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A railway station is a place where trains make scheduled stops. Stations usually have one or more platforms constructed alongside a line of railway. However, railway stations come in many different configurations - influenced by such factors as the geographical nature of the site, or the need to serve more than one route, which may or may not be connected, and the level of the tracks. Examples include:
This page presents some examples of these more unusual station layouts.
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The particular geography of a line may lead to the station be built below the level of the adjoining terrain (in a cutting) or inside a tunnel. If a station is in a tunnel, it is usually because the station has been constructed beneath the city in order to serve the city centre, or that the station was originally in a cutting which has subsequently been built over. Examples of individual tunnel stations (i.e. not forming part of a complete metro or underground railway, system) are:
The Netherlands:
The City Tunnel will give the city of Malmö two underground stations when building is completed in late 2010. A couple of future underground stations is planned as a part new underground railway lines in both Stockholm (Citybanan) and Gothenburg (Västlänken).
In the similar way, many stations have elevated platforms which are usually one level above the street, with trains entering on viaducts or embankments, which is normally due to the geography of the region. Some more extreme examples include (not including elevated rapid transit systems):
Some stations, situated where two rail routes cross at different levels and have platforms serving both lines. This is particularly common with Metro systems, but with surface-level railways, it is often common to have separate stations on each line, or no connection at all. Examples of stations at a rail-rail crossing include:
The Netherlands:
It was and still is common in the United States for stations to be located where two line cross at the same level, often without a connection between them.
Rare examples in the United Kingdom include:
In Oakland's Jack London Square, the Amtrak and Capitol Corridor rail services, as well as through freight trains, actually operate along the street, with tracks embedded in the pavement (much the same way a tram would be expected to operate). The station itself is in a structure some yards away from the platforms.
It is not unknown for a station to have platforms on all three sides of a triangular junction. If triangular stations are not properly designed, they can have curves that are too sharp, while the legs of the triangle can be too short to fit a train.
Sometimes, a station may be built at a junction with a pair of platforms on each branch, resulting in a V shaped station. Usually, either one or both sets of platforms are curved.
Stations located in the V of a junction include:
The Netherlands:
Ireland (see rail transport in Ireland):
A balloon loop is a track arrangement that allows a train to reverse direction without shunting or having to stop. In some cases, multiple stations lie on a balloon loop.
Stations are sometimes built at two levels so as to provide level access to a township that is located on one side only. One level is for trains going one way, and the other level for the other way. Metro system as general practice have multilevel stations where lines intersect, usually without any connection for the trains, and these are too numerous to list here. Some unusual examples include:
A reversal station is where a continuing train has to change direction, because the station is or has become a terminal of two lines.
Daylesford - lines from Ballarat and Woodend both enter from same end. [2]
Bere Alston as a result of closure. A line closure at Battersby now means trains on the Esk Valley Line have to reverse.
Dorchester South. Originally this was built as an east-facing terminus with the intent of extending the line westwards. This never happened, and trains instead had to reverse to continue to Weymouth. In the 1980s, it was closed and a new through station was built to the south.
Foggia railway station. Trains coming from Rome - Caserta bound to Bari and Lecce have to reverse.
Tsumeb railway station, Namibia - is a dead end junction, with a triangle providing a direct connection between the two lines. On the East Coastway Line in East Sussex, the former direct line between Polegate and Pevensey & Westham was taken out of use, meaning trains have to reverse at Eastbourne and double-run at Hampden Park. Beech Forest, Victoria - would have been a reversal station, but the narrow gauge made it possible to reverse in a short radius balloon loop with a tennis court inside the balloon. Mount Gambier - when break of gauge, the narrow gauge lines were a reversal station on the west side, with broad gauge on the east side. Maldon - extension to Shelbourne requires reversal. At Bourne End, the lines to Marlow and Maidenhead both enter the same end of the station, meaning trains have to reverse. Bradford Interchange and Bradford Forster Square on either side of Bradford, United Kingdom Cambrian Line services at Shrewsbury railway station where the train goes into a bay platform and then reverses all the way to its destination.
At Engaru Station in Engaru, Hokkaidō, the Nayoro Main Line came from one direction and continued to two directions as the Sekihoku Main Line. The Nayoro Line was closed in 1989 while the Sekihoku Line is active.
