NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Train station

A train station, or railroad station (American English), or railway station (British English), is a point of call for trains, allowing the loading or unloading of goods, or allowing passengers to board and alight. Early stations were usually built with both passenger and goods facilities (though there was very often a separate freight terminal nearby, even in quite small communities). This dual purpose is less common today, and in many cases goods facilities are restricted to major stations. Generally stations are sited next to a railway or railroad line, or form the terminus for a particular route. Usually platforms are present to allow passengers to access trains easily and safely. Platforms may be connected by subways, bridges, or level crossings to the main part of the station; passenger facilities such as shelter, ticket sales, waiting rooms and benches are partly there, partly on the platforms. Broad Street station, London - print from Illustrated Times of 11 November 1865 File links The following pages link to this file: Train station Broad Street station Categories: Public domain images ... Broad Street station, London - print from Illustrated Times of 11 November 1865 File links The following pages link to this file: Train station Broad Street station Categories: Public domain images ... Part of the London skyline viewed from the South Bank London is the most populous city in the European Union, with an estimated population on 1 January 2005 of 7. ... Broad Street station in 1865 Broad Street station was a major railway station in the City of London, which served as the terminus for the North London Railway. ... 1865 is a common year starting on Sunday. ... American English (AmE) is the dialect of the English language used mostly in the United States of America. ... British English (BrE) is a term used to differentiate the form of the English language used in the United Kingdom from other forms of the English language used elsewhere. ... Moder German Class 423 EMU trainsets meet each other There are various types of trains designed for particular purposes, see rail transport operations. ... Good (accounting) - Wikipedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... A passenger is a person using but not operating an airplane, train, bus or other mode of transport. ... A terminal station, or terminus (plural: termini) is commonly used to describe a bus station or rail station (US: train station, UK: railway station). ... A railway platform is a section of pathway, alongside rail tracks at a train station, metro station or tram stop, at which passengers may board or alight from trains or trams. ... A pedestrian tunnel going under a road is known as a subway in the United Kingdom. ... A log bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a gorge, valley, road, railroad track, river, body of water, or any other physical obstacle. ... A level crossing at Chertsey, England, as the barriers rise The term level crossing (also called: railroad crossing or grade crossing) is a crossing on one level (or at grade) - without recourse to a bridge or tunnel - used to describe the crossing of a railway line by a road, path... Shelter can refer to several things: Look up shelter on Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Ticket (unseperated) of the Kurkino in Berchtesgaden CeBIT Home 1998 student day ticket with barcode Ticket can mean one of several things: // Permission A ticket is a voucher to indicate that one has paid for admission to a theatre, movie theater, amusement park, zoo, museum, concert, or other attraction, or... Queue at US Air Force station in Iraq, for food at a birthday celebration. Queue areas are areas in which people queue (first in, first out), that is they wait in line for something. ... Wikimedia Commons has more media related to: Benches Bench may refer to several things: A long backless seat, typically used for sitting at an outdoor table for casual eating. ...

The term station stop is used to differentiate a stop for a station from a stop for another reason, such as an engine change.

As well as providing services for passengers and loading facilities for goods, stations often had locomotive and rolling stock depots (including refuelling, sidings and sheds). A train station that is jointly used by several rail transport companies is sometimes called a union station, or an interchange station. Train stations colocated 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. The first railroad in the United States may have been a gravity railroad in Lewiston, New York in 1764. ... Union Station or Union Terminal has the following meanings: Union station (or terminal) are train stations used by more than one railroad company or line. ... A modern tram in the TÃ¶Ã¶lÃ¶ district of Helsinki, Finland Map showing the tramway system in Oslo, Norway Volkswagen Cargo-Tram in Dresden. ... TheBus, established by Mayor Frank Fasi, is Honolulus only public transit system. ...

Development

The first train stations resembled tram stops, with little in the way of buildings or facilities. The first railway stations in the modern sense were on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, opened in 1830. Today Liverpool Road station is preserved as part of the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester. It resembles a row of Georgian houses [1]. Download high resolution version (584x750, 98 KB)Kyoto Station Train station Kyoto Kansai Honshu Japan JR West Japan Railway Company Isetan I took this photograph and contribute it to the public domain. ... Download high resolution version (584x750, 98 KB)Kyoto Station Train station Kyoto Kansai Honshu Japan JR West Japan Railway Company Isetan I took this photograph and contribute it to the public domain. ... Christmas tree in Kyoto Station, as viewed from outside the main JR gate, looking west. ... This page is about the city Kyoto. ... A tram stop in Gothenburg, Sweden. ... The Liverpool and Manchester Railway (LMR) was the worlds first intercity passenger railway operated solely by steam locomotives. ... 1830 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... The Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester, located in Manchester, England, is a large technical museum devoted to the citys not-inconsiderable contributions to the development of science, technology, and industry. ...

