Worst Welcome
 

Yesterday I had occasion to travel to Heathrow and back to Paddington. It
may only be 15 minutes but unfortunately that is far too long to look if you
are looking out of the window! I would like to propose the route between
Ealing and Paddington as the most ugly of any approach to London. I accept
that most of the routes have their less than salubrious sections, but the
continuous mess of old sidings, decaying buildings, graffiti, rubbish and
concrete underpasses combined with an already boring landscape makes this
route the clear winner. Yes?

Max B.

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I accept that most of the routes have their less than salubrious sections
but the continuous mess of old sidings, decaying buildings, graffiti,
rubbish and concrete underpasses combined with an already boring
landscape makes this route the clear winner. Yes?

I got a Eurostar from Waterloo once, made me glad to see the back of
London after it's journey through skankland, perhaps thats why CTRL is
underground from West Kent, don't scare the tourists :)

Brighton Main line isn't the nicest, but Orpington - London Bridge via
Hither Green etc. isn't too bad.

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MaxB wrote:

Yesterday I had occasion to travel to Heathrow and back to Paddington. It
may only be 15 minutes but unfortunately that is far too long to look if you
are looking out of the window! I would like to propose the route between
Ealing and Paddington as the most ugly of any approach to London. I accept
that most of the routes have their less than salubrious sections, but the
continuous mess of old sidings, decaying buildings, graffiti, rubbish and
concrete underpasses combined with an already boring landscape makes this
route the clear winner. Yes?

Few large cities withstand such scrutiny - something is usually on the wrong
side of rail tracks.

M.

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marcb wrote:
Yesterday I had occasion to travel to Heathrow and back to Paddington. It
may only be 15 minutes but unfortunately that is far too long to look if you
are looking out of the window! I would like to propose the route between
Ealing and Paddington as the most ugly of any approach to London. I accept
that most of the routes have their less than salubrious sections, but the
continuous mess of old sidings, decaying buildings, graffiti, rubbish and
concrete underpasses combined with an already boring landscape makes this
route the clear winner. Yes?

Few large cities withstand such scrutiny - something is usually on the wrong
side of rail tracks.

The London approaches on the ECML[*] and WCML aren't too bad. The MML
is slightly worse, but still far superior to the GWML or any of the SR
termini.

This reflects North London's innate superiority, naturally...
[*] especially at the moment, when you get the excitement of the CTRL
works and the new Arsenal stadium to look at...

--
John Band
john at johnband dot org
www.johnband.org

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Yesterday I had occasion to travel to Heathrow and back to Paddington. It may only be 15 minutes
but unfortunately that is far too long to look if you are looking out of the window! I would like
to propose the route between Ealing and Paddington as the most ugly of any approach to London. I
accept that most of the routes have their less than salubrious sections, but the continuous mess
of old sidings, decaying buildings, graffiti, rubbish and concrete underpasses combined with an
already boring landscape makes this route the clear winner. Yes?

Few districts are arranged in such a way that their best aspects point towards
the railway tracks.

Worst Welcome
 

On Thu, 2 Mar 2006 13:12:16 -0000, TKD wrote:

Few districts are arranged in such a way that their best aspects point towards
the railway tracks.

Stansted Express wasn't a bad ride.

--
jhk

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John B wrote:

The London approaches on the ECML[*] and WCML aren't too bad. The MML
is slightly worse, but still far superior to the GWML or any of the SR
termini.

This reflects North London's innate superiority, naturally...

Trus, as a north Londoner myself. I was thinking also of places where I've been
recently such as Berlin and Dresden - bombsites by comparison (actually there is a
nice river crossing in Dresden).

M.

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"Jarle H Knudsen" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 2 Mar 2006 13:12:16 -0000, TKD wrote:

Few districts are arranged in such a way that
their best aspects point towards the railway tracks.

Stansted Express wasn't a bad ride.

Really? I commuted for a while between Hertford East and Lower Edmonton and
found the route unremittingly awful.

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Stansted Express wasn't a bad ride.

My experience of the Stansted Express is it's like a dirty inner-london
bone rattler, nothing compared to Southern Gatwick trains or the
Heathrow Connect let alone Gatwick Express or (presumably) Heathrow
Express.

And that's just the trains.

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Paul Weaver wrote:
Stansted Express wasn't a bad ride.

My experience of the Stansted Express is it's like a dirty inner-london
bone rattler, nothing compared to Southern Gatwick trains or the
Heathrow Connect let alone Gatwick Express or (presumably) Heathrow
Express.

And that's just the trains.

