Not The Best City Station
The best city stations in the UK, are probably, ones like.
- Huddersfield
- Liverpool Lime Street
- London Kings Cross
- Manchester Victoria
- Sheffield
Where you exit the station on arrival and find yourself in a spacious square or area, where you can get your bearings, meet friends or catch a bus, tram or taxi.
Others are going the spacious route include.
- Birmingham New Street
- Cambridge
- Cardiff
- Glasgow Queen Street
- Newcastle
- Rochester
- Wolverhampton
London Bridge appears to be trying another route and has put the space under the station.
But some are cramped and crowded and need to be sorted.
In London, Charing Cross is hidden away just a short walk from the UK’s most famous Square.
But there are others around the country that need improvement to give more space.
- Brighton
- Coventry
- Edinburgh Waverley
- Leicester
- Middlesbrough
I also include Leeds in this group.
Despite spending a lot of money, it is a very crowded station.
The entrance to the station is small and tends to attract smokers and other undesirables despite notices.
But it is so cluttered with narrow pavements, with buses going through the station forecourt to their stops.
If ever there was a City Centre station in the UK, that needs a sort-out, it is Leeds.
- There must be a plan somewhere, but there is now a grand Southern entrance, that is tucked away without signage and can’t be used as a walk through the station, unlike the paths through Liverpool Street, Nottingham and St. Pancras.
- The station needs a proper Drop-Off entrance.
- Couldn’t the taxis go somewhere underneath the station, as this would help to free-up the front of the station.
- There are also few places to sit, where you can watch the departure boards.
- The retail outlets are poor as well, when compared to somewhere like Manchester Piccadilly.
I know Leeds is a busy station, but it is only going to get busier and it really does need a severe de-cluttering.
A Tale Of Two Taps
I saw a Franke tap, that I liked in a plumbing shop, but the price of £240 or so plus VAT was too much.
So I looked in IKEA, where I got this very similar one for £80.
I shall add some more pictures when it is installed.
A Walk In Leeds City Centre
I had time to waste, so I took a walk in a wide circle around Leeds station.
I went under the railways through the station and then walked along the Leeds and Liverpool Canal towards the West. I turned North and followed the Kirkstall Viaduct, that used to take the trains into Leeds Central station.
One of the problems of this walk in Leeds, is that you might like to go through the station. But it doesn’t seem to be encouraged.
Kirkstall Forge Station
Kirkstall Forge station has recently reopened, after being closed in 1905.
It is certainly an impressive new station and one of the best new stations I’ve seen.
There are certainly some nice touches.
- A covered bridge with glass sides to give good views.
- Nice finishes.
- I liked the crash barriers and seats made out of steel, to emphasise the station’s history.
- The Braille signs on the handrails. Something I first saw in Italy and wrote about in A Nice Touch On The Milan Underground.
At present, it doesn’t seem that busy and trains are not very numerous, but as the development gets underway in the area and the car parks fill up, this station could get very busy.
Some of the trains are going to and from Skipton, on the Airedale Line. If you read the Future section for that station’s Wikipedia entry, you get the impression that lots of things will happen at Skipton.
- Direct London trains to Skipton are on the cards and a stop at Kirkstall Forge would be ideal for West Leeds and those that live on the Wharfedale Line to Ilkley, which also call at Kirkstall Forge.
- But surely, Skipton is one of those places that is a jumping off point for the Pennines and also the Settle-Carlisle Line.
- In addition, if plans to connect Skipton to Colne to connect Lancashire and Yorkshire through the Pennines come to fruition, Kirkstall Force could be the station, where passengers drive to get their train to the other side.
I don’t think you can accuse Network Rail and Metro of building a station at Kirkstall Forge, that doesn’t have future proofing.
It will be interesting to go in perhaps five years and see how this station has developed.
A Trip To Halifax
These are pictures I took on a short visit to Halifax.
There is certainly work to do, to make the place somewhere that will attract visitors.
The centrepiece is the restoration of the Grade 1 Listed Piece Hall, Lets hope the redevelopment does what the restoration of Albert Dock did for Liverpool’s waterside.
I had hoped to find something hot to drink. All I found was a very bad hot chocolate in the station.
Surely, something better could be done in the green space by the station.
Bradford Low Moor Station
Bradford Low Moor station was scheduled to open in Sprint 2016.
At the moment it is just a building site sitting by the railway.
The opening date is now set at May 2017.
The station is already on this Google Map.
Bradford Low Moor Station
I hope people don’t travel there expecting to find a train, because they see the symbol on the map.
The Anonymous Widower 