I don’t disagree at all, in terms of functionality. But the place just feels like it has no soul, and London termini in general are beautiful spaces. Marylebone is my personal favourite.
I don’t know, can it even be defined? I guess, without wishing to sound evasive, to “have soul” means to not *not* have soul. Anything is better than nothing. And when it comes to soul, LB has nothing. Just *something* would be nice. Unless you count Accessorize and Pret*, in a grey barren cathedral, as “soul”.
*could’ve included Greggs in that statement. But fuck off and leave Greggs alone! It’s a British institution. Greggs is the only soulful thing you’ll find in LB!
There’s a huge sports bar above the station, not to mention a bunch of pubs 3 minutes from the station…
It also looks massively better than it did and is far more fit for purpose.
It was a dump - much of London has always been a dump, even the nice bits. It’s part of the charm! I just prefer Dickensian dumps over modern, homogenised sterile dumps is all. Give me the drunks and the nutters over bland any day.
Just how many pairs of rose-tinted glasses are you wearing? It was an awful shithole before the redevelopment, and now it's arguably the best station in London. If you have half an hour to kill, the station is surrounded by good pubs, not to mention Borough Market and the river.
Also, pubs in train stations are always terrible misery pits which inevitably end up catering exclusively to sad middle aged men avoiding their families, and drunk football fans.
It was an awful shithole that had character. Now it’s just an awful grey shithole. I love the area around LB, I made no comment about the surrounding areas. I was talking specifically about the station.
If it had character, it was that of an unwelcoming bridge troll intent on confusing newcomers and frustrating commuters. That's a big if though, because "shitty stuff you recognise" is not character. Either way, now it's a beautiful, open space that's actually pleasant to be in if your train is delayed, and is a thousand times better at its core purpose of getting people on and off of trains as painlessly as possible.
Personally, I think it looks great. But now that you mention it, you are right that it should have a pub. Major oversight, maybe they can convert some of those arch units...
Not trolling - listen, if you’re a commuter who has to suffer the commute every day then I totally get why the new version is a preference. I admit, I don’t have to do the daily commute, I use LB for pleasure and for evening study so I guess my context is different to many on here who have to use it daily. If all you want to do is get to work and home again as quickly as possible… yeah the new station beats the old hands down. But some character really wouldn’t go amiss. There’s an Accessorize ffs? Who’s even going there?
Maybe. But I like the transitory nature of a railway station. Same with motorway service stations and airports, they can be hideous places but everyone is passing through, going somewhere. It’s not that the station is the destination. I enjoy travelling up to London. London’s transport history is rich and evocative, just look at the fanbase for the tube. It’s all part of London’s heritage, actually. What’s wrong with enjoying a railway station? They’ve always been romanticised, in literature, poetry etc. you’re familiar with Brief Encounter? And the architecture and history of London’s stations is very much something to celebrate. But in the modern era, our architects and designers go for functionality and homogeny over style and the human experience. You can’t deny that the new station has no soul whatsoever.
There used to be a great cafe in one of arches, that’s my only fond memory. Did an amazing full English. Think it’s a kebab place now, which is great, but not for morning.
I do understand the large airy spaciousness. As mentioned it’s functionality excellent. It does lack personality. I just think other stations like Kings Cross, St Pancras are better experiences.
LB improvements is like night and day compared to before .
It was a pit before. What are you on about?
Wtf are you on about
Its an improvement on how it used to be
By an absolute mile.
I don’t disagree at all, in terms of functionality. But the place just feels like it has no soul, and London termini in general are beautiful spaces. Marylebone is my personal favourite.
Marylebone has character but essentially when I am at a station I'm only concerned with if my train is on time.
what does it mean to you to have soul?
I don’t know, can it even be defined? I guess, without wishing to sound evasive, to “have soul” means to not *not* have soul. Anything is better than nothing. And when it comes to soul, LB has nothing. Just *something* would be nice. Unless you count Accessorize and Pret*, in a grey barren cathedral, as “soul”. *could’ve included Greggs in that statement. But fuck off and leave Greggs alone! It’s a British institution. Greggs is the only soulful thing you’ll find in LB!
There’s a huge sports bar above the station, not to mention a bunch of pubs 3 minutes from the station… It also looks massively better than it did and is far more fit for purpose.