Many train stations — unsurprisingly — date from the 19th century and reflect the architecture of the time, grand in scale and size, 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-style edifices, to more stark utilitarian or modern styles. Stations built more recently often have a similar feel to airports, with a cold and plain abstract style. Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... Adoration, by Peter Paul Rubens: dynamic figures spiral down around a void: draperies blow: a whirl of movement lit in a shaft of light, rendered in a free bravura handling of paint In arts, the Baroque (or baroque) is both a period and the style that dominated it. ... Utilitarianism is a suggested theoretical framework for morality, law and politics, based on quantitative maximisation of some definition of utility for society or humanity. ... Modernism as an artistic and cultural movement that generally includes progressive art and architecture, music and literature emerging in the decades before 1914, as artists rebelled against late 19th century academic and historicist traditions. ...

Examples of modern stations include those on newer high-speed rail networks, such as the shinkansen in Japan and LGV lines in France. Britain boasts a new modern rail terminus at Waterloo International, the end-point for the Eurostar Channel Tunnel rail services to France and Belgium. This station will cease to be the Eurostar terminal when the new St Pancras terminal, connected to the Channel Tunnel high-speed rail link, opens in 2007.
Shinkansen 0 Series at Fukuyama Station, April 2002 Shinkansen 500 Series at Kyoto Station, March 2005 300 (Left) and 700 Series Shinkansen at Tokyo Station The Shinkansen (Japanese: æ–°å¹¹ç·š) is a network of high-speed railway lines in Japan. ... LGV may be: Lymphogranuloma venereum Ligne a grande vitesse, French high speed railway line. ... The main entrance of Waterloo Station. ... Eurostar, see Eurostar Italia. ... Channel Tunnel. ...

Superlatives

The world's busiest train station, in terms of daily passenger throughput, is Shinjuku Station in Tokyo, Japan. Ikebukuro Station, just minutes away, is the world's second-busiest. By train throughput, the world's busiest train station is Clapham Junction in London. South side of Shinjuku Station Ōedo Line Ōedo Line Ticket gates on the Ōedo Line A northbound Saikyo Line train bound for Kawagoe takes on passengers at Shinjuku Station. ... View of Tokyos Shibuya district Long a symbol of Tokyo, the Nijubashi Bridge at the Kokyo Imperial Palace. ... Ikebukuro Station (池袋駅 Ikebukuro-eki) is Tokyos second-busiest train station, after Shinjuku Station. ... Clapham Junction is a railway station located in Battersea in the London Borough of Wandsworth. ... Part of the London skyline viewed from the South Bank London is the most populous city in the European Union, with an estimated population on 1 January 2005 of 7. ...

The world's largest train 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. Shinjuku Station is the second largest. In terms of platform capacity, the world's largest train station is Grand Central Terminal in New York City, USA. JR Central Towers Nagoya Station (åå¤å±‹é§…) is a train station in Nakamura-ku, Nagoya, Japan. ... Nagoya Castle in June of 2004. ... Grand Central Terminal, along 42nd Street, next to the Grand Hyatt New York and the Chrysler Building Grand Central Terminal (often still called Grand Central Station, although technically that is the name of the nearby post office and New York City Subway station on the IRT Lexington Avenue Line) is... The construction of the Empire State Building, 1930. ...

Terminal stations

Main article: terminal station Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1024x753, 94 KB) Beschreibung: Frankfurt (Main) â€“ main station - from roof of Maintower Quelle: Fotografiert im Juli 2003 Fotograf: Raymond - Raimond Spekking File links The following pages link to this file: Train station ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1024x753, 94 KB) Beschreibung: Frankfurt (Main) â€“ main station - from roof of Maintower Quelle: Fotografiert im Juli 2003 Fotograf: Raymond - Raimond Spekking File links The following pages link to this file: Train station ... â–¶ (helpÂ· info) is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany. ... A terminal station, or terminus (plural: termini) is commonly used to describe a bus station or rail station (US: train station, UK: railway station). ...

