London Liverpool Street has been named the best station in the UK, and anyone who has changed trains there recently probably won't be surprised. The vast terminus on the edge of the City of London has quietly transformed from a cramped, grimy commuter squeeze into one of the capital's most polished transport hubs.

The station first opened in 1874 as the headquarters of the Great Eastern Railway, and its Victorian roof and ironwork give it a sense of occasion most modern interchanges lack. But the real game-changer arrived in May 2022, when the Elizabeth line put Liverpool Street on the map for a whole new set of journeys. It's now one of the busiest stops on the new line, with direct trains running east towards Shenfield and west through central London to Heathrow and Reading. Add the Stansted Express for the airport, National Rail services into Essex and East Anglia, and Underground connections on the Central, Circle, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines, and you have one of the best-connected spots in the country.

Recent years have brought a substantial redevelopment too. The 1980s shopping concourse has been overhauled with better lighting, wider circulation and a much improved line-up of food and drink — a far cry from the station's drab reputation in past decades. Step outside and you're minutes from Spitalfields Market, Brick Lane, the City skyscrapers and Shoreditch, which makes it a handy base for travellers as much as a place to pass through.

For visitors, the appeal is practical. Landing at Heathrow, you can reach Liverpool Street on the Elizabeth line without changing trains. Flying into Stansted, the express gets you there in around 45 minutes. From the station itself, day trips to Cambridge, Norwich and the Suffolk coast are all on direct Greater Anglia services. It's also a pleasant place to kill time: the shops and cafes under the glass roof are genuinely usable, and the nearby Broadgate development adds more places to eat.

Why does an award for a train station matter to holidaymakers? Because the station you arrive at shapes your first impression of a city. Liverpool Street drops you into East London's most interesting neighbourhoods with fast links to airports and the rest of the country — and it now looks the part while doing it.

Story via Secret London.