Smethwick Galton Bridge Station

Try and avoid. I get a connecting train here when I visit my parents and it almost feels a derelict station. Waiting rooms and bathrooms are all locked, nowhere to purchase refreshments, information is a bit all over the place and not a single member of staff is ever around to ask for help. And also, there’s waaaaay too many flights of stairs here so leave those suitcases at home!

I had an experience at Smethwick Galton Bridge which pretty much sums up the station: I walk there every Friday evening to get the train to work and one evening the other week, I got caught in an almighty hailstorm. When I got to the ticket office, soaking wet and freezing cold, the lady behind the counter took one look at me and disappeared off, returning with some kitchen roll which she gave me as she ‘thought I looked like I needed it’, which is a beautiful gesture which was highly appreciated. Having made my way down to the platform and got into the waiting room to try warm myself up, the same lady came to apologetically kick me out as she was locking the waiting room.
It’s great if you want to get to Wolverhampton quickly but if you’re travelling on a slow train from the Stourbridge direction and changing, you have to be ready to leap off that train (hint: use the nearest door of the back carriage) and leg it down the stairs for the Wolves train as they both arrive and depart within seconds of each other.
So, Galton Bridge — gives one on platform, takes away on another.

I don’t know what happened with train station design during the mid-​nineties. My suspicion is that some wacky architect took lots of drugs and stared at an M. C Escher picture whilst sitting in the Crystal Maze’s Futuristic Zone. The resulting freak-​out gave us Smethwick Galton Bridge Station.
As a daily commuter, I spend a lot of time at this station and can confirm that it is not a fun place to be. You often see confused first timers repeatedly wondering up and down staircases and across glass walkways trying to find the elusive exit. They’ll find it eventually but there won’t be a crystal dome full of golden tickets, just the wonders of Smethwick.
It is where the Snow Hill-​Stourbridge line intersects with the New Street-​Wolverhampton line, so there are four platforms. The Wolverhampton line is on the lower level, whilst the Stourbridge line is on the upper level. The exit is up even more stairs and along a tunnel. There are lifts, but they tend either smell of weed or are broken down.
The best bit of the station is the view of the nearby Galton Bridge from platform 1.

I’ve spent more time here than a human ever should. Everyday you can see stranded students here trying to get back Stourbridge way from Wolverhampton due to some delay or breakdown.
This stations layout isn’t so bad but it’s only when it’s truly imprinted into your mind where you need to stand that it’s not a problem anymore, I actually rejoice when on a train directly to Birmingham and I can pass right through this station and not get off.
The doors to the waiting areas are locked, smashed or filled with enough piss to drown a drunken man.
To this day I’m still not sure how many platforms exist on this station. Maybe 3? Plot your route a head of time to avoid delays.