A terminus is a station sited where a railway line ends or terminates. Thus, platforms can be reached without crossing tracks.

Often a terminus is the final destination of a train, but not necessarily. When a train is required to travel onwards from a terminus, it must reverse out of the station to continue the trip. Various methods exist to counter this problem.

The same applies if the station is not a terminus, but the train service involves reversing direction anyway.

Reversing direction often causes some worry to travellers who are inexperienced and have no detailed geographic knowledge of the railway lines — one might assume the train has finished its journey and is returning to the starting location. Some travellers prefer facing forward; if possible they change place when there is a reversal of direction. In some types of carriages, train personnel (or even passengers themselves) are able to turn the seats when the train changes direction so that all travellers face forward.

For more on this, see Commuter train. A Connex commuter train stands by the platform in Melbourne, Australia Regional rail systems, or commuter rail systems, usually provide a rail service through a central business district area into suburbs or other locations that draw large numbers of people on a daily basis. ...

Station facilities

Train 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. A vending machine is a machine that dispenses merchandise when a customer deposits money, validated by a currency detector, sufficient to purchase the desired item (as opposed to a shop, where the presence of personnel is required for every purchase). ... A convenience store is a small store or shop, generally accessible or local. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Toms Diner, a restaurant in New York made familiar by Suzanne Vega and the television sitcom Seinfeld A restaurant is an establishment that serves prepared food and beverages to be consumed on the premises. ... Tourists sit outside a bar in Chiang Mai, Thailand A bar is an independent business or a section of a restaurant, club or hotel (somtimes called long bars) where alcoholic beverages are sold to be drunk on the premises. ... An amusingly named pub (the Old New Inn) at Bourton-on-the-Water, in the Cotswold Hills of South West England A pub in the Haymarket area of Edinburgh, Scotland A public house, usually known as a pub, is a drinking establishment found mainly in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada... Flush toilet A toilet is a plumbing fixture and a disposal system primarily intended for the disposal of the bodily wastes urine and feces. ... Storage is the at least semi-permanent holding of an amount of something. ... A timetable is an organized list or schedule, usually set out in tabular form, providing information about a series of arranged events: in particular, the time at which it is planned these events will take place. ... Queue at US Air Force station in Iraq, for food at a birthday celebration. Queue areas are areas in which people queue (first in, first out), that is they wait in line for something. ... A taxi stand (also called taxi rank, cab stand, or hack stand) is a queue area on a street or on private property where taxicabs line up to wait for passengers. ... TheBus, established by Mayor Frank Fasi, is Honolulus only public transit system. ...

Configurations of train stations

In addition to the basic configuration of a train 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. Download high resolution version (1136x852, 142 KB)Picture of Lewes railyway staton taken by me File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Download high resolution version (1136x852, 142 KB)Picture of Lewes railyway staton taken by me File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... East Sussex is a county in South East England. ... Wikimedia Commons has media related to: England Travel guide to England from Wikitravel English language English law English (people) List of monarchs of England â€“ Kings of England family tree List of English people Angeln (region in northern Germany, presumably the origin of the Angles for whom England is named) UK... The first railroad in the United States may have been a gravity railroad in Lewiston, New York in 1764. ... A level crossing at Chertsey, England, as the barriers rise The term level crossing (also called: railroad crossing or grade crossing) is a crossing on one level (or at grade) - without recourse to a bridge or tunnel - used to describe the crossing of a railway line by a road, path...

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, or may be to provide separate station capacity for two types of service, e.g. intercity and suburban, 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 the tracks, 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 are non-parallel platforms and curved stations (and platforms).

A list is available detailing further examples of less usual railway station layouts. At its most basic, a railway station consists of a place without any facilities where trains stop. ...

Accessibility

Accessibility for people with disabilities is important in train 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 and covering of third rail. Third rail at the West Falls Church Metro stop in the Washington, D.C. area, electrified to 750 volts. ...

Contents

Development

Superlatives

Terminal stations

Station facilities

Configurations of train stations

Accessibility

See also

Contents

Development GA_googleFillSlot("encyclopedia_square");

Superlatives

Terminal stations

Station facilities

Configurations of train stations

Accessibility

See also

Development