List of busiest railway stations in Britain outside London in 2011/12

[Tooting Carmen]

(1) Birmingham New Street - 31,213,842 passengers (plus 5,111,520 interchange passengers)

(2) Glasgow Central - 26,639,418 passengers (plus 3,018,488 interchange passengers)

(3) Leeds - 25,020,032 passengers (plus 2,638,559 interchange passengers)

(4) Edinburgh - 22,585,176 passengers (plus 1,143,271 interchange passengers)

(5) Glasgow Queen Street - 20,929,594 passengers (plus 1,559,690 interchange passengers)

(6) Manchester Piccadilly - 18,584,710 passengers (plus 3,795,951 interchange passengers)

(7) Brighton - 16,051,198 passengers (plus 1,858,787 interchange passengers)

(8) Reading - 15,276,176 passengers (plus 3,793,740 interchange passengers)

(9) Gatwick Airport - 14,757,940 passengers (plus 1,115,495 interchange passengers)

(10) Liverpool Central - 14,209,241 passengers (plus 412,269 interchange passengers)

[Catkin]

Interesting. I haven't been to any of them I don't think.

[Tooting Carmen]

Interesting. I haven't been to any of them I don't think.

Not surprisingly, most of these are stations located in major cities, except for Brighton and Reading, which are both major gateways and junctions for Southeast England, as well as Gatwick Airport, which is Britain's second biggest airport.

[Graham]

Glasgow Central Station and Queen Street figures could easily merge figures. Both stations are very close in Central Glasgow. Closer than Wavererly Station is to Haymarket Station in Edinburgh.

[Graham]

Glasgow Queen Street is to go under renovation actually.. Because numbers are getting high.

Queen Street Station development plans unveiled
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February 25 2014

Queen Street Station development plans unveiled Network Rail has published updated visualisations of a planned £120m redevelopment of Glasgow’s Queen Street Station, ahead of the projects official launch in George Square later today.

http://www.urbanrealm.com/news/4671/Queen_Street_Station_development_plans_unveiled.ht ml

http://www.urbanrealm.com/images/news/newspic_3719.jpghttp://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b112/maccoinnich/ssc%20random/Tiaz7qV7_zpsa7a582de.jpeghttp://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/72555000/jpg/_72555123__55587003_newqueenstreet464-1.jpghttp://www.urbanrealm.com/images/news/newspic_3722.jpghttp://www.urbanrealm.com/images/news/newspic_1590.jpg

[Catkin]

Glasgow Queen Street is to go under renovation actually.. Because numbers are getting high.

Queen Street Station development plans unveiled


Nice design, but lots of windows to clean :)

[Caismeachd]

Public transit needs a bit more refining here but it's ok.

[Graham]

Glasgow Central Station

http://tinypic.com/72f0xj.jpghttp://www.webbaviation.co.uk/gallery/d/39423-1/GlasgowCentralStation-db57198.jpghttp://www.networkrail.co.uk/assets/0/72/4294967297/30064771426/30064771890/30064771892/fb5b2e2c-27c3-4685-b346-c7c93ee5a027.jpghttp://farm5.static.flickr.com/4128/5059143475_e803149406.jpghttp://swr.podkarpackakolej.net/uk13/glasgow_central_station.jpghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f9/Glasgow_Central_railway_station.jpg/1280px-Glasgow_Central_railway_station.jpg

[Fortis in Arduis]

Interesting. I haven't been to any of them I don't think.

Whoa. I have been to every single one of them.

[Catkin]

Whoa. I have been to every single one of them.

Wow, that's impressive. I think the only times I've travelled by train in the UK is when I've been going to London.

[Graham]

Whoa. I have been to every single one of them.

I love trains. But have rarely been to any stations outside Scotland and Northumberland.

What'a your favourite? So I can google it. :P

[Brighton]

I've only used Brighton (many times) and Gatwick Airport..

[Graham]

I've only used Brighton (many times) and Gatwick Airport..

I went to to that one I think. That was to Islington.

[Fortis in Arduis]

I went to to that one I think. That was to Islington.

No, it was not. Brighton trains arrive at Waterloo, I think.

I like Edinburgh Waverley.

However, my favourite station is London Marylebone.

