Liverpool central was actually closer to our Stay. Saved a 10 minute walk from the line station…read more But for a main departure, we will walk to line station today.

Nothing to complain about here, train was on time, good clear information for us tourists. Greeted…read moreby Abba lookalikes who were singing up the station. So central for everything, shopping, restaurants, walking.

As a local person born in Wigan I am familiar with the facilities at the train station. I comment…read morehere the location is ideal for commuters entering Wigan. Almost as you step into Wigan you are at the footstep of Wigan town center. This old station has been at the heart of Wigan for over a decade. Staff are friendly, knowledgeable and will always offer the commuter a great deal of assistance. Not all reviews are completely informative we have to recognize this train station has stood in Wigan for serving many train passengers and assisting all types of people passing through. As you leave the station there is an abundance of local services from taxis, burger stands, hair dressing, and a feeling that Wigan is an approachable location for all yelpers. We in Wigan are very proud to say this train station is a credit to Wigan. Staff based at the train station are seldom appraised however customers are always going to receive a great experience, superb assistance and a warm welcome from our train stations.

Wigan North Western is one of two stations serving Wigan town centre, the station is managed by…read moreAvanti West Coast, who run services from this station on the Glasgow Central/Edinburgh Waverley - London Euston line, which provides services into Scotland, Birmingham, London and others. The station is also served by Northern, with limited services by TPExpress: this means you can also get into other towns and cities including Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, St Helen's and Blackpool. The station is fairly basic, but it is only a small category B station with 5 active platforms, an underpass with lift/stair access connects the platforms. I was surprised that this station didn't have ticket-gates, and there were no staff until getting to the platform, but the staff did seem friendly and happy to help, there was also a good amount of seats and a waiting room in the place, where you can wait before boarding a service. The facilities inside the station are minimal, but with it being a short walk away from the town centre (I like the map outside which gives you a rough time and direction to get to the DW Stadium and town centre), this isn't too bad. Bus services also stop outside. 3* - Nothing too excited, pretty average station, which provides a good number of services which is better than many towns of a similar size to Wigan gets.

We are traveling to Manchester to fly tomorrow Glad we are…read moreearly, the route is blocked for the day and we have to take two prepaid diversions to Victoria to finally get to the airport by 1800 hours. We plan ahead , hotel stay at airport tonight. No drama. Get a nice meal

This is the place to enter and exit the city. The front of the station is very nice but the inside…read moreis just a regular degular train station with just the basic necessities. The bins are few and far between and I had problems finding one but we found there are the end. No way avoiding this if you're taking the train into town.

I used the Chester train system for the first time in ages at the weekend and was pleasantly…read moresurprised at the changes. The main foyer has been completely refurbished and there stands a Costa Coffee, a decent customer service office and finally an arrivals/departure board to replace the TVs that used to flicker and have many periods of being tempremental to say the least. It's quite light and airy now and they've also introduced a barrier system which I'm not too keen on however. During the busy periods this would slow down the traffic through the station and trying to fumble and reach your tickets during the busy period that I did wasn't very relaxing or helpful. However, I guess in the long run it is there to deter non-paying passengers since you can't enter without a ticket. I didn't get to use the restroom which is usually clean but not the most welcoming or sweet smelling if you catch my drift so I'm not sure whether these have been refurbished either. All in all, I like the electronic announcement board which has has a smaller verison on the platform that I was departing from, which again, was a huge improvement on the dodgy TVs. However, the little screen on the platform has a digital clock included and the other clock on the platform was covered up, therefore what happens in a powercut or during a software glitch will be interesting to see with no other clock now available for passengers. Perhaps the train companies are hoping that it will bring people closer if you need to ask other people the time during such a time. lol My daughter and I were rather excited at seeing an old fashioned steam train parked there on Saturday though and I have seen other such trains pass through Chester station too so it's a great station for train spotters I'm sure !! PS: I did notice that they still had the over-priced, but handy in an chocolate/light reading emergency, shop at the entrance and the taxi rank was still directly outside which is always handy. There are still buses but the one you want may be at the bus-stop across the road now, either outside the pub on the right or the hotel on the left.

Chester Railway Station really doesn't do a great, historic town in Chester any justice, Chester…read morewas once a Roman fortress, a battlefield in the North West of England, but the station which is a category B station just doesn't seem that. The walk into the city from the station I agree is poor, I personally ended up getting lost having to go down some sketchy pathways, which really didn't match the city which I found to be really nice overall, a lack of buses going to the station too (Stagecoach Gold do run an irregular service which doesn't seem to be used either as I was the only passenger on the entire bus - maybe it was just because it was a Monday afternoon?) It has 7 platforms and is served by Avanti, Transport for Wales, Northern and Merseyrail. I do find the station pretty hard to navigate too, I ended up using a lift which went to a bridge (between the platforms) after getting off the train, even though it was level access - to make it more confusing they had a gate which you could see the exit out of, but you had to walk all the way around the platform, to go back on yourself just to get in/out which makes little sense. They do have ticket barriers here, I'm not sure if it's the new thing but I noticed 2 or 3 people while at the station trying to get through the station barriers, even jumping through to do anything they could to evade the fare. Some key routes here include Transport for Wales services to many big cities in Wales, and the Avanti service into London, however, if you're going into London Euston, trains here run every hour (but for some reason, there isn't a train at 18:35 when there is at 15:35,16:35,17:35, forcing a two-hour gap with the next service than at 19:35, so you might be best going into Crewe depending on when you want to travel and it takes roughly the same amount of time. Even Manchester services are the same - for my journey to Chester I boarded an Avanti service into Crewe, and then another service from Crewe to Chester which used the London Euston - Chester line, I found this journey to be much more pleasant than other alternatives (It was even better than a direct service provided by Northern or Transport for Wales, the latter I used for my return), this means you spend less time on the train but obviously changing services with a 20-minute wait makes it less worthwhile, but still if you time t right it helps save some money too! There are a WHSmith and a small cafe/shop in a waiting area on Platform 4 but there isn't much else in the station sadly. I'm not sure if it was a problem on my visit but the announcements for train runnings didn't seem to be working very well at the station, for example, I nearly missed my train back into Manchester which arrived in early as I was in the waiting area at the time (luckily it was on Platform 4) It has a good number of services but for the overall consumer passenger experience, it has a long way to go to do justice for the great city that Chester actually is. 2*