San Francisco International Airport BART station Norwich railway station in East Anglia.Since passenger interchange between different lines can be important, independent companies often but not always build joint stations so that all activities are concentrated at the one location.
Examples abound in the UK, where it was normal for the many different companies that built the rail network to each build their own main station in a town. Indeed the possibility of different companies sharing assets caused a number of legal headaches. In some cases settlements with populations of a few thousand would have three railway stations. Examples include:
In the United States:
In India:
Platforms are normally numbered, often according to principles that differ from country to country (or even from railway to railway).
In the Czech Republic, especially at through stations and stops with multiple platforms, platforms are assigned a roman numeral. Platform 'I' is typically a side platform adjacent to the station building or the first island platform from it. Tracks are numbered separately and are usually numbered in the opposite direction of the platform numerals. For example, a bay platform would have one numeral and as many numbers as there are tracks, while a more typical island platform would have one numeral and two numbers . Platforms are further divided along their length into to lettered zones, in order to help distinguish (among other things) when more than one train is occupying a track at a platform.
In Denmark platform numbers traditionally start from the station building, regardless of the direction of the line as such.
In France, platforms bear letters as designations. Except some stations in Paris, where the platform number exceeds 26, such as Saint Lazare with 27 numbered platforms, platforms are always given letters.
In the Netherlands, platforms themselves aren't numbered - the tracks are. This implies that island platforms typically have two numbers, one number for each side of the platform. Platforms long enough to host two or more trains on the same track at the same time use superscript letters. (So 5a and 5b are on the same platform indicating the same track, but one is at the far end, and the other at the near). All tracks are numbered, including tracks that don't run along a platform. So you can end up with platform 4/5, and a platform 7/8 with no platform 6. Tracks numbers count upwards from 1, usually starting with the track facing the city centre.
In the United Kingdom, the numbering usually starts from the left when looking in the "up" direction of the line (i.e., towards the capital or other principal destination), although some stations do not carry this characteristic (e.g., Leicester railway station). In addition:
In Victoria, Australia platforms are numbered. Stations with only one platform are only numbered within the metropolitan network (Metlink). Stations with two platforms are usually numbered so that platform 1 is the city/Melbourne-bound ("up") service and platform 2 is the outbound ("down") service.
In New York City's Grand Central Terminal, the tracks are numbered according to their geographic location in the terminal building rather than the trains' destinations because all of trains at Grand Central terminate there. There are 41 tracks on the upper level and they are numbered from 1 to 41 from the most eastern track to the most western track. On the lower level, there are 26 tracks; they are numbered from 100 to 126, east to west. This system makes it easy for passengers to quickly locate where their train is departing from and removes much of the confusion in finding one's train due to the immense size of the terminal. Often, local and off-peak trains will depart from the lower level while express, super-express and peak trains will depart from the main concourse. Odd numbered tracks will usually be on the east side (right side facing north) of the platform; even numbered tracks on the west side.
Many stations are not located near the towns which they purport to serve. Some stations append the word "road" to their name, indicating that they are "on the road to" the given place.
In many instances these stations were constructed during the early years of railway development, and towns have since grown up either independently around the proximity of the station (notably Crewe), or increased in size to eventually include the station (e.g., Woking).
Some examples of current and former "road" stations in the United Kingdom:
However, care should be taken: some "road" stations are simply named after nearby roads. Derby Road station in Ipswich is not anywhere near Derby, for example.
Many small villages have grown up around "road" stations and have taken the name of the station such as Grampound Road in Cornwall and Llanbister Road in Powys. Alternatively, the village around the station may have become known as station name with the word "station" appended. Examples of this are Micheldever Station in Hampshire and Meopham Station in Kent.
In Germany, stations are always named by the main place they were intended to serve. If the station is located out of town, then a small village/town area may have grown up around it, known as the town name with "banhof" appended. The best examples are:
This practice can also be found in Italy (e.g., Montepulciano Stazione) and in many other countries.
In recent years in the UK, the designation "Parkway" has become popular for a station some distance from the town or city it serves, but which has a large car park attached. A notable example is Bristol Parkway.
