Birmingham New Street Station, England, then and soon

Birmingham New Street in 1957: ex-LMS Patriot 4-6-0 No. 45509 and Jubilee 4-6-0 No. 45682 'Trafalgar', a painting by Phillip D. Hawkins

The Victorian era station was grand, but in 1966 it was demolished and replaced with something awful: recently listeners to BBC Five Live voted it the worst station in the country, branding it a "subterranean nightmare" and in a radio poll it was ranked as one of the Seven Horrors of Great Britain.

But there is betterment underway: