the previous train...

Had a soft spot for Cromford since I stayed there on a Cub Scout weekend back when the old station house was used as a youth hostel
Now that I live locally it's the start point for some excellent riding around the area
But architecturally the building's proportions are perfect, and I like the way the trains pop out of the tunnel straight to the station
Glad to see the waiting rooms restored, I dream one day I will have the chance to buy it and live there

[img] [/img]

[img] [/img]

Before it's restoration it was made famous by a certain Manchester band

[img] [/img]

And another one of similar age and style, where my wife's Aunty once waved her bloomers 🙂
Oakworth
[img] [/img]

Dunno about british stations as the last time i was on a train in this country was 32 years ago for a 10th birthday trip from dumfries to london to go to the national history museum (which was amazing).

As for international stations it is pretty hard to beat Victoria Terminus in Mumbai, an amazing building, 2million people a day pass through it

[img] [/img]

As much as I like many of the OTT Victoriana structures on display, I really do love Mcr Oxford Road.

And, in spite of spending so much time passing through there, the main hall of Euston remains a favourite piece of architecture (indeed, the whole station is superb).

OMITN (fan of concrete)

[img] [/img]

Somewhat predictable but I'm plenty fond of GMV and 'The Worm' - a spooky old Victorian tunnel (now derelict and closed off since 1970s) which once afforded 1st class passengers privileged shelter from the rain and direct access to The Imperial Hotel.

[img] [/img]

[img] [/img]

[img] [/img]

Faded glamour: Michigan Central Station, abandoned since 1988. Once the tallest station in the world!

[img] [/img]

On a tangent, how about a bus station?

[url= http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preston_bus_station ]http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preston_bus_station[/url]

I have only seen it in pictures. Intersting to hear local opinions but I like the look of Preston Bus Station.

If we are going international some interesting ones here

http://flavorwire.com/282987/the-most-beautiful-train-stations-in-the-world/view-all

http://flavorwire.com/291538/beautiful-abandoned-train-stations-from-all-over-the-world/view-all

http://flavorwire.com/384627/10-incredible-repurposed-train-stations/view-all

Preston Bus Station is wonderful!

so pleased it's been listed. Might go and see it at Christmas.

More International: kleine scheidegg (Jungfraujoch bhan side with the so/so backdrop)
[img]http:/upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7e/KleineScheidegg.JPG[/img]

Since it's gone all international, how about [url= https://www.google.co.uk/maps/uv?hl=en&pb=!1s0x47c0f9f7536d79bf:0xbf7064c22c50aa6c!2m5!2m2!1i80!2i80!3m1!2i100!3m1!7e1!4shttps://plus.google.com/100748442989938737158/photos?hl%3Den%26socfid%3Dweb:lu:kp:placepageimage%26socpid%3D1!5sliege+station+wiki+-+Google+Search&sa=X&ei=lzmGVP_-LcH2UruehOgP&ved=0CIIBEKIqMA0 ]Liege[/url]?

I like some smaller ones too- someone's already said Ribblehead, and some of the smaller ones in Scotland are nice too.

[img] [/img]

Berlin Hauptbahnhof:

[img] [/img]

If we're going international then we have to mention this place...
[img] [/img]

International ones eh?

Frankfurt's quite impressive:
[img] [/img]

[img] [/img]

How about the Hauptnahnhof Berlin by Architekten von Gerkan, Marg und Partners?
[img] [/img]