After reports began to emerge this week that the government had made dramatic concessions on the multi-billion pound redevelopment of Euston Station, he began to overestimate himself and start brandishing phrases like guerrilla intervention and self-styled People’s Transport Emperor. That would be a mistake.
Some may like to use words like disruptor, influencer, or even hero. Obviously we can’t stop them. If it helps to add labels or repeat phrases that are already out there, such as rainmaker, opinionator, thought influencer, bastard, who is this annoying person? They may even encourage you to do so.
But something strange happened this week. Two weeks ago, on the way to Manchester City vs. Arsenal, a tweet I posted took on an unexpected second life. Frustrated by the usual level of disrespect and carelessness towards football supporters waiting to board a train, I described Euston station as the worst station in Europe, and was treated with a machine gun in a deforested area right in front of me. He said it made him feel like he was being taken away to be shot. Vast illuminated advertising board.
Euston is easily the worst major station in Western Europe. It’s like being taken away to be machine-gunned in the woods by various cell phone and soft drink companies. Congratulations to everyone involved pic.twitter.com/uclZj46awK
— Barney Ronay (@barneyronay) September 22, 2024
At the time of writing, this tweet had been published in four British newspapers: the Observer, the Guardian, the Evening Standard and the Telegraph, as major examples of anger towards public infrastructure. To be honest, I don’t really know what other citizens are waiting for. But anyway, the Times.
As of Friday, even the giant screen of death went dark for a little while. Again, we do not write our own destiny. They are writing to us. And now it feels like it’s moving under its own power. My tweets about Euston have power of attorney. I became a player.
By Tuesday, the company had stopped calling me back and hired its own representative. By Thursday, the industry was talking about movie options, franchise opportunities, and perhaps a six-part TV series starring an anxious Robert Carlyle. However, a warning. This cycle is short. I fully expect to wake up on Saturday and discover that my Euston tweet dates Wayne Bridge and agrees with people on the internet about traces of chemicals.
In reality, of course, the only reaction after 20 years when someone finally says something that resonates with some sections of the public is shock. Even if it involves making the most obvious observation in the world. We all know what’s wrong with Euston. There are pressure groups constantly working on this issue, and activists repeatedly explaining why this is at least as important to the rest of the country as it is to the capital.
But it’s still important, and it’s worth coming back to just because it speaks to how we follow sports. There are three Premier League games on Saturday and fans will have to go through the meat grinder in Euston, but of course there is no concession to time or capacity, and basically supporters from London and the North West will It turns out that you need to use this exclusive service. It’s just a reluctantly tolerated line item on the income statement.
This was once a beautiful gateway to the north. It was demolished by planners in the 1970s and turned into a terrible mess. Most recently, Euston has been reeling from unrest over HS2, made worse by insane short-term changes, but most notably the decision to gather people outside to wait in anxious crowds. , much less to create a three-minute stampede among sadistic people. Late home announcement, double booked and insultingly shabby seats.
After all, Euston is not only the worst railway terminus, it’s definitely the worst. The atmosphere is outright hostility, absolute hatred for space, comfort, beauty and people. All the big stations in London have theories that tell the story of how the government actually views different areas. St Pancras station must be lovely. To get to Paris, you need St. Pancras station. Waterloo and Victoria work because they are gateways to the rich Deep South.
Euston, on the other hand, is a piece of infrastructure specifically designed to convey the basic futility of hope. It says, “Welcome to the ants of the unpleasant post-industrial revolution future.” Welcome to 400 people in a panic. We raced through the upper crust in search of the right to be compressed into leaky metal pipes and driven out of the capital in the manner of landowners gleefully throwing their suitcases onto the gravel. This speaks to the ongoing scandal of the division between North and South. This state of neglect is having a negative impact on the entire country, but no one has a plan other than to capitalize on the discontent and vote haphazardly.
But again, sport remains one of the key reasons why many people choose to travel around the country. Football officials have always been treated badly on trains. The piss-soaked football special remains a legend for scaring children and is just another piece of the rusting, crumbling architecture of football in the late 20th century.
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There is a circularity to this. In the current era where outsourcing is ignored, we are now at a stage where the country’s infrastructure is barely fit to meet the glowing predictions of football products. It’s really embarrassing to see Premier League tourists boarding these trains and bewildered by the contrast between the two experiences.
Traveling to Euston is a terrifying experience that thousands of fans have to endure every week. Photo: PA Images/Alamy
And yes, we have sold assets to a number of investment funds that have deployed chatbots, so 10 minutes after the last subway leaves, Avanti West Coast will deliver you to Euston Road. This is exactly what we are doing in the UK after the big time. Welcome to the (very expensive) cheap seats. With five venues along the Euston line, is the country really in a good position to host a 24-team Euro 2028? Meanwhile, people keep talking about building Wembley in the north, and that’s a good thing But how do people get there from other parts of the north?
The misery of physical space also speaks of something else: the total disintegration of real experience. Attending a UEFA event is obviously traumatic. Ridiculously late kickoff times, lack of consideration for distance or schedule are all standard. The Saudi World Cup plans to market itself as a fan fest where everyone is welcome. Perhaps this is what people mean by gaslighting. In sports, you’re given a front row seat to all of this, and it’s an inconvenience to be managed for profit, and you’re treated as a niche nuisance when you show up in a physical space rather than passively consuming it. You get a feeling.
The fact that the turmoil between City and Arsenal was exacerbated by the Labor Conference in Liverpool, which forced those with some power to join Avanti’s world, has at least some degree of influence. There was solace. I hope they are declassified. I wish Wes Streeting had his ankle squeezed by a sweaty bald guy walking next to a pillar. I wish they’d stopped outside Rugby for three hours until Dave from Egham had a coke bump agro incident and an unimpressed police officer arrived and offered endless solutions.
Perhaps things will start to change now. But we have to keep going the same way. Insisting on attending and being physically present through the pain is now an act of resistance. One day people will rise up against corporate greed and contempt for the masses, and there’s a good chance they’ll do so on the concourse at Euston, waiting for the late 12.53am to Manchester Piccadilly.
