A train station, railroad station, or railway station is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, freight, or both. It generally consists of at least one platform, one track, and a station building providing such ancillary services as ticket sales, waiting rooms, and baggage/freight service. Stations on a single-track line often have a passing loop to accommodate trains traveling in the opposite direction.
Locations at which passengers only occasionally board or leave a train, sometimes consisting of a short platform and a waiting area but sometimes indicated by no more than a sign, are variously referred to as "stops", "flag stops", "halts", or "provisional stopping places". The stations themselves may be at ground level, underground, or elevated. Connections may be available to intersecting rail lines or other transport modes such as buses, trams, or other rapid transit systems.
Terminology Train station is the terminology typically used in the U.S. In Europe, the terms train station and railway station are both commonly used, with railroad being obsolete. In British Commonwealth usage, where railway station is the traditional term, the word station is commonly understood to mean a railway station unless otherwise specified.
In the United States, the term depot is sometimes used as an alternative name for station, along with the compound forms train depot, railway depot, and railroad depot—it is used for both passenger and freight facilities. The term depot is not used in reference to vehicle maintenance facilities in the U.S.. In contrast, it is used in this way in Canada and the United Kingdom.
History
The world's first recorded railway station, for trains drawn by horses rather than engined locomotives, began passenger service in 1807. It was The Mount in Swansea, Wales, on the Oystermouth (later the Swansea and Mumbles) Railway. The world's oldest for engined trains was Heighington railway station, on the Stockton and Darlington railway in north-east England built by George Stephenson in the early 19th century, operated by locomotive Locomotion No. 1. The station opened in 1827 and was in use until the 1970s. The building, Grade II*-listed, was in bad condition, but was restored in 1984 as an inn. The inn closed in 2017; in 2024, plans were underway to renovate the derelict station in time for the railway line's 200th anniversary.
The two-story Mount Clare station in Baltimore, Maryland, United States, which survives as a museum, first saw passenger service as the terminus of the horse-drawn Baltimore and Ohio Railroad on 22 May 1830.
The oldest terminal station in the world was Crown Street railway station in Liverpool, England, built in 1830, on the locomotive-hauled Liverpool to Manchester line. The station was slightly older than the still extant Liverpool Road railway station terminal in Manchester. The station was the first to incorporate a train shed. Crown Street station was demolished in 1836, as the Liverpool terminal station moved to Lime Street railway station. Crown Street station was converted to a goods station terminal.
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. Manchester's Liverpool Road Station, the second oldest terminal station in the world, is preserved as part of the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester. It resembles a row of Georgian houses.
Early stations were sometimes built with both passenger and freight facilities, though some railway lines were goods-only or passenger-only; if a line were dual-purpose, there would often be a freight depot separate from the passenger station. This type of dual-purpose station can sometimes still be found today, though in many cases goods facilities are restricted to major stations.
Many stations date from the 19th century and reflect the grandiose 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 stations, from those boasting grand, intricate, Baroque- or Gothic-style edifices, to plainer utilitarian or modernist styles. Stations in Europe tended to follow British designs and were, in some countries such as Italy, financed by British railway companies.
Train 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, THSR in Taiwan, TGV lines in France, and ICE lines in Germany.
Facilities
Stations normally have staffed ticket sales offices, automated ticket machines, or both, although on some lines tickets are sold on board the trains. Many stations include a shop or convenience store. Larger stations usually have fast-food or restaurant facilities. In some countries, stations may also have a bar or pub. Other station facilities may include: toilets, left-luggage, lost-and-found, departures and arrivals schedules, luggage carts, waiting rooms, taxi ranks, bus bays and even car parks. Larger or staffed stations tend to have a greater range of facilities, including a station security office. These are usually open to travelers when there is sufficient traffic over a long enough period to justify the cost. In large cities, this may mean facilities available around the clock. A basic station might only have platforms, though it may still be distinguished from a halt, a stopping or halting place that may not even have platforms.
