I don’t think it’s that bad to be honest? Yeah it’s not exactly kings cross in terms of overpriced shit to buy, but it gets the job done. My only complaint is that it could use more seats. And it could do with some paint.
But honestly, I’m not sure they’re right. Its everything that’s been bolted onto the station *since* that’s the problem. [This](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Eaic-niXYAEDQL2.jpg:large) is how it looked when it was first built, and its almost completely unrecognisable compared to today. I have trouble orienting myself in that space — I’m reasonably sure its looking South-East, towards the British Library and the Bus Station, but it took me a while to get there.
Okay, whacking a car park over the top is inexcusable, but it was the 60s and most people don’t have to deal with that part of the station. I’ll allow them the one cock-up.
And the only people we can blame are the Government. When Network Rail’s funding is barely enough to even keep the infrastructure functional, it isn’t a surprise they’ve had to devote more and more of their station assets to retail space. And the HS2 rebuild, which was supposed to fix all this, has now been completely scrapped *twice*, and is now a complete mess which will not only fail to fix the crowding issue, but also permanently cripple the capacity of the entire HS2 project and may not even go ahead at all. For a cost higher than if they’d just left the whole thing alone and built the original plan as designed under *Blair*.
We need the full rebuild version of Euston for HS2, with 11 high speed platforms and mid platform entrance/exit stairs for the others.
More platforms means more certainty on which platform a train will be on and so allow passengers to go and wait on the platform without the current rush. An extra exit in the middle of the platform will also help with emptying out the platforms faster to allow even more time for boarding to be assigned.
Euston has been made so much worse with Network Rail crowding in more retail spaces and that garish “**an entire side of the station is now a giant bright moving advert you can’t avoid**”. The new departure boards are worse, not better than the old one.
The entire station desperately needs a rebuild, maybe at the same time they could add some high-speed / high-capacity trains running to the Midlands, North & Scotland? i.e. focus on what’s actually needed to sort out Euston overcrowding rather than just what will most increase Network Rail director bonuses.
The only problem with euston is the short amount of time they give you to get to your train/platform.
Do the full station redevelopment:
• Underground path to Euston Square (this was recently can cancelled)
• HS2
• HS2 station redesign, namely entrances to the platforms from the north, reducing the crowd rush
• Crossrail 3
A very very extreme fix to the solution would be to remove all terminus stations in London and replace them with portals underground (not the magic kind, just the tunnel kind). Kind of like thameslink.
Other cities have done this successfully, it’s just another example of UK doing something first, not doing it perfectly, and not investing enough to fix it.
Trains shouldn’t be terminating at Euston, they should be carrying on south towards Kent and Surrey.
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I don’t think it’s that bad to be honest? Yeah it’s not exactly kings cross in terms of overpriced shit to buy, but it gets the job done. My only complaint is that it could use more seats. And it could do with some paint.
Build HS2 in full. Kind of obvious.
Everyone always complains about the 60s rebuild, which did away with the [grand arch](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/87/Euston_Arch.jpg) and [old concourse](https://blog.railwaymuseum.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/1996-7316_cr_a_104.jpg?w=633) that people like to wax lyrical about every time this comes up.
But honestly, I’m not sure they’re right. Its everything that’s been bolted onto the station *since* that’s the problem. [This](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Eaic-niXYAEDQL2.jpg:large) is how it looked when it was first built, and its almost completely unrecognisable compared to today. I have trouble orienting myself in that space — I’m reasonably sure its looking South-East, towards the British Library and the Bus Station, but it took me a while to get there.
And [the outside](https://emap-romulus-prod.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2023/08/euston-station-architectural-review.jpg) is a lot better too. Sure, its like living in a Jacques Tati film, but at least you can actually move.
Okay, whacking a car park over the top is inexcusable, but it was the 60s and most people don’t have to deal with that part of the station. I’ll allow them the one cock-up.
And the only people we can blame are the Government. When Network Rail’s funding is barely enough to even keep the infrastructure functional, it isn’t a surprise they’ve had to devote more and more of their station assets to retail space. And the HS2 rebuild, which was supposed to fix all this, has now been completely scrapped *twice*, and is now a complete mess which will not only fail to fix the crowding issue, but also permanently cripple the capacity of the entire HS2 project and may not even go ahead at all. For a cost higher than if they’d just left the whole thing alone and built the original plan as designed under *Blair*.
We need the full rebuild version of Euston for HS2, with 11 high speed platforms and mid platform entrance/exit stairs for the others.
More platforms means more certainty on which platform a train will be on and so allow passengers to go and wait on the platform without the current rush. An extra exit in the middle of the platform will also help with emptying out the platforms faster to allow even more time for boarding to be assigned.
Euston has been made so much worse with Network Rail crowding in more retail spaces and that garish “**an entire side of the station is now a giant bright moving advert you can’t avoid**”. The new departure boards are worse, not better than the old one.
The entire station desperately needs a rebuild, maybe at the same time they could add some high-speed / high-capacity trains running to the Midlands, North & Scotland? i.e. focus on what’s actually needed to sort out Euston overcrowding rather than just what will most increase Network Rail director bonuses.
The only problem with euston is the short amount of time they give you to get to your train/platform.
Do the full station redevelopment:
• Underground path to Euston Square (this was recently can cancelled)
• HS2
• HS2 station redesign, namely entrances to the platforms from the north, reducing the crowd rush
• Crossrail 3
A very very extreme fix to the solution would be to remove all terminus stations in London and replace them with portals underground (not the magic kind, just the tunnel kind). Kind of like thameslink.
Other cities have done this successfully, it’s just another example of UK doing something first, not doing it perfectly, and not investing enough to fix it.
Trains shouldn’t be terminating at Euston, they should be carrying on south towards Kent and Surrey.