Train station

A London Underground train departs from Earl's Court tube station.

Berlin Hauptbahnhof - the largest railway station in Europe

Valence's modern TGV station.

London Paddington station, teminus of the Great Western main line

The modern non-terminus Lewes railway station in East Sussex, England serves trains passing through the station. Passengers reach the island platform (on right) by a pedestrian footbridge.

A small terminus station is St Ives, Cornwall

A small café in a regional railway station in Croydon, England

Nagoya Station is the world's tallest railway station building.

The Gare du Nord is Europe's busiest station.

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Clapham Junction is Britain's busiest railway station and the world's busiest in terms of rail traffic.

1865 - The typical grand edifice of Broad Street station in London (demolished 1986).

Gare de Lyon in Paris, recognizable with its clock tower.

Liège modern TGV train station in construction

Aerial view of the main terminal in Frankfurt, Germany.

Interior of Paris Gare de Lyon, one of the six terminus stations of Paris.

A train station or railway station (also called a railroad station, rail station, depot or commonly in the United Kingdom just station) is a facility at which passengers may board and alight from trains and/or goods may be loaded or unloaded. A station usually consists of at least one building for passengers (and possibly goods) plus other installations associated with the functioning of the railway or railroad. A station without buildings may be a halt in UK usage, or stop in US usage. In the United States, a station is technically distinguished from a depot in that a station is a designated stop, with or without a depot.

Early stations were sometimes built with both passenger and goods facilities; though a number of railway lines were goods only or passenger only, and if a line was dual purpose, there would often be a goods depot apart from the passenger station. Dual purpose stations can sometimes still be found today, though in many cases goods facilities are restricted to major stations. Stations are sited either adjacent to a railway line, or at the end of one (in which case they are said to form the terminus of the line). Usually raised platforms are present to allow passengers to access trains easily and safely. Platforms may be connected by subways, footbridges, or level crossings; passenger facilities such as shelter, ticket sales and benches can be found on the platforms or (at larger stations, where buildings exist) in the station's public buildings.

As well as providing services for passengers and loading facilities for goods, stations often had locomotive and rolling stock depots (which usually had facilities for storing and refuelling locomotives and rolling stock and carrying out minor repair jobs). In North America, a railway station that is jointly used by several rail transport companies is sometimes called a union station, or an interchange station. Stations co-located with other transport systems such as trams and buses may also be referred to as interchanges, as may stations offering both metro/subway and heavy-rail services.

Development

The first stations had little in the way of buildings or amenities. The first stations in the modern sense were on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, opened in 1830. As of 2008, Manchester's Liverpool Road Station is preserved as part of the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester. It resembles a row of Georgian houses.

In rural and remote communities across Canada and the United States passengers wanting to board the train had to flag the train down in order for it to stop. Such stations were known as "Flag stops" or "Flag stations".

Many stations date from the 19th century and reflect the grand scale architecture of the time, lending prestige to the city as well as to railway operations. Countries where railways arrived later may still have such architecture, as later stations often imitated 19th century styles.

Various forms of architecture have been used in the construction of railway stations, from those boasting grand and intricate almost Baroque or Gothic-style edifices, to plainer utilitarian or modern styles. Stations in Europe followed British designs, and were in some countries, like Italy, financed by English railway companies.

Stations built more recently often have a similar feel to airports, with a simple abstract style. Examples of modern stations include those on newer high-speed rail networks, such as the Shinkansen in Japan, TGV lines in France, Berlin's new Hauptbahnhof station, or ICE lines in Germany.

Britain boasts a new modern rail terminus at Waterloo International, the end-point for the Eurostar Channel Tunnel rail services to France and Belgium from the opening in 1994 to 2007. Since the opening of High Speed 1 in November 2007, Eurostar services have terminated at St Pancras railway station.

Terminal stations

A terminus or terminal station refers to the termination of the railway line or service at that point. All platforms may be accessed without having to cross the rail tracks. This may not be true if the station yard lies behind the passenger station, but in this case the station may not strictly be regarded as a terminus.

The largest and most famous rail terminal in the United States is Grand Central Terminal in New York City, USA. Often major cities, such as London, Boston, Paris or Milan will have one or more termini, rather than routes straight through the city. Train journeys through such cities often require alternative transport (metro, bus or taxi) from one terminus to the other. Some cities, including New York, have both situations. Chicago has four major rail terminals presently in service, of which only one provides Amtrak intercity service (see Rail stations of Chicago).

A terminus is usually the final destination of trains serving the station, but this is not always the case. Where the terminus is an intermediate point on a train's itinerary, the train must leave in the reverse direction from that of its arrival. There are several ways the train may be reversed: the railway operator may use a multiple unit, or push-pull train which can operate in either direction; use two locomotives, one at each end; or the locomotive which brought the train into the station must detach from its train and either 'run around' to the other end of the formation or be replaced at the other end by another locomotive, which takes the train out.

