{"id":787262,"date":"2026-09-30T09:08:08","date_gmt":"2026-09-30T09:08:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/787262\/"},"modified":"2026-09-30T09:08:08","modified_gmt":"2026-09-30T09:08:08","slug":"delays-are-always-welcome-10-of-the-best-railway-station-pubs-in-the-uk-bars-pubs-and-clubs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/787262\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Delays are always welcome\u2019: 10 of the best railway station pubs in the UK | Bars, pubs and clubs"},"content":{"rendered":"

No prizes for guessing what this pub used to be\u2026 The Old Ticket Office has high ceilings, walls painted shades of locomotive green and booths resembling train carriages; there are outdoor tables on Station Square. A live train departures board theoretically prevents passengers lingering too long, and a canning machine means any draught beer is also available to take away (the hatch on platform 4 also does takeaway orders). There are five handpulls plus Young\u2019s usual spritz menu and other drinks, plus light bites and pizzas. The pub is currently closed<\/a> for roof repairs and expected to reopen by the end of October.<\/p>\n

Kew Gardens is the only tube station with a pub attached. Photograph: Sunshine\/Alamy<\/p>\n

London\u2019s various railway stations have many fine pubs (shout out to the Euston Tap<\/a>), but Kew Gardens is the only tube station that still has a pub directly attached. When the station opened in 1869, the building was the timber steaming hall, and later become the buffet rooms before becoming a pub. It was bought by Fuller\u2019s in 2012 and reopened the following year after refurbishment. It has high oak beams, picture windows looking on to the platform, an arched glass atrium and a pretty paved outdoor area. It serves two Fuller\u2019s ales and a guest ale, among other drinks, has a full food menu and shows live sport.<\/p>\n

Stalybridge station has one of the few remaining Victorian buffet bars. Photograph: Anthony Devlin\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

The pub on platform 4 at Stalybridge station, east of Manchester, is one of the few remaining Victorian buffet bars. Built in 1885, it features the original marble bar top, fireplace and fixed seating, plus lots of railway memorabilia. It serves up to 10 changing real ales, plus a cider or perry; bar snacks include hot pork scratchings, with more substantial food in autumn and winter, such as corned beef hash, pies and local black peas. There is a weekly quiz and folk singalong, regular live bands and food pop-ups in the beer garden, and periodic crisp butty pairing events and beer festivals. Camra awards it two stars<\/a> for \u201ca pub interior of very special national historic interest\u201d. The buffet bar is now part of the Beerhouses group, which also runs the fantastic West Riding Reception Rooms<\/a> at Dewsbury station, and the two pubs are on the TransPennine Real Ale Trail<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Sheffield Tap is in a restored Edwardian first-class refreshment room.<\/p>\n

For a great night out in Sheffield, visitors don\u2019t even need to leave the train station. The Grade II-listed Sheffield Tap opened in 2009 in the Edwardian former first-class refreshment room. The original 1904 fixtures and fittings have been repaired where possible \u2013 including the mahogany bar top, Minton tiles and terrazzo floors \u2013 and replicated if not, as with the ornate barrel plaster ceiling. In 2013, the pub expanded into the adjacent tiled and mirrored former first-class dining room, and added a microbrewery. Today it serves 11 cask and 14 keg beers, plus hundreds of bottles and cans; food is limited to locally made pork pies and sausage rolls. The Sheffield Tap has Camra\u2019s highest rating<\/a> of three stars, for \u201ca pub interior of outstanding national importance\u201d. It is now operated by a small group that also runs the excellent York Tap<\/a> and Harrogate Tap<\/a> station pubs.<\/p>\n

The Draughtsman Alehouse serves local real ale, gin and coffee<\/p>\n

Delays are always welcome in Doncaster, for the chance to visit the lovely little alehouse on platform 3b. The former Victorian buffet bar had been empty for 18 years when the pub opened in 2017. It is a family business, named after engineering draughtsman grandfather Barry and run by son Russ with help from grandson Nick. The decor features original wall tiles, old photographs and draughtsman\u2019s drawings of steam locomotives; Camra has designated it<\/a> an \u201coutstanding conversion and restoration\u201d. The Draughtsman serves real ale from Yorkshire breweries, gin distilled in Harrogate and coffee roasted in Sheffield.<\/p>\n