Never been on a 4CIG to Brighton, then? More minging than the new
Liberal leader, IMO. Equally, the inside of a StanEx 317 is nicer than
the inside of a Thameslink 319. Doubtless when the 317s are replaced
and the Electrostars are 25 years old, the story will be different.

--
John Band
john at johnband dot org
www.johnband.org

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"Paul Weaver" wrote in message
oups.com...
I accept that most of the routes have their less than salubrious sections
but the continuous mess of old sidings, decaying buildings, graffiti,
rubbish and concrete underpasses combined with an already boring
landscape makes this route the clear winner. Yes?

I got a Eurostar from Waterloo once, made me glad to see the back of
London after it's journey through skankland, perhaps thats why CTRL is
underground from West Kent, don't scare the tourists :)

Brighton Main line isn't the nicest, but Orpington - London Bridge via
Hither Green etc. isn't too bad.


I have the (mis?)fortune to both work in Hanger Lane and live in Bromley, SE
London, so I get the worst of both worlds!!! He he he!.

I will concede that there are parts of SE London where the view is less than
easy on the eye. On Eurostar parts of the route between Beckenham Junction
and Waterloo would be accurately described as minging.

Ceertainly in the Ealing/Hanger Lane area, there is a very big network of
railway lines, most of which have evolved seperately over time, and in a
rather unco-ordinated fashion. On the day of the last Tube strike I went
overground from Clapham Junction to Willesden Junction, and I have to say
that pretty much most of that journey was grim. Willesden Junction is
really minging (IMHO), but then the majority of the activity in the area is
light industrial, so this is hardly conducive to a nice middle class
area.....

However, in my limited foreign forays by rail, sea or air, it would be fair
to say that the routes into the relevant terminii are just as grim. The
route into Gare du Nord does not show Paris in it's best light, and anyone
travelling by ferry into Calais will know how industrial this area is.

Personally, I think the average tourist would judge London on the pleasantry
of the locals. So the moment one comes into contact with a member of South
Eastern Trains gateline staff (London Bridge in particular!) this may be the
really defining moment....

Just my tuppence worth, and in my very humble opinion...

Iain

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On Thu, 2 Mar 2006 13:38:56 +0000 (UTC), marcb
wrote:

Trus, as a north Londoner myself. I was thinking also of places where I've been
recently such as Berlin and Dresden - bombsites by comparison

Have the RAF been over again then?

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On 2 Mar 2006 04:05:29 -0800, "Paul Weaver"
wrote:

I got a Eurostar from Waterloo once, made me glad to see the back of
London after it's journey through skankland, perhaps thats why CTRL is
underground from West Kent, don't scare the tourists :)

Eurostar into Waterloo at least has the attribute that the first/last
mile alongside the Thames is pleasant enough. And some of the Kent
countryside is attractive between the tunnel and London

Martin

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Yes, and at least all of those highly-paid Europhiles arriving at
Waterloo (shame about the name of the station, reminding them that we
used to be able to defeat nasty French interferers, but let that pass)
can get a glimpse of that historic monument to self-government, called
"Parliament", which they have been so successful in usurping.

Those same self-satisfied trough-snouts can also revel in the fact
that, in a year or two, they will have even speedier access to their
conquerored domain, via St. Pancras, and that those of us poor souls
who used to have a good interchange from tube to mainline rail there
now have to walk a quarter of a mile (sorry - however many metres, that
is) to get from tube to train, thanks to their take-over not only of
our Country but our lovely Gothic station as well!

Marc.

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Laurence Payne wrote in
:

On Thu, 2 Mar 2006 13:38:56 +0000 (UTC), marcb
wrote:

Trus, as a north Londoner myself. I was thinking also of places where
I've been recently such as Berlin and Dresden - bombsites by
comparison

Have the RAF been over again then?


Well, despite obvious rebuilding (in Dresden the Frauenkirke was
reconsecrated the weekend after was there) there are obvious areas of
dereliction and damage - the station in Dereden is still half a ruin with
much building work ongoing.

M.

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I've just returned from Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. To get
from the airport to the city centre you need bus 61 for which you must
pay in advance at a the machine at the bus stop in Slovak coins (no
notes accepted - how many arriving travellers will have 18 Sk in coins
accessible?). Then the bus takes you through a partly developed
shopping park, past endless grey crumbling appartment blocks and a
couple of sex shops before ending up at the main railway station.

Despite all that the public transport there is very good once you
understand it - every bus or tram stop is identified at the stop and
then announced during the journey. But beware of the ticket inspectors
who travel incognito for a while then pounce and deliberately pick on
foreigners!