[Catkin]

I used to travel to Auckland Britomart train station every day for uni- I loved that station. They would often have random things going on, like the platforms covered with fake grass. They had a great announcer too. As everyone got off the train he would say something like "Good morning, the sun is shining, and welcome to another fantastic day in paradise!" Admittedly, that might not go down so well in Birmingham...

[Tooting Carmen]

No, it was not. Brighton trains arrive at Waterloo, I think.

Nope, the main ones go to Victoria, and there are also Thameslink trains that cross London and stop at London Bridge and St Pancras.

[Graham]

No, it was not. Brighton trains arrive at Waterloo, I think.

I like Edinburgh Waverley.

However, my favourite station is London Marylebone.

Waverly has been cleaned up, all the glass. Btw one my great grannies fell out a train at Waverly years ago. Got dragged along. Worked at the North British Hotel, now called the Balmoral Hotel. So wasn't a long trek to limp to.

[Brighton]

I went to that one I think. That was to Islington.


No, it was not. Brighton trains arrive at Waterloo, I think.

I like Edinburgh Waverley.

However, my favourite station is London Marylebone.

Umm I've always arrived at Victoria..

My favourite station has been Saint Pancras..

[Tooting Carmen]

My favourite station has been Saint Pancras..

When I lived in Leicester and had to use it to access London, it was a horrendous dump. However, I have visited it since the refurbishment, in order to travel to Paris, and I agree it is fantastic now.

[Graham]

Waverley Station

http://i.imgur.com/mSUWE7N.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/OWXmjGM.jpghttp://filming.networkrail.co.uk/resources/v1.1548/images/700/0/336/Edinburgh%20Waverley.jpghttp://farm6.staticflickr.com/5325/8866428022_d65a89031f_b.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/iH4FLRn.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/wty0qcs.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/qD2CVz1.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/D5wRz4B.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/PZ2a9Kt.jpg

[Fortis in Arduis]

Yes, the Balmoral being so close to Edinburgh Waverley is a good one.

At Victoria there is the Grosvenor Hotel, accessible from the station platform, through a side entrance:

http://www.directenquiries.com/images/ldahotels/1284/800/o1284-0003950.jpg

It entrance is just left of Neal's Yard Remedies. Very discreet, no?

http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01870/london-grosvenor_1870428b.jpg

The lobby.

I once had a massive panic attack at Victoria Station during rush hour.

Yes, it is a busy station. I had to sit down and eat a pastie. :lol:

[Graham]

Looks more like a palace.

[Fortis in Arduis]

Looks more like a palace.

Hotels are supposed to be places for fun and enjoyment, and there are some amazing hotels out there. However, I do not think that the world will ever again see the like of the now-demolished Waldorf-Astoria, New York:

http://frenchhatchingcat.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/the-waldorf-astoria-hotel-fifth-avenue_975b44f15c.jpg

I stayed for a few nights at this hotel back in 2003:

http://www.theleela.com/~/media/TheLeela/bangalore/images/1280x900_background-gallery/Bangalore_TL_0000154_leela_porch_1280x900.ashx

http://www.theleela.com/~/media/TheLeela/bangalore/images/1280x900_background-gallery/Bangalore_TL0000144_bar_1280x900.ashx

The Leela Palace, Bangalore. Just like a palace.

It actually blew my brains out. The cost of such a hotel in the UK would be out of my reach, and I do not think that such a place could exist in the UK.

Incense blowing through the air-con, and rose petals and candles everywhere. Mind-blowing. :shrug:

On the same trip I lunched regularly at the Green Hotel in Mysore, which was The Chittaranjan Palace, built for Mysore's princesses:



http://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/01/84/b8/e4/mysore.jpg

http://3monthsinindia.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/mysore-green-hotel.jpg

I had lunch twice here:

http://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/01/dc/86/e7/lalitha-mahal-palace.jpg

http://www.luxoindia.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/lalith_mahal_inside.jpg

http://static.squarespace.com/static/4f3463b28754a66da0285ff1/50d01c36e4b0c681e0555ea3/50d01c39e4b0c681e0556224/1307569152557/lalith-mahal.jpg/1000w

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lalitha_Mahal

The Lalitha Mahal Palace Hotel, formerly the residence of the Viceroy of India.

Wonderful Indian classical music accompaniments. It was faintly ridiculous, but there we go.