Tuesday 14 August 2018

The death of railway architecture.

Back in the day, railway stations were the height of building design. From the Victorian magnificence of St. Pancras, Glasgow Central and other major termini, to the art deco beauty of Girvan, the Edwardian elegance of Wemyss Bay, even small stations had comfortable waiting rooms in attractive buildings. By the 1970s and 1980s, railway architecture had become far more utilitarian. The attractive buildings of Stranraer and Motherwell were replaced by ugly concrete and steel carbuncles. The ambition of those older railway companies, who used their buildings as a form of advertising, was destroyed by nationalised austerity. Now in the post-privatisation era, is it time to put the ambition back into railway stations? Maybe yes, maybe no. Network Rail, who own the stations, are still a nationalised entity, with little budget for lavish ornamentation. The vast majority of re-opened stations have been unstaffed halts such as Larkhall, stations on the Airdrie-Bathgate line and on the Borders railway. However, where a substantial station has been built, such as Alloa or Edinburgh Park, the buildings tend to be relatively bland grey boxes. Not unattractive, just... dull. They don't make you go "wow". I want to see a bit more ambition in railway architecture. Even if a building is modern, it can still be attractive. Take Glasgow's Riverside museum, for instance. The wavy design is an icon in itself. Let's get creative with railway station design. A good place to start would be Largs. The original station was destroyed by a train crash in the 1990s, and was replaced with a small waiting room on the platform, while the old shop fronts around the original entrance were retained. A better idea would be to start afresh, knock the whole lot down and build something amazing.