WH Smith

WH Smith has become a staple of British travel, it seems every train station big or small pretty much has one. This is pretty much your average location. The selection is pretty good for travel essentials, yet at an inflated cost which seems to be more expensive than anywhere else in the station.

This Leeds Station branch appeared to be modernised slightly as a part of the station's improvement work.

There was a good selection of snacks and drinks as well as newspapers, magazines.

The alcohol here was VERY overpriced, you'd be better off heading to Wetherspoons at North Concourse if you're looking for a drink, with fresh drinks costing around the same as what you'd pay or the canned ones here. I get it, it's a train station and you're paying for convenience.

The queuing area seemed to be a bit of a mess, with an employee appearing just to be talking to a number of people, who were blocking the self-service checkouts. I do think this could have been handled better.

3* - A great pitstop right next to the ticket gates as a last resort, but obviously much better options for price and selection within the city centre and cheaper options at the other end of the station if you have time.

The Smiths in the train station totally deserves a mention. I'm not saying I'm over the moon about the place - let's face facts. Everything in here has just that tiny bit extra on the price, purely because it is in the station and they will rely on you purchasing items before rushing to your train. We know this. However, being a massively panicky traveller who is useless and massively disorganised, this place can truly be a life saver. Rushing to train - no drink - argh need water! - Smiths=done. Rushing to train - no food - argh feeling hungry! - Smiths=done. Rushing to train - no entertainment - argh need paper! - Smiths=done. I could go on, but I won't. Also, the staff there are really nice. Had a very pleasant flirt with the chap who served me before rushing to my train - it certainly made me smile!

The one stop desperation stop! WH Smith gets you by the short and curlies and for this it irritates me and makes me mad.

It's like Smith's know that you don't have enough time to nip out and find a cheaper alternative because you dare not miss your train, despite the delay, so what do you do? you pay over the odds for pretty much everything in WH Smith. And am I just being a teensy bit paranoid, but are things in here a bit more expensive than in the rest of the Smith's chains?

Aside from the irksome side of things, there are positives, and those are, you've left your book at home, or on your last connector train, and you've got a four hour train journey ahead of you, books and magazines are sold here. You need a drink that isn't coffee, soft drinks are sold here, same goes for snacks, a card for someone you're visiting, the odd gift etc, but it definitely preys on the panic buyer, or the buyer who's trapped in the train station, and for that WH Smith you are a meanie!

Oh and I didn't even mention the tempting child height kid's travel toys cleverly laid out on the lower eye level on the store entrance....hmmm how many children have I seen/fallen over/blatted out of the way as they scream blue murder amidst the I WANT I WANT I WANT over some shiny portable travel toy.

Good for last ditch travel requirements. Bad for preying on people in desperate need of last ditch travel requirements.

Although this store is not as large as the one in the City centre, it does have everything you might need on a train journey. For me, this is magazines and sweets!

They have a good selection of magz including some specialist ranges, and lots of sweets, sandwiches, drinks and other bits and pieces that you would expect to find in a WH Smiths.

It's usually pretty busy in here with a few people in the queue so make sure you come in plenty of time if you have a train to catch!