In New South Wales, Australia, a few stations are named for the locality they are situated but are stations representing a larger nearby centre. Examples of such are Bomaderry, the station for Nowra (indicated on CityRail maps and timetables as "Bomaderry (Nowra)"), and Dunmore, the stations for Shellharbour (indicated as "Dunmore (Shellharbour)". This is sometimes used in the UK such as Ashchurch for Tewkesbury.
The height of platforms has a bearing on station layout design.
With high level platforms following British practice, wide platforms are normal, with wide track centres when island platforms are provided. Access to inner platforms is usually via footbridges and subways.
With low level platforms such as in many places in North America, platforms are typically narrow. There is usually one platform on each side of every track, while access to inner platforms is via a pedestrian crossing at grade.
Subway systems the world over generally have high level platforms for quick access to the trains.
Trains may be fitted for high or low platforms and sometimes have folding stairs or "trap doors" on internal stairs to match both high and low platforms. In the United States, New Jersey Transit accommodates high platforms at all its car doors and low platforms using longer doors and trap-doored steps at the ends of the car. With this setup the middle doors in a car do not open to low platforms.
Since broad gauge trains are typically wider than narrow gauge trains, they can share low level platforms, but may not be able to share high level platforms.
This is a list of largest railway stations in the world in terms of number of tracks (where 20 is taken as a minimum definition of 'large'). Note that the number of platforms is usually smaller, as many of these stations have island platforms, with a track on each side.
The way tracks are counted is not uniform; e.g., a long track may be counted as two if two trains can be parked there.
| Tracks | Station | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 67 | Grand Central Terminal | Manhattan, New York City | Tracks are on two underground levels: 41 on upper level and 26 on lower level |
| 44 | Gare du Nord | Paris | There are 40 tracks on the main level, including 2 service tracks that are not open to the public, and 4 tracks in the basement. |
| 33 | Shinjuku Station | Tokyo | |
| 32 | München Hauptbahnhof | Munich, Germany | |
| 30 | Birmingham New Street | Birmingham, United Kingdom | All platforms signalled half-way along plus sidings. Larger Virgin Trains use a 'double' platform in essence, as such length requires both the 'a' and 'b' section of the platform. There are 12 through platforms, with three bay platforms although only one is used for passenger trains. |
| 30 | Manchester Piccadilly | Manchester, United Kingdom | 14 Mainline Platforms each with an 'A' and 'B' designation, 2 Underground Metrolink Platforms. |
| 30 | Napoli Centrale station | Napoli, Italy | 26 Platforms + 4 in the basement (Napoli Piazza Garibaldi). |
| 30 | Tokyo Station | Tokyo | |
| 29 | Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof | Frankfurt, Germany | |
| 29 | Pennsylvania Station | Manhattan, New York City | 21 numbered tracks are used by Amtrak, New Jersey Transit, and the Long Island Rail Road. The station complex also has two separate New York City Subway stations with 4 tracks each. |
| 28 | Termini Station | Rome | |
| 27 | London Waterloo | London, United Kingdom | Not including the platforms of Waterloo International and Waterloo East. |
| 27 | Gare Montparnasse | Paris | |
| 27 | Gare Saint-Lazare | Paris | |
| 26 | London Euston | London | 18 mainline platforms plus two intermediate roads, 6 underground |
| 26 | Zürich Main Station | Zürich | 16 mainline and 4 S-Bahn platforms above ground; 6 S-Bahn platforms underground |
| 25 | Atocha Station | Madrid, Spain | |
| 25 | Central Station | Sydney | 27 with 2 unused platforms used for MetroPitt scheme, announced 2005 |
| 25 | Ueno Station | Tokyo | 12 on upper level, 5 on lower level above ground; 4 subway platforms underground; 4 Shinkansen platforms lie even deeper; 4 platforms of Keisei Ueno Station not included |
| 24 | Cape Town Station | Cape Town | |
| 24 | Leipzig Hauptbahnhof | Leipzig, Germany | |
| 24 | Milan Central Station | Milan | |
| 24 | Hoboken Terminal | Hoboken, New Jersey | 18 numbered New Jersey Transit tracks and 3 Hudson-Bergen Light Rail tracks along the river, plus 3 PATH tracks underground. |
| 23 | London Victoria | London | 19 main line, 4 for London Underground |
| 23 | Kyoto Station | Kyoto, Japan | 14 on ground level, 4 for Shinkansen, 3 for Kintetsu and 2 for subway |
| 22 |
