Favourite stations

[Deleted]

This may have been done before, but I thought we could have some fun.

So, what are our favourite stations on the tube map (that's the only criteria, they can be tube stations, LO stations, DLR stations and even on the Emirates Air Line if you really want)? Feel free to give more than one if you want - think of this is a kind of list of stations to see. You can add least favourites if you want, as long as it's clear which ones you like and which ones you don't Reasons are obviously welcome, but not required.

[londonstuff]

Jul 27, 2014 14:58:33 GMT tut said:

This may have been done before, but I thought we could have some fun.

So, what are our favourite stations on the tube map (that's the only criteria, they can be tube stations, LO stations, DLR stations and even on the Emirates Air Line if you really want)? Feel free to give more than one if you want - think of this is a kind of list of stations to see. You can add least favourites if you want, as long as it's clear which ones you like and which ones you don't Reasons are obviously welcome, but not required.

This is something I've been meaning to ask for a while - I'd love to do a tour of the top ten one day armed with a camera. I'll get my thinking hat on...

[Deleted]

Well that was part of the reason I asked I've been to every station on the map, but usually I stay on the train and just pass through (only 24 hours in the day) so for most stations I've only seen the platforms and not much else.

[rincew1nd]

Queen's Park, where else but London Underground can you pass through a Carriage Shed on a train in normal passenger service?

[whistlekiller2000]

Of all the stations I used on a regular basis probably Roding Valley. It's lost a lot of its charm nowadays as the trains are all the same and there's no chatty staff but it's still, despite the cars, mildly rural.

Aside from the above, I'd be daft not to say North Weald which I often used in order to visit a mate of mine and Blake Hall where we'd often get off for the sake of it - that was the only point in the station as far as we could see. Ongar was, in comparison, rather busy, and we got into trouble there trying to track down the scorpions mentioned on telly.....we weren't the only ones either. I think they've built houses on the site of the goods yard now.

Sorry if I'm coming over needlessly nostalgic. Somebody's got to fill in for the late lamented......

[theblackferret]

TUT

Might also be interesting to include closed stations & least favourites?  If so, can post on either later.

For the present, in no order:

MORNINGTON CRESCENT: Leslie Green Oxblood faence tiling nice and bright makes the outside like a rose on a dungheap.  Station itself survived sneaky years-long closed for repairs attempt to shut it for good, and continues, as the only intermediate station on that branch, to stick its' single digit up to somebody, not quite sure who.

SLOANE SQUARE: One & only station on the Tube map of which we can all truthfully say---A River runs through it.

EARL'S COURT: Because of the old-fashioned next train indicators, white on blue, --> 1, --> 2 etc, that appear, apparently randomly, against the various possible destinations & with no times involved: adds to the anticipation, leisure and sheer poetry of travelling that way.

ARSENAL: Though a lifelong Man. U fan, I have to admire Herbert Chapman's chutzpah in getting the-then LT to rename Gillespie Road.  Gordon Selfridge couldn't do it with Bond Street for Selfridges!

MILL HILL EAST:  For clinging to life as the only dead-end branch on LUL(can't really count Kenny, can we?), and for being a station where you can sit & think of the immortal Peter Sellers' sketch 'Balham-Gateway to the South' in a Northern context.

[whistlekiller2000]

I should stress I was looking at a tube map from my youth!

Least favourite stations....hmmmmmm........I remember the first time I saw Surrey Docks I thought it was miserable, but having been through the renamed version recently it really isn't that bad. West Ruislip is rather nondescript as is Dalston Kingsland. I'm fairly sure I could come up with a few others but I hate to dwell on the rotten things in life!

Additional to me earlier comments I'm rather partial to Loughton, Oakwood and Gants Hill. A lot of the sub surface stuff on the lower part of the circle is intriguing as is the soon to be LO Chingford line.

[norbitonflyer]

Jul 27, 2014 19:12:48 GMT theblackferret said:

SLOANE SQUARE: One & only station on the Tube map of which we can all truthfully say---A River runs through it.