Very little to be said other than that it is a typical train station. Seemed quite clean but…read morecertainly in need of modernising. As it is only a small station there is little confusion when it comes to platforms and the staff as with other stations are quite helpful

Wigan Wallgate is in a good location within the town centre, one of two train station in Wigan,…read morealongside the larger Wigan North Western. The location is good, just a couple minutes away from the town's main shops. All services are run by Northern Trains who operate the station, mainly serving "local" destinations including Manchester, Bolton, Blackburn and Southport. The station facilities are minimal but it does have a waiting area, where you can keep warm ahead of getting a train. The station is clean in most areas. The staff were OK. Step-free station so they do have lift access etc, I like the station from the outside as it looks pretty unique and different as you can see from photos. 3*

I think Aintree railway station is one of the more better stations in Liverpool. It definitely…read moreshould be, considering that Aintree is home to the World's biggest steeplechase that always draws in hundreds of crowds each year. The station may be small and simple but it is well designed for passengers entering and exiting with nice overhead footbridges and walkways to ensure an orderly manner. I am quite familiar with this station since I regularly get off here if I need to go to shops nearby (with Aintree Retail Park just a few minutes walk away). Plus, when I worked at the National for a few days, the train travel remained well organised by Merseyrail staff instead of the mayhem I was expecting. Staff dealt with those days in the correct fashion and managed to avoid any commotions.

Aintree Station is pretty pleasant as far as train stations go. It looks quite modern and seems…read morewell maintained. It is always clean and tidy. The station is often busy during the daytime, particularly at weekends. The train times are displayed clearly on each platform and there are shelters to protect you from the elements. The addition of a small newsagents and a toilet would be very welcome but otherwise it's a good place.

This place had recently had a refit and its tremendous now. It looks lovely from the outside and…read moreits well maintained. Obviously trains run late from time to time (!) but the station itself is well run. Its in a fab location. Always full of taxis in the car park, which is very useful. This station serves trains going north and south from warrington ( London trains go from here ) and has a little cafe, paper shop, the ticket machines to collect your tickets, toilets, a lift. It has everything you could want, and apart from the staff having off days every now and again, and who doesn't?, then its a lovely station.

One of two railway stations in Warrington - Warrington Bank Quay is managed by Avanti West Coast…read more(Formerly Virgin Trains) providing connections into London, it is also used by other operators including Transport For Wales and Northern. There seem to offer more long-distance trains than Warrington Central into Scotland and London, with other services going into Liverpool, Manchester, Chester, Leeds and Wales. It is in a sketchy part of town, so I wouldn't want to walk into the town centre in the dark, luckily you can get frequent buses outside the station which goes into the bus station, it only takes a couple of minutes but obviously, if you are able to travel into Warrington Central you wouldn't need to do that as it is across the way from the bus station, right in the town centre. There aren't many facilities at the station either - the platforms are sheltered but don't expect to stay warm and dry if you're waiting at the station, there isn't a great deal of shops/cafes nearby other than one independent, small newsagents I saw. Expect long waits for tickets too due to an understaffed ticket counter and very few ticket machines. I didn't notice any ticket barriers either, which for an Avanti station seemed strange. The station is clean, it looks better than Warrington Central and has some good services, but being slightly out of the way, I do prefer travelling into Warrington Central but Warrington Bank Quay isn't a bad alternative, especially if one wants to get into Manchester Victoria, rather than Piccadilly. 3*

St Michael's is my local station and that makes me feel very lucky on two counts. 1) I can walk…read morethere in just five minutes and then get trains to Liverpool Central (where I can get connecting trains to The Wirral and beautiful Chester), Liverpool Lime St (trains to Manchester, Birmingham and London to name but a few destinations) and also to Liverpool South Parkway. That final station is my favourite as it normally means I'm then heading to John Lennon Airport off on my holibobs... The second reason I love St Michael's Station so much is that it's just so goddam adorable. With it's Victorian, red brick ticket office and well kept flower beds it feels like something straight out of an Enid Blyton book. It's the kind of station that makes you feel like you might be heading somewhere magical when you board that train... Platform 9 and 3/4 anyone?

St Michael's station is situated about 10 minutes walk from the main road and busy Lark Lane area…read more It is a small station, quite old fashioned in its appearance. The station is manned with one desk available to purchase tickets at. Sometimes this can be a problem as during rush hours there can be a long queue of commuters waiting to buy their tickets. The station lobby itself is small. It is usually clean and tidy and provides a nice view out onto the tracks. Within the lobby there is a vending machine selling snacks and drinks but these are a little overpriced. The 2 platforms are basic but are also clean, tidy and well maintained. On both sides of the track there are shelters provided which are very useful when the weather is bad. St Michael's station is basic but is well looked after, clean and tidy.