Station facilities

Railway stations usually include either ticket booths, or ticket machines. Ticket sales may also be combined with customer service desks or convenience stores. Many stations include some form of convenience store. Larger stations usually have fast-food or restaurant facilities. In some countries, such stations also have a bar, or pub. Other station facilities include: toilets, left-luggage, lost-and-found, departures and arrivals boards, luggage carts, waiting rooms, taxi ranks and bus bays. Larger or manned stations tend to have a greater range of facilities. A most basic station might only have platforms, though it would still be distinguished from a halt, a stopping or halting place that may not even have platforms. In many African and South American countries, stations are used as a place for public markets and other informal business. This is especially true on tourist routes or stations near tourist destinations as souvenirs can be made and sold to "wealthy" visitors to the county.

Configurations of railway stations

See also railway station layouts

In addition to the basic configuration of a railway station, various features set certain types of station apart. The first is the level of the tracks. Stations are often sited where a road crosses the railway: unless the crossing is a level crossing, the road and railway will be at different levels. The platforms will often be raised or lowered relative to the station entrance: the station buildings may be on either level, or both. The other arrangement, where the station entrance and platforms are on the same level, is also common, but is perhaps rarer in urban areas, except when the station is a terminus. Elevated stations are more common, not including metro stations. Stations located at level crossings can be problematic if the train blocks the roadway while it stops, causing drivers to wait for an extended period of time.

An unusual configuration is where the station serves railway lines at differing levels. This may be due to the station's situation at a point where two lines cross (example: Berlin Hauptbahnhof), or may be to provide separate station capacity for two types of service, e.g. intercity and suburban (example: Paris Gare de Lyon or Philadelphia's 30th Street Station), or simply two different destinations.

Stations may also be classified on the layout of the platforms. Apart from single-track lines, the most basic arrangement is a pair of railway tracks for the two directions; but even there there is a basic choice of an island platform between, or two separate platforms outside, the tracks. With more tracks, the possibilities expand.

Some stations have unusual platform layouts, due to space constraints of the station location, or the alignment of the railway lines. Examples include staggered platforms, such as Tutbury and Hatton railway station on the Derby - Crewe line, and curved platforms, such as Cheadle Hulme railway station on the Macclesfield to Manchester Line. Triangular stations also exist where two lines form a three-way junction and platforms are built on all three sides.

Stops

During a journey, the term station stop may be used in announcements, to differentiate a halt during which passengers may alight, from a halt for another reason, such as a locomotive change.

A railway stop is a spot along a railway line, usually between stations or at a seldom-used station, where passengers can board and exit the train; US usage is flag stop.

While a junction or interlocking usually divides two or more railway lines or routes, and thus has remotely or locally operated signals, a station stop does not. A station stop usually does not have any other tracks than the main tracks, and no switches, although many exceptions exist where a station stop is within interlocking limits.

Halts

A halt, in railway parlance, is a small railway station, usually unstaffed and with few facilities. In some cases, trains only halt there "on request"; i.e. when a passenger on the platform indicates that they wish to board, or a passenger on the train informs the crew that they wish to alight.

In the United Kingdom most, if still in existence, have had the word halt removed from their title in recent years. Historically, in many instances the spelling 'halte' was used, before the modern spelling became commonplace.

Where the description is still used (verbally, if not actually on the station signs) it is usually a station served by public services but not available for use by the general public, being accessible only by persons travelling to/from an associated factory (e.g. IBM Halt), military base (e.g. Lympstone Commando) or railway yard.

Accessibility

Accessibility for people with disabilities is important in station design and mandated by law in some countries. Considerations include: elevator or ramp access to all platforms, matching platform height to train floors, making wheelchair lifts available when platforms do not match vehicle floors, accessible toilets and pay phones, audible station announcements, safety measures such as tactile marking of platform edges.

Largest and busiest stations

• The world's busiest station, in terms of daily passenger throughput, is Shinjuku Station in Tokyo, Japan.
• Ikebukuro Station, just minutes away, is the world's second-busiest.
• The Gare du Nord, in Paris, is the world's third-busiest and Europe's busiest.
• The world's largest station, in terms of floor area, is Nagoya Station in Nagoya, Japan.
  • However, the Nagoya Station complex incorporates two office towers and an underground shopping concourse, so the railway terminal itself is not large in comparison to others. Its title of world's largest station complex building will be soon lost to London Bridge.
• Shinjuku Station is the second largest.
• In terms of platform capacity, the world's largest station is Grand Central Terminal in New York City, USA.
• Penn Station in New York City is the busiest station in North America.
• The Shanghai South Railway Station, opened in June 2006, has the world's largest circular transparent roof.
• Berlin Hauptbahnhof, opened May 2006, is Europe's largest station.
• Clapham Junction, in south London, is the busiest station in terms of rail traffic with an average of one train every 13 seconds at peak times.
• Châtelet-Les Halles, in the centre of Paris, is the world's largest underground station.

See also

• Bus station
• Bus stop
• Hump yard
• Interchange station
• List of IATA-indexed train stations
• List of railway stations
• Metro station
• Public transport
• Railway station layout
• Signal box
• Transport
• Train order station
• Paid area

External links

• A comprehensive technical article about stations from Railway Technical Web Pages
• Branch Line Britain gives details of many railway stations throughout Britain