If you include the whole complex, it can also be said of Blackfriars

Jul 27, 2014 14:58:33 GMT tut said:

that's the only criteria,

pedant mode on/ you can have any number of criteria except one: (the singular is criterion) / pedant off

[wimblephil]

WIMBLEDON!
Not only because it's my 'home' station, but because it's the only one where Tube, National Rail & Tramlink all connect.
The fact that it is a National Rail station though, does make me sad that it doesn't have any 'Wimbledon' Roundels on the platforms.

Other than that totally biased opinion, I'd have to have a good think and try and remember which one's I've visited! Like you I have passed through them all, but there's plenty I've still not got off at!!

[domh245]

I quite like West Brompton, with it's old station building, the staircases, and the large retaining wall, with it's gardens and decorations, also a useful interchange for LO, and NR. The main drawbacks however are the lack of DM indicators on the Wimbledon Bound Platform, and the fact that when the tube is scuppered, I often end up either going from or arriving here, packed into a carriage full of moaning lower years (and others)!

[Deleted]

I've got so many, but for the time being - since domh and wimblephil put me in mind of the Wimbledon-Edgware Road branch (you're welcome, whistlekiller ) - I'll chime in with Notting Hill Gate and Paddington (Praed Street). I find those beautiful roofs just a joy to behold and they have those wonderful arched walls that look a bit like viaducts (similar to West Brompton's and Barbican's). I think Notting Hill Gate is especially nice as the roof covers much of the platforms and I like the contrast provided by the clean, crisp, modern, black and white tiling at the platform entrances.

Gloucester Road is also superb - it's a little dim down there, but you find yourself in a station that looks like it's straight out of the 1950s and it's wonderfully charming. The disused platform and the separate Circle and District line platforms on the westbound/outer rail adds interest from a historical and operational point of view. The station building seems pretty lovely from the Wikimedia photos as well.

[John Tuthill]

Jul 27, 2014 19:12:48 GMT theblackferret said:

TUT

MILL HILL EAST:  For clinging to life as the only dead-end branch on LUL(can't really count Kenny, can we?), and for being a station where you can sit & think of the immortal Peter Sellers' sketch 'Balham-Gateway to the South' in a Northern context.

East Finchley-Apart from the architecture,one can imagine catching a train to Moorgate

[domh245]

Sticking with the Wimbledon Branch, I also quite like Wimbledon Park, nice and quaint, and you can get some pretty speedy entrances on the Wimbledon Bound platform as well. Of course, until recently, it was the only place on the branch where (provided you were on a certain type of train) you could be guaranteed to get the lovely smell of working brake block, which was a big plus point for me.

Fulham Broadway is ok as well, you have the old end of the station, with the overbridge with blocked up entrances, the arches, the big triangular roof, and the tunnel. The other end isn't too bad either - whilst it is a bit minimalistic, it is functional (especially on match days!) and somehow, stylish.

Whilst I do like Wimbledon for it's choice of interchanges and shopping opportunities (Portion of chips from Dinos anyone?) - I do have a couple of bugbears with it - The walkways (all of them!) are too narrow, and not to mention that apparently in rush hour, everyone loses their ability to walk at an acceptable pace (shuffling isn't acceptable) in a straight line, without stopping spontaneously. It needs some new walkways or remodelling ASAP, but that alone wouldn't make it my least favourite station.

I've never really liked the tiling at Tottenham court road!

[Deleted]

Jul 27, 2014 20:59:57 GMT domh245 said:

I've never really liked the tiling at Tottenham court road!

You've...never...what...I...I think I need a lie down

I'm with you on Fulham Broadway, though. I think it's wonderful - the concrete (or concrete-esque) section is, I think, really nice - they've really managed to make concrete look beautiful. It's smart. And then a short walk down the platform leaves you back in the 1950s with the wonderful roof, the old-style paint job and the old-style signs. It's lovely, I think. East Putney is marvellous too. Also Putney Bridge has operational interest and outside is the bridge (one of, I believe, only two places on the Underground where you cross the Thames by bridge (rather than by tunnel)). The station building seems lovely too and the platforms are pretty enough. I just find that the place seems a bit run-down at the moment.

