Name: Euston station.
Age: 187 years.
Appearance: Formerly, a graceful Victorian hall in the classical style; latterly, a 1960s bunker dominated by giant screens.
Screens, you say? Digital advertising screens spanning the width of the concourse, which replaced the main departure boards in January.
Wait – they replaced train information displays with adverts? They installed much smaller departure screens in the middle of the concourse, but it was not a popular move.
I’m not surprised. In fact it was so unpopular that, in October, the then-transport secretary, Louise Haigh, demanded the screens be switched off.
So now there are just dead screens up there? Not any more. They are coming back on – and will be displaying departure times instead of adverts.
When? Testing begins tomorrow. “We’re urging passengers to continue to use the screens in the middle of the concourse for accurate travel information,” said a Network Rail spokesperson.
In case they end up displaying inaccurate travel information on giant screens? That seems to be the implication, but it would still be the least of Euston’s problems.
What other issues does it have? A soulless interior; a policy of announcing platforms moments before departure, leading to dangerous crushes as passengers race to their trains; and being home to Avanti, one of the UK’s worst performing train operators.
Remind me not to use Euston station in the near future. Consider yourself reminded. Passengers have been officially advised by Network Rail to avoid Euston for 10 days over the Christmas period, when things will be even more terrible than usual.
Can nothing be done? Efforts have been made with platform announcements, and retail space has been reduced to make more room on the concourse. But the station simply isn’t fit for purpose.
Sounds as if they should knock it down and start again. There are big plans to redevelop Euston, but they are on hold.
Why? Because it was supposed to be the terminus for HS2 – the high-speed rail link to Birmingham – a plan that was in doubt until weeks ago, when the chancellor committed funds for the tunnel into central London.
At last, some clarity. Not so fast. The redesign of Euston remains in limbo; no one seems to be sure how much it will cost or how it will be financed.
Perhaps it’s for the best – a major rebuild would only bring more disruption, and no guarantee that things wouldn’t be still worse at the end of it. That’s a very cynical attitude.
I’m a UK rail passenger; I’ve earned it. Fair enough.
Do say: “Euston, we have a problem. I mean a new problem, to add to all the other problems.”
Don’t say: “The departure board is so depressing that I think I preferred the adverts.”