Carlisle station\u2019s Grade I listed former waiting room is now home to Scott & Brassey. Photograph: Yasmin Platt\/Lancaster Brewery<\/p>\n

Those lamenting the loss of the 301 Miles From London pub at Carlisle station, which closed in 2023, had reason to celebrate in February, when Scott & Brassey opened on the same site. This Grade II-listed former first-class waiting room dates from 1848, and became the station buffet in the 1950s. Now it has had a slick makeover, but still retains the original wooden entrance lobby on platform 4, the hammerbeam roof and Tudor-style stone fireplaces. There is a mahogany bar, a feature wall full of clocks (no excuse for missing your train) and some platform-side seating. As well as eight handpumps, it serves a host of keg beer, wine, spirits and soft drinks.<\/p>\n

The opulent, Grade I listed Centurion bar inside Newcastle station. Photograph: Graeme Peacock\/Alamy<\/p>\n

The Grade I-listed Centurion has a colourful history. It was designed by the architect John Dobson and opened in 1893 as a particularly luxurious first-class waiting lounge. By the 1960s, it had been turned into prison cells used by the British Transport Police. It then became a storage facility, but thankfully was restored and reopened as a pub in 2002. It has incredible tiling by Burmantofts Pottery said to be worth \u00a33.8m. Columns, a marble fireplace and a high ceiling with a huge tiled skylight add to the air of opulence. The pub serves everything from real ale to cocktails, has an all-day food menu, shows sport on a gigantic screen and has live music every Friday.<\/p>\n

The Head of Steam outside Huddersfield railway station. Photograph: Gary Calton\/The Observer<\/p>\n

Lucky passengers at Huddersfield have a choice of two great pubs, both accessible from platform 1, sitting on either side of the station\u2019s grand neoclassical entrance (opened 1847). The independent King\u2019s Head, in the former waiting room, has a mosaic floor, wood panelling and wood-burning stoves, and serves about a dozen cask ales. There is live music on Sunday afternoons. The Camerons brewery-owned Head of Steam, in the former ticket office, is now a four-room pub: a bar, a lounge, a family room and a buffet room. It serves up to 14 cask ales and Pieminister pies. Both pubs appear in Camra\u2019s Good Beer Guide<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Steamworks<\/a>, Seaford, East SussexThe Steamworks pub is in the former waiting room of Seaford station<\/p>\n

This micropub opened in Seaford station\u2019s former waiting room (built 1864) in 2017. Passengers can go straight from platform 2 (now the only platform!) into the pub, where there are Sussex real ales on rotation, ciders, sandwiches and other snacks, plus regular live music. After it proved a hit, the husband-and-wife owners opened a second Steamworks<\/a> at nearby Glynde, where the station is even older (1846). They are just two of the micropubs that have opened in old station buildings in the past decade, including the Track & Sleeper<\/a> in Knaresborough, North Yorkshire; the Little R\u2019Alehouse<\/a> in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire; the Waiting Room<\/a> in Durham; and the Hexham Station Platform Bar<\/a> in Northumberland.<\/p>\n

Codsall station\u2019s bar occupies the old waiting room, offices and stationmaster\u2019s house<\/p>\n

Codsall is a village on the Shrewsbury to Wolverhampton line. In 1997, the station\u2019s Grade II-listed waiting room, offices and stationmaster\u2019s house were converted into a pub. It has a bar, lounge, conservatory and snug with a fireplace, and steps leading up to a patio area overlooking the platforms. The pub serves three regular beers and two changing ones from Dudley\u2019s Holden\u2019s brewery, while food comprises cobs and pork pies. There are occasional pizza pop-ups and live music, and Cask Club Tuesdays with beer at bargain prices. It is a Camra outstanding conversions and restorations pub<\/a>.<\/p>\n