[North End]

Jul 27, 2014 20:45:21 GMT John Tuthill said:

Jul 27, 2014 19:12:48 GMT theblackferret said:

TUT

MILL HILL EAST:  For clinging to life as the only dead-end branch on LUL(can't really count Kenny, can we?), and for being a station where you can sit & think of the immortal Peter Sellers' sketch 'Balham-Gateway to the South' in a Northern context.

East Finchley-Apart from the architecture,one can imagine catching a train to Moorgate

Indeed, very occasionally 95 stock comes in to Platform 3 mysteriously bearing the destination of Moorgate! ;-)

[wimblephil]

Jul 27, 2014 20:59:57 GMT domh245 said:

Whilst I do like Wimbledon for it's choice of interchanges and shopping opportunities (Portion of chips from Dinos anyone?) - I do have a couple of bugbears with it - The walkways (all of them!) are too narrow, and not to mention that apparently in rush hour, everyone loses their ability to walk at an acceptable pace (shuffling isn't acceptable) in a straight line, without stopping spontaneously. It needs some new walkways or remodelling ASAP

I would definitley have to agree with you on this! Really, for interchange purposes, there needs to be a second overbridge or a subway toward the London end of the station; how physically/practical this would be though, I'm not so sure!

From a different perspective; for escalator & passageway space, I have to say the JLE portion of Westminster wins out! The scale of the excavation there is incredible. The first time I took a trip down to the Westbound Jubilee platform I was just in awe of it all!

As stations to pass through, I think Clapham Common/North are fascinating, surviving in their original, rather thin, island platform formations. It's always great when two trains are in, really filling up the rather small space!!

[londonstuff]

Gosh, I've got loads, mainly for architectural reasons. Tut, you're absolutely missing a treat with some stations if you've only passed through them.

So, in no particular order:

South Ken for the beautiful lamps, metalwork signage and the Leslie Green tiling even though that section isn't used any more and the station is busier and hotter than Dantés Inferno.


Hounslow Central for the beautiful blue tiling (unique in that it's not the usual green?)


Sudbury Town, I think my absolute favourite. Beautiful from the exterior, interior, the signage, the lead window-style roundel. Just gorgeous.







Greenford for the wooden escalator, before it was taken away:



Barons Court, for the beautiful ticket office but also the great exterior that's completely different to anything else around:



Westminster. Dark and modern, great stuff. Just edges out Canary Wharf for me:



And of course Gant's Hill - enough said:


And at night time, looking at the exterior, (but the interior is beautiful too) the delightful Chiswick Park:



There are so many others I could name too - loads on the Piccadilly (perhaps my favourite line) and the Holden stations in general. Then there's the amazing original tiling at Elephant and Castle on the Northern that's just beautiful too.

And least favourite? Possibly Old Street - the station approach and entire interior is just grim.

[Chris M]

For architecture, Loughton, Gants Hill, Oakwood, Sudbury Town, Heathrow T5, Crystal Palace, Cyprus and the new Pudding Mill Lane come to mind as good.
At the other end of the scale are stations like Wembley Central, Barbican, Hampstead Heath, Mile End and King George V.

[Deleted]

Gants Hill and Barons Court are both great choices, londonstuff. Recently I made a friend of mine get off at Gants Hill so that we could sit on those benches and admire the roof whilst we waited for the next one through. I'd never got off there before and when I mentioned the Moscow-style design, I couldn't resist demonstrating the point

Thank you for a very considered reply with some lovely photos to enjoy I'm definitely tempted to have a proper explore of the stations but apparently you're "not allowed" to have unlimited time in a day (something to do with the laws of physics, I didn't really understand it) or to be given unlimited money (something to do with economics) so I'll have to see what I can do

I've been thinking of least favourites. It's hard to say. I myself am not actually that fond of the style of the JLE - bit too dark. It's modern, it's crisp, it should be rather nice, but I find it a bit dim and gloomy and once you get over the novelty, I find that PEDs obstruct the view. The designs at Baker Street and Green Park don't do much for me either. Also spending nearly an hour in the waiting room at Chalfont in the freezing cold, when snow was still on the platforms (not yet melted from the evening before) because I missed one Chesham train (got all a bit confused - it's not that user-friendly for the naïve first timer) has left me a little resentful

TUT doesn't like the Emirates Air Line either - both of those stations are a long walk from their interchange stations, so they're probably somewhere near the bottom

[Chris M]

Jul 27, 2014 21:41:10 GMT londonstuff said:

And least favourite? Possibly Old Street - the station approach and entire interior is just grim.

