A recent report by the European Railway Station index has ranked Birmingham New Street Station as being the worst of the major train stations here in the UK and the 43rd in Europe. I'm here on the streets of Birmingham to find out from the people here if they agree.
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00:00 I think for Birmingham New Street to be said the worst train station is quite harsh.
00:07 I've never had a bad experience at New Street.
00:10 I come here sometimes because one of the offices I work in is in Birmingham.
00:15 So I'm familiar with the train station.
00:18 And yeah, I think it's, I wouldn't say it's the worst at all because there's shops,
00:23 there's a place to eat, there's a place to sit.
00:26 There's quite a lot to fill your time if say you've missed your train or you're early.
00:30 Like there's plenty of things to fill your time.
00:34 And there's, I don't know, plenty of staff.
00:37 I wouldn't call it the worst. I think that's quite a harsh judgment to be honest.
00:44 The old station was really, really run down. It was really dirty and really smelly.
00:48 And I think that the new station has been needed for a long time.
00:51 It's a really good addition to the city.
00:54 So I wouldn't vote New Street station the worst in the country.
00:58 I travel an awful lot by train with work.
01:01 And I actually think it's one of the better stations that I go into.
01:05 So it's vibrant. It feels safe. There's lots going on there. It's undercover.
01:10 Yeah, I definitely wouldn't agree with that about at all.
01:14 Yes, I wouldn't say it's like the worst station ever.
01:17 I mean, for outsiders like me and my partner, it's quite confusing.
01:21 That's for sure. It's very busy. It's quite big.
01:23 I mean, once you kind of like, we just, I mean, you know, you can get everything up on your smartphone now.
01:27 Anyway, so based on what platform we need to be on, it's easy enough to navigate as long as you got a smartphone.
01:33 But I mean, otherwise, yeah, I wouldn't say it was the worst.
01:35 It depends how you define worse though, really.
01:37 Because I mean, like, worse could mean horrible. It could mean like rough.
01:41 It could mean like it just looks really, I don't know.
01:45 I don't want to swear. Is it right to swear? No, don't swear.
01:49 It could look like really that downrodden. Do you know what I mean?
01:51 But it seems right, I suppose. But, you know, we're from the outside, so I can't give much of an opinion.
01:56 So that's as far as I can go on that one, I'm afraid.
01:59 No, I wouldn't say it's just the worst station. I think it's quite all right.
02:04 I like the station. It's bright. It's airy. And it's well side posted inside.
02:10 Well, I think the staff and the majority of the staff as you're in Birmingham Station are quite helpful.
02:17 And if you go to the booking office or speak to somebody, they will help you on the destination and where you want to go and the best way to get your fares.
02:27 Well, to be honest, we didn't really use it today. We came by car because it's a lot easier than the hassle of getting through the general public as you come through.
02:35 It's always busy. You're always like, it's like a can of sardines trying to get up the escalators.
02:40 There's not enough room for everybody. And it's just a general hassle.
02:44 And I mean, the train strikes don't help you, Van. It makes it hard to get in and out, especially if you've got a lot of other commitments or you need time to get back in and stuff.
02:52 A lot of the times you end up standing because there isn't enough seats, which I don't really know how you'd solve that.
02:59 You'd have to make trains longer than with the fare in the station and that sort of thing.
03:03 [BLANK_AUDIO]