IT COST more than £18m to build and brought trains and buses together under one roof for the first time.
But almost six years on, the city's transport interchange is far from easy to navigate if you happen to be a first-time visitor to Hull.
The lack of clear signs, the absence of any information points and the appalling state of the toilets have all been highlighted by scrutiny councillors after a review of facilities inside the complex.
Councillor Karen Mathieson said: "If you are coming into Hull for the first time there is nowhere to go to ask anyone about the city and things like hotels.
"I think we should at least have someone who is specifically there to direct people."
She said a recent visit to the public toilets in the interchange had been a "highly unpleasant" experience.
"There was no one in attendance to take my money and the state of the toilets was disgraceful," said Cllr Mathieson.
"For people to come into Hull by train or bus for the first time and find those type of facilities in that sort of condition is disgusting.
"To make it worse, it was 2pm in the afternoon, not late at night."
Cllr Mathieson also said more effort needed to be put into persuading shops in the interchange to stay open later.
Adam Fowler, of the City of Hull Environment Forum, has long campaigned for improved signs and passenger facilities in the interchange.
He said: "There has to be some value in having a helpdesk there.
"The travel experience for the first-time visitor to Hull isn't as good as it should be.
"For example, there are no signs to say where the bus for ferry passengers arrives and departs from.
"Staff from the bus companies often tell us that when people are coming into the city for the first time, even if it's on day trips or from places such as Scunthorpe, there is nothing there to tell them what is in the city and where they can find it.
"The most frequently asked question is, 'How do we get to The Deep?'
"The interchange is a big place. As well as the railway station it has 38 bus bays and four coach stands.
"It's a big area but it does need a few tweaks here and there."
Councillors were told at a transport scrutiny meeting that design options were currently being examined for a new central information point in the interchange.
Graham Hall, the council's assistant head of transport, said a partnership between the authority, bus companies and station operator First TransPennine Express would examine jointly funding the initiative once a design had been finalised.
He said he had received a personal apology from a senior train company manager over the condition of the public toilets.
Mr Hall said the matter had been taken up with the contract cleaning firm responsible for the toilets.
