Chiltern Railways has spent £600,000 to produce a less pleasant station environment than we had before.

The formerly friendly booking hall is now unattractive, dominated by an ugly fence and automatic gates. These take away any character that the design aimed to achieve.

The ticket windows are no longer large plate-glass, so that booking staff are less visible.

A blank wall on the right hand side of the concourse makes the space dreary on that side too, where one would expect to find a shop for papers and snacks.

Removal of the wall that shielded the stairs to the Birmingham platform has made the booking hall into a wind-tunnel on breezy days, if the front doors are open. This was not the case before, and seems to have been overlooked by the architects.

The area inside the automatic gates can be cluttered by chairs for ticket inspectors, who leave their coats and machines there.
The subway has been retiled, and walking through it is slightly more pleasant. But without an entrance at the far end (the town side of the station) it remains rather gaunt and claustrophobic.

The station has been fenced off from the public, so has lost its open, friendly character. Direct access from the upper car park to the Birmingham platform, which was very convenient before, has been barred, with users told to allow five minutes to reach trains by walking along the main road.

The covered cycle stands on platform one are much less convenient to reach than before – one has to carry a bicycle up stairs or put it in the lift just to park it. The exposed stands in the car park are less safe, and too few.

The terraced parts of the wonderful restored station garden cannot be visited because gates at both ends of the walkway through it are now locked. To see the lawn and flower border a ticket is now required.
There was no need for this oppressive layout. Tickets are normally checked on Chiltern trains both sides of Leamington, and the long-distance trains have fairly regular checks on train. Banbury, previously less attractive as a station than Leamington, is now more pleasant as it remains free of gates.

Many travellers are carrying bags in both hands, or wheeling suitcases. Taking out a ticket from a purse to put it into a slot, taking it out again, and putting it away takes time and is an irritation.
We all prefer to show tickets when seated in the train.

People have had open stations for 30 years, without this hassle. Chiltern has made train use less attractive.

Leamington station booking hall was modernised in 1982, with a travel centre; and changed again in 1995, when the travel centre was lost. The 2008 changes have restored a veneer of the original 1930s design, but have worsened our travel experience.

Let us hope that the next change in management will lead to removal of the fence and gates, a shop in the booking hall, a town-side entrance, the opportunity to enter or leave through the garden, and direct access to platforms one and two from the upper car park. - Mark Sullivan, Beauchamp Avenue, Leamington (member of Midlands Transport Users Consultative Committee 1981-95).