What's wrong with Stratford station?

I totally agree, I’m often at Stratford for work so come into the station usually by central line, the other day I needed to make use of the ‘North London Line’, now run by Silverlink, anyway, followed the yellow brick road and got totally lost !! Found the DLR station, once again the Central Line and the Jubilee line, but find the platform for the Silverlink, no way, had to go ask one of the station staff and even he had to think of where it was.

Did eventually find it, only to get to the platform as the train left so had to wait 30 mins for the next.

The station has got a really crazy layout, I only hope that by the time the Olympics arrive, someone has done a bit of home work otherwise we’re going to end up with thousands of lost foreigners all looking for the train to the village.

Posted over 2 years ago by cobo04

Sounds to me like you don’t take the bus from Stratford. If you did, then you’d really have something to moan about. Shithole (as if it really needs saying). Hurry up the bulldozers.

Posted over 2 years ago by a_james72

A bus from Stratford is nothing to moan about. It’s the buses TO Stratford that cause the anguish.

Posted over 2 years ago by Mockernee

I grew up in Stratford….if you think the station is bad now you should have seen it 20 years ago. It was a shit hole but very easy to negotiate your way around and the North London Line was a piece of piss to find. It was very scary at night with lots of nasty dark subways that went on forever and stank of pee. I have to say I’m really glad I don’t live there anymore although I miss how quickly you could get into London. We didn’t have the Jubilee line in those days either. Now I live in sleepy Sunbury with the shittest train service – 2 trains an hour that stop at every station making it 48 minutes into Waterloo.

Posted over 2 years ago by Flange1971

I love Stratford Station!

It’s thousands times better than it used to be for starters.

The ticket hall is small for two reasons, Oyster has vastly reduced demand on ticket halls, secondly, as the station ownership was transferred and is now operated by TfL as opposed to National Rail it was built with almost zero investment from them and what used to be the main ticket office (owned by then Railtrack) was closed. Eventually, a new ticket office was built for the rail platforms, which as they comprise more than 80% of the station was a glaring oversight on their part.

The station is in the middle of a massive upgrade. Yes, there is a collapsed drain on Platform 8 that they are repairing with great difficulty due to the fact it’s above the Silverlink platforms. That and the fact that at the far end of the platform there is a makeshift urinal due to the lack of decent toilet facilities in the station, which incidentally smell worse than platform 8 and are regularly vandalised.

Is it just me that noticed the arrows directing you to the appropriate platform that the next Jubilee train will be departing?

The future?

The new DLR platforms have VASTLY reduced overcrowding and the second platform will be entered in to service soon along with track upgrades boosting overall capacity.

Network Rail has agreed to help help with extensive improvements including new lifts to ALL platforms, widening a platforms and reopening the disused subways at the far end of the platforms, that were closed with the old ticket office, to help with step free access.

So far between now and 2011 there are the following upgrades are scheduled:

Fourteen new lifts (to all platforms)

A new bridge (over the station from the Stratford centre to the new Stratford City development and Olympic park)

Two new station entrances and ticket halls, one with direct central line access from the high level bridge,

New subways including re-opening the third subway closed by Railtrack & extensions to this subway, the extension and additional second set of stairs to some of the platforms from the central subway, and new sets of stairs to the central line platforms from the eastern subway along with another extension to the new Northern ticket hall.

An additional westbound Central Line platform, which will be opposite Platform 3 with direct access to the main station building therefore having two platforms on one line to ease rush hour overcrowding.

New London Overground (nee SIlverlink/North London Line) platforms moved to new platforms at the far north of the station platforms currently numbered 12A/12B

New DLR platforms where the current Silverlink platforms are following the existing Silverlink route, south and a new extension to Stratford International to the north.

Check it:

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/Stratford-Subway-Layout.pdf

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/Stratford-platform-Layout.pdf

Now shut you’re stinkin’ beak!

Posted over 2 years ago by kevplugz

Erm – Kevplugz – you don’t work for TfL by any chance, do you?

Posted over 2 years ago by pottytime

Nope, just a member of the “stop fucking whinging brigade, this is London shit happens”

In fact, I’m off to start a group on facebook with that name.

Posted over 2 years ago by kevplugz

I’m sure you’ll have a great following.

Posted over 2 years ago by pottytime

Kevplugz. What a twat.

“The ticket hall is small for two reasons, Oyster has vastly reduced demand on ticket halls, secondly, as the station ownership was transferred and is now operated by TfL as opposed to National Rail it was built with almost zero investment from them and what used to be the main ticket office (owned by then Railtrack) was closed.”

There was no Oyster when the station was built and the main ticket office is still open.

“Yes, there is a collapsed drain on Platform 8 that they are repairing with great difficulty due to the fact it’s above the Silverlink platforms.”

How come you know this and I don’t? Yes, it’s because no-one tells us! We just have to put up with it!

“Is it just me that noticed the arrows directing you to the appropriate platform that the next Jubilee train will be departing?”

Yes, I’ve seen those arrows. And yes, they DO show which is the next train to leave. But not when! How do I know if I have to rush for one leaving in a minute or can walk normally for a 3 miute wait? Jeez, it’s not difficult! Put the time on the display!!!

`So far between now and 2011 there are the following upgrades are scheduled`

Only 4 years to wait, then!!!

`Now shut you’re stinkin’ beak!` I see you are an eloquent debater!

Posted over 2 years ago by Zabadak

Platform 8 is the one for east-bound trains from Liverpool Street, right? It is a sewer, or at least a repository for certain bodily fluids.

I used to live in Ilford and would get the central line to Stratford and then see whether a train to Gants Hill or Ilford station would get me home quickest. When travelling home after pub closing time there would be various drunk people waiting for trains. The platform staff would advise the public to be sick on the platform rather than onto the train line because they would rather the worse-for-wear person didn’t fall off the platform onto the tracks.

Posted over 2 years ago by andy005

In long-gone bygone days, I remember imbibing too much somewhere around TCR and sat on the Central Line, trying to keep the contents of my guts within my alimentary system. This involved lots of heavy breathing, sweating, and general self-control. However, I knew I was fighting a losing battle and just prayed for the next station.

It was Stratford. I ran out of the carriage and hugged the nearest bin where I barfed my stomach out. I kind-of felt quite pleased with myself because I hadn’t made a mess in the carriage, there was no pavement pizza on the platform, and I was still relatively with it.

That was until I realised that the bin I had puked into didn’t have a proper base and instead there was a grille and so I had innocently puked on my shoes and the bottom of my flares (that’s how long ago it was)...

Posted over 2 years ago by pottytime

In long-gone bygone days, I remember imbibing too much somewhere around TCR and sat on the Central Line, trying to keep the contents of my guts within my alimentary system. This involved lots of heavy breathing, sweating, and general self-control. However, I knew I was fighting a losing battle and just prayed for the next station.

It was Stratford. I ran out of the carriage and hugged the nearest bin where I barfed my stomach out. I kind-of felt quite pleased with myself because I hadn’t made a mess in the carriage, there was no pavement pizza on the platform, and I was still relatively with it.

That was until I realised that the bin I had puked into didn’t have a proper base and instead there was a grille and so I had innocently puked on my shoes and the bottom of my flares (that’s how long ago it was)...

Posted over 2 years ago by pottytime