Waiting for her train home to Glasgow, Beth Johnston expressed a sentiment familiar to those who regularly travel north out of the capital: “Euston is hell.”
The station, a dreaded entry and departure point to and from London, is synonymous with nightmarish scenes of overcrowding and passenger crushes caused by last-minute train announcements.
But after a clamour of protest that reverberated from the run-down concourse of Euston all the way to the desk of the transport secretary in Westminster, action has been taken. Trains are now announced earlier, and a giant digital billboard that once beamed adverts at the tired eyes of angry passengers has been turned off.
Now, there is a calm in the air. A dozen or so minutes before rush hour, commuters saunter leisurely while carol singers perform to a growing crowd of jovial admirers. A steady stream of passengers walk to their trains with ample time. Some even manage to grab a drink on the way.
Have the changes transformed the station into a tranquil terminus? “It’s definitely a lot more chill that it was the last few times I’ve been here,” said Helen, 43, who works in pensions. She travelled into London from the Midlands with her mum to watch a play.
Euston is the station Helen has to battle through to travel back home after visiting the capital – and Thursday marked her sixth visit to the capital this year. Both her mum and uncle struggle with their mobility. She called her previous trips a “nightmare”.
“Even if you’ve got your seats booked, everybody just rushes as soon as the platform is announced. If they give us more time, it would definitely be a good thing. It will create less of a crush and rush.”
Things came to a head at Euston last month when the transport watchdog London TravelWatch warned that the high levels of overcrowding at the station were “putting passengers in danger”, prompting the transport secretary, Louise Haigh, to step in.
She ordered Network Rail to turn off the garish advertising board that looms over the station, installed in January to replace the now-removed main departure information boards. The old board was replaced by a number of “confusing, weird” digital displays in and out of Euston.
Johnston said: “The design of the station encourages mayhem. It’s a full stampede. Kids are running around because there’s no real place to stand. People are pushed out of the way.”
Now, to combat the breakneck rush to platforms, Network Rail is sparing passengers’ legs and nerves by allowing them to board some trains 20 minutes before departure.
The rail operator has only introduced boarding 20 minutes before departure for 40% of Avanti services, meaning some passengers are still carrying out the notorious platform dash. Ope, 28, a civil servant, is among them. The platform for his train was announced two minutes before departure.
Speaking while dashing to his train, he said: “I try as much as possible to get to the station 10 to 15 minutes before my departure time but my train is usually delayed.
“I typically already have a ticket booked, which has a seat but it’s hectic navigating through the crowd.”
He welcomed the new measures but questioned whether they could be maintained. “It would be help me but how long will they stick to it? If I know every time I travel I have 20 minutes to get on the train, things would be much less stressful,” he added.
For some, there is hope the changes will make the station a more friendly place. Matthew James, 29, is a manager from Lancashire. He travels through Euston two to three times a month for work.
He said he had come across something “really sad” on his last visit. “There was an old bloke with these bags and no one would help him. I picked them up and he said ‘You’re not from round here, are you?’ Here it’s all so fast-paced, so it would be nice to see it slowed down.”
James has found the frequent changes to Euston hard to ignore. “Whenever I come into London, the station is always looking different. Last time I wasn’t allowed to walk out a certain exit. You always have to make time to adjust, despite the fact you’re already late,” he said.
Despite efforts by station bosses, passengers said recent changes could only go so far. “Having that space to just saunter would make things slightly better but architecturally the station is still going to be a nightmare. But hey, we can’t change that,” said Johnston.
Those nostalgic for the simpler times when disgruntled passengers huddled around a single screen united in rage are in luck. Per the Sunday Times, the old departures board was given to businessman and Reform UK donor Jeremy Hosking, who placed it in his private train museum in Margate, Kent.
It is plugged it into a live feed from the beleaguered station and there is a chance it could be returned there. “If Network Rail wants it back they can have it,” said Hosking.