They have recently "Shoreditch-ified" the subways at Old Street (I found out the other day the shopping centre there is called "St Agnes Well") so they aren't quite as depressing as they used to be - and telling someone to take the green subway is easier than hunting for exit 4. The station itself I agree with you completely and I often commute through it (when I'm too tired/lazy/it's too wet to walk to/from Liverpool Street). It really wasn't pleasant at all when the escalators were being refurbished!

[dpr]

Some mentioned Wimbledon Park and East Putney previously, but I'm going to have to choose Southfields. From a station staff viewpoint the accomodation is much better, having been modernised and expanded fairly recently. Makes a big difference when you have to spend 8 hours or more there!
Hounslow Central was also spoken of briefly above. Unfortunately, for me it was let down by some of the local 'characters' who used to frequent it. The station itself was quite nice though (if a bit cramped again) and having a crossover meant that occasionally there would be a bit of operational excitement to pass the day.
Bond Street was a nice station to work at, I liked how busy it was. Not quite busy enough to stress me out, but enough to make the day go quickly. Also, it's amazing how much easier it is when you have two lines to choose from, rather than just the one, when giving directions to customers! Have to say I left Bond St long before all it's upgrade work got under way, which is probably pushing the busy rating into stressful areas.

On a purely aesthetic level, Great Portland Street is a lovely looking station. It has that original vaulting on the platform which just transports me back to the 19th century. Just up the road however, Euston Square was a bit grim, haven't been there for a few years so don't know if it's had a lick of paint?

And yes of course Westminster, it's just so epic!

[Deleted]

North Ealing and Hammersmith (Met) are firm favourites of mine.

I don't like Hammersmith (District) station, it has a modern day naffness about it.

[Deleted]

Jul 28, 2014 1:30:41 GMT dpr said:

Euston Square was a bit grim, haven't been there for a few years so don't know if it's had a lick of paint?

I gather a lot of people still don't like Euston Square. It has had some work done it. I've been using it every day and I like it well enough - the colour scheme of the tiles is fine, it has (in my opinion) a nice, modern, glass structure as its entrance. It is a bit dark down on the platforms and there are areas which look a bit unpleasant because of the water that's leaked (not as bad as Liverpool Street on the Central). But, by and large, I think it's alright.

[theblackferret]

I wonder if there also ought to be a category for most improved station?

Angel, once dingy, dirty and dangerous, would be a clear winner, though the exterior isn't the most sympathetic!

On that score, Oval could be the worst, because of the 'improvements' that turned a moderately successful Holden redesign of the T. Phillips Figgis CSLR original into something Motorhead would have happily had adorn their LP sleeves.  And, let it be noted, something that might even have made a suitable flying prop for the live shows promoting the album in question.

But then, there's Canary Wharf. The descent from light and air into the vaults doesn't strike one as that, because of the spaciousness of the JLE platforms. The seating is a bit of a one-off, too, but that isn't the main problem.

Coming up from the depths of a great cathedral of glass and steel into that air and light should be sensational. And where do you emerge? In a flipping identikit shopping centre. Let there be Mobile Phone Shops, and there were.  By the dozen!

Plus, on a practical level, the DLR station is shovelled away down a side alley in between two bits of a store frontage and is poorly signed, if we are being generous.  If we're being honest, it's probably London's least obtrusive station.

An honourable(?) mention for Stamford Brook & Ravenscourt Park, but only because watching all them Piccadilly Line trains whizzing by most of the day is depressing, especially if you got off there from the District Line by mistake, thinking you could change!

Cannon Street also needs to buck its' ideas up, once Thameslink starts calling there at weekends, too.