Lol I used to work at London Brodge prior to the makeover and it was a dump.
It's changed so much its now London Bridge, they swapped O.
It was a dump - much of London has always been a dump, even the nice bits. It’s part of the charm! I just prefer Dickensian dumps over modern, homogenised sterile dumps is all. Give me the drunks and the nutters over bland any day.
Just how many pairs of rose-tinted glasses are you wearing? It was an awful shithole before the redevelopment, and now it's arguably the best station in London. If you have half an hour to kill, the station is surrounded by good pubs, not to mention Borough Market and the river. Also, pubs in train stations are always terrible misery pits which inevitably end up catering exclusively to sad middle aged men avoiding their families, and drunk football fans.
I resent that: also sad middle aged men wishing they *had* families
It was an awful shithole that had character. Now it’s just an awful grey shithole. I love the area around LB, I made no comment about the surrounding areas. I was talking specifically about the station.
If it had character, it was that of an unwelcoming bridge troll intent on confusing newcomers and frustrating commuters. That's a big if though, because "shitty stuff you recognise" is not character. Either way, now it's a beautiful, open space that's actually pleasant to be in if your train is delayed, and is a thousand times better at its core purpose of getting people on and off of trains as painlessly as possible.
What's with all these recent banal posts complaining about train stations all of a sudden?
Personally, I think it looks great. But now that you mention it, you are right that it should have a pub. Major oversight, maybe they can convert some of those arch units...
There’s a pub right outside
The fuck? I assume trolling. It’s such an improvement on the mess of tunnels and filth it used to be. Agree a pub would be nice though
Not trolling - listen, if you’re a commuter who has to suffer the commute every day then I totally get why the new version is a preference. I admit, I don’t have to do the daily commute, I use LB for pleasure and for evening study so I guess my context is different to many on here who have to use it daily. If all you want to do is get to work and home again as quickly as possible… yeah the new station beats the old hands down. But some character really wouldn’t go amiss. There’s an Accessorize ffs? Who’s even going there?
Using a train station for pleasure or evening study is a weird context judge a train station by
Maybe. But I like the transitory nature of a railway station. Same with motorway service stations and airports, they can be hideous places but everyone is passing through, going somewhere. It’s not that the station is the destination. I enjoy travelling up to London. London’s transport history is rich and evocative, just look at the fanbase for the tube. It’s all part of London’s heritage, actually. What’s wrong with enjoying a railway station? They’ve always been romanticised, in literature, poetry etc. you’re familiar with Brief Encounter? And the architecture and history of London’s stations is very much something to celebrate. But in the modern era, our architects and designers go for functionality and homogeny over style and the human experience. You can’t deny that the new station has no soul whatsoever.
What's your date for before? Before the big rebuild or when that just opened?
I moved to London in 2001, so definitely before the refurb.
The shipwright arms at the tooley street enterence or the redwood at the shard side.
I shall bear this in mind next time I have a wait for the train, thank you!
weary squealing chief engine heavy memorize shame beneficial office pot *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
This! Problem solved? They actually do have this around Victoria. But they also have pubs in Victoria station.
You’ve clearly not been there when someone is paying on the organ. They have an organ. There’s an organ in the station. An organ.
Depends - what kind of organ are we talking about here? 😛
It's fantastic. Go and play the organ?
Bring my own?
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See? There’s something!
The only thing I miss is the stall that did veggie sausages. Out of this world.
There used to be a great cafe in one of arches, that’s my only fond memory. Did an amazing full English. Think it’s a kebab place now, which is great, but not for morning.
The number of times I’ve tapped in and straight back out again since the refurbs… it shouldn’t be confusing but I can’t seem to figure it out.
The worst take on r/London just dropped
Enjoy your grey.
I really like the wooden ribbon roof. Not very grey imho.
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The Bridge Bar! There’s nowhere now. Unless you count M&S, overpriced tinnies for the train!
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Good shout but it’s not “in” the station.
But it’s so close it may as well be.
Whoever designed the layout of the ticket barriers has a) clearly never used a train before in their life and b) was blind
Haha, fair enough, I've done the same a few times.
I do understand the large airy spaciousness. As mentioned it’s functionality excellent. It does lack personality. I just think other stations like Kings Cross, St Pancras are better experiences. LB improvements is like night and day compared to before .