Many stations, whether large or small, offer interchange with local transportation, ranging from a simple bus stop across the street to underground rapid-transit urban rail stations.
In many African, South American, and Asian countries, stations also serve as sites for public markets and other informal businesses. This is especially true on tourist routes or stations near tourist destinations.
In addition to providing passenger services and goods-loading facilities, stations can sometimes have locomotive and rolling stock depots, usually with facilities for storing and refueling rolling stock and performing minor repairs.
Configurations The basic configuration of a station, along with various other features, sets certain types 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. Stations located at level crossings can be problematic if the train blocks the roadway while it stops, causing road traffic to wait for an extended period. Stations also exist where the station buildings are above the tracks. An example of this is Arbroath.
Occasionally, a station serves two or more railway lines at differing levels. This may be due to the station's position at a point where two lines cross (example: Berlin Hauptbahnhof), or may be to provide separate station capacity for two types of service, such as intercity and suburban (examples: Paris-Gare de Lyon and Philadelphia's 30th Street Station), or for two different destinations.
Stations may also be classified according to the layout of the platforms. Apart from single-track lines, the most basic arrangement is a pair of tracks for the two directions; there is then a basic choice of an island platform between two separate platforms outside the tracks (side platforms), or a combination of the two. 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 tracks. Examples include staggered platforms, such as at Tutbury and Hatton railway station on the Crewe–Derby line, and curved platforms, such as Cheadle Hulme railway station on the Macclesfield to Manchester Line. Stations at junctions can also have unusual shapes – a Keilbahnhof (or "wedge-shaped" station) is sited where two lines split. Triangular stations also exist where two lines form a three-way junction, and platforms are built on all three sides, for example and stations.
Tracks At a station, there are different types of tracks serving different purposes. A station may also have a passing loop with a loop line that comes off the straight main line and merge back to the main line on the other end by railroad switches to allow trains to pass.
A track with a spot at the station to board and disembark trains is called a station track or house track regardless of whether it is a main line or loop line. If such a track is served by a platform, the track may be called a platform track. A loop line without a platform, used only to allow a train to clear the main line at the station, is called a passing track. A track at the station without a platform, which is used for trains to pass the station without stopping, is called a through track.
There may be other sidings at the station that are lower-speed tracks for other purposes. A maintenance track or a maintenance siding, usually connected to a passing track, is used for parking maintenance equipment, trains not in service, autoracks or sleepers. A refuge track is a dead-end siding connected to a station track, used as temporary storage for a disabled train.
Terminus
A "terminus" or "terminal" is a station at the end of a railway line. Trains arriving there have to end their journeys (terminate) or reverse out of the station. Depending on the station layout, this usually permits travelers to reach all the platforms without crossing any tracks – the public entrance to the station and the main reception facilities are at the far end of the platforms.
Sometimes the track continues for a short distance beyond the station, and terminating trains continue forward after depositing their passengers, before either proceeding to sidings or reversing to the station to pick up departing passengers. Bondi Junction, Australia and Kristiansand Station, Norway are examples.
A terminus is frequently, but not always, the final destination of trains arriving at the station. Especially in continental Europe, a city may have a terminus as its main railway station, with all main lines converging there. In such cases, all trains arriving at the terminus must leave in the reverse direction from that of their arrival. There are several ways in which this can be accomplished: arranging for the service to be provided by a multiple-unit or push–pull train, both of which are capable of operating in either direction; the driver walks to the other end of the train and takes control from the other cab; this is increasingly the normal method in Europe, and is very common in Britain and North America. by detaching the locomotive that brought the train into the station, and then either using another track to "run it around" to the other end of the train, to which it then re-attaches; attaching a second locomotive to the outbound end of the train; or by the use of a "wye", a roughly triangular arrangement of track and switches (points) where a train can reverse direction and back into the terminal; historically, turntables were used to reverse steam engines. There may also be a bypass line, used by freight trains that do not need to stop at the terminus.