[bicbasher]

Favourites:

Uxbridge - The ticket hall is like going back in time. Also look out for the 1930s penny scales on the platforms.

Cockfosters. Again, great 1930s architecture.

Southgate. Love the escalators. You can see why they're used for period dramas.

Canary Wharf. A well designed and timeless design and the right size for such a busy station.

Least:

Bank/Mounment - A maze of corridors which gets easily crowded during the peaks.

Forest Hill - The original station was demolished due to WWII bombing and replaced by a 1970s concrete monstrosity. For such a busy station on the LO network, the building is inadequate.

Whitechapel - A building site, which I know will improve the station access by 2019, however the interchange between the District/H&C to the southbound Overground is far from good.

[Deleted]

Jul 28, 2014 21:06:35 GMT bicbasher said:

Bank/Mounment - A maze of corridors which gets easily crowded during the peaks.

Reminds me of my favourite photo on the London Tube Memes Facebook group: link

[theblackferret]

My wife commuted for 18 months from Oakwood to Bank.

This was over 30 years ago, mind, but we recently had to use it for a 1-station ride & change.

Her thoughts on Bank have not changed & she echoes your comments about it.

Definitely looks bolted together in a hurry.

[MoreToJack]

Hard to pick just one favourite for me as all the stations offer something different - some bits good, some bits bad! So, if I may offer a sort of 'Top Five'?

Chorleywood - Of all the 'far-out' Metroland stations it's easily my favourite, it's just got a certain je ne sais quoi about it. Easy to forget that you're on the Underground, especially during Steam on the Met!

Seven Sisters - Not the prettiest of stations, but one with a lot of childhood memories for me. I grew up in Bush Hill Park and more often than not we'd take a mainline service to Seven Sisters and change there to start our trip into London.

Sudbury Town - What isn't to like? One of the best pieces of architecture on the entire network by a long shot, and the platforms are pretty picturesque too!

Chigwell - Similar reasons to Chorleywood in that it's got a very traditional and non-tubey feel to it. It's also the only place I've ever been able to take a photo of a '92 stock that has turned out with the stock look slightly photogenic.

Arnos Grove - Again, several childhood memories of turning up at the station and heading into London. The circular ticket hall always amazed me.

Indeed, if I had to pick any one favourite line it would be the Piccadilly line by a long shot, purely for having such a fantastic mix of architecture both inside and out.

Incidentally - I'm actually working on a project at the moment that is essentially this - people's favourite stations and why. If anyone would like to share their thoughts in more detail please do let me know - I would really appreciate it, as I'm looking to get as many people involved as possible to give a great cross-section.

J

[Deleted]

Piccadilly Circus (Bakerloo)
I love being able to see the junction and two platforms simultaneously. It helps that this is a fairly traditional Yerkes station.

Aldgate
South end of the platforms is my favourite place to just sit down and meditate - all the District trains passing in the background, all the turning Met trains. There's something peaceful about Aldgate.
H&C trains passing right next to the northern end of the platforms are fun to look at as well.

Mornington Crescent
Quiet, LER style, but not worn out (thanks to a recent refurb).
Also lots of happy memories dating someone who lived right nearby.

Pimlico
60s/70s rubbish chic.

Great Portland Street
Classic Met subsurface station, a bit dingy but that makes it special.

Baker Street (Circle/Met)
Same as GPS + great junction with the Met + former Met HQ + various obscure passages and arches.

St. John's Wood
My local station, which makes me biased. But somehow I'm still not tired of it, despite living here for over 6 years (exception: cricket crowds).

Clapham North
Two tracks, one tunnel.

Wapping
Right at the end of the Thames tunnel.

[Chris M]

Jul 28, 2014 20:54:15 GMT theblackferret said:

[Canary Wharf] DLR station is shovelled away down a side alley in between two bits of a store frontage and is poorly signed, if we are being generous.  If we're being honest, it's probably London's least obtrusive station.

I must take issue with that statement!
Just off the top of my head you will have a harder job finding the following stations at street level:

• Poplar
• Caledonian Road & Barnsbury
• South Bermondsey
• Walthamstow Queen's Road