Central station


Central stations or central railway stations emerged in the second half of the nineteenth century as railway stations that had initially been built on the edge of city centres were enveloped by urban expansion and became an integral part of the city centres themselves. As a result, "Central Station" is often, but not always, part of the proper name for a railway station that is the central or primary railway hub for a city.

Development

Emergence and growth

Central stations emerged in the second half of the nineteenth century during what has been termed the "Railway Age". Initially railway stations were built on the edge of city centres but, subsequently, with urban expansion, they became an integral part of the city centres themselves.
For example, the first centralized railway terminal in Germany was Hanover Hauptbahnhof, built in 1879. This set the precedent for other major German cities. Frankfurt followed in 1888 and Cologne in the 1890s. Classic German central railway station architecture "reached its zenith" with the completion of Hamburg Hauptbahnhof in 1906 and Leipzig Hauptbahnhof in 1915.
In Europe, it was normal for the authorities to exercise greater control over railway development than in Britain and this meant that the central station was often the focal point of town planning. "Indeed, in most large continental cities the station was deliberately fronted by a square to set it off." During the 1880s "world leadership in large station design passed to Germany, where state funding helped secure the building of central stations on a lavish scale." By contrast, British entrepreneurialism led to a great diversity of ownership and rights and a lack of centralised coherence in the construction of major stations.
In time the urban expansion that put many of these stations at the heart of a city, also hemmed them in so that, although they became increasingly central to the town or city, they were further away from airports or, in some cases, other transport hubs such as bus stations leading to a lack of interoperability and interconnectivity between the different modes of transport.
A revival of fortunes for central stations arose during the 1980s, boosted by the advent of high speed rail and light rail services, that saw opportunities being seized for upgrading central stations and their facilities to create large intermodal transport hubs simultaneously serving many modes of transport, while providing a range of modern facilities for the traveller, creating a "city within a city."

Present-day function

Transport nodes

Today, central stations, particularly in Europe, act as termini for a multitude of rail services - suburban, regional, domestic and international - provided by national carriers or private companies, on conventional rail networks, underground railways and tram systems. These services are often divided between several levels. In many cases, central railway stations are collocated with bus stations as well as taxi services.

Industrial and commercial centres

Central railway stations are not just major transportation nodes but may also be "a specific section of the city with a concentration of infrastructure but also with a diversified collection of buildings and open spaces" which makes them "one of the most complex social areas" of the city. This has drawn in railway business - freight and local industry using the marshalling yards - and commercial business - shops, cafes and entertainment facilities.

High speed rail

The reinvigoration of central stations since the 1980s has been, in part, due to the rise of high speed rail services. But countries have taken different approaches. France gave greater weight to 'peripheral stations', stations external to cities and new high speed lines. Germany and Italy went for the modification of existing lines and central stations. Spain opted for a hybrid approach with new high speed railway lines using existing central stations.

"Central Station" as a name

English-speaking countries

"Central Station" is a common proper name for a railway station that is the central or primary railway hub for a city, for example, Manchester Central,. This is not to be confused with those stations where "Central" appears in name, not because they were 'central' in the sense above, but because they were once served by railway companies with "Central" as part of their name. For example, Leicester Central railway station was owned by the Great Central Railway, and Central Station was owned by the Illinois Central Railroad.

Non-English-speaking countries

When translating foreign station names, "Central Station" is commonly used where the literal meaning of the station's name is 'central station', 'principal station' or 'main station'. An example of the latter is the Danish word hovedbanegård. Travel and rail sources such as Rough Guides, Thomas Cook European Timetable and Deutsche Bahn's passenger information generally use the native name; whilst some websites and English publications of some national railway operators use "central station" or "central railway station" instead.
Non-English language names for "Central Station" include:
Non-English language terms that literally mean 'principal station' or 'main station' are sometimes translated into English as "Central":
The following are examples of stations from around the world where "Central Station" is part of their name in English or can be translated as such from their native language.

Europe

Austria

  1. Wien Hauptbahnhof
  2. Graz Hauptbahnhof
  3. Linz Hauptbahnhof
  4. Salzburg Hauptbahnhof
  5. Innsbruck Hauptbahnhof
  6. St. Pölten Hauptbahnhof
  7. Wels Hauptbahnhof
  8. Wörgl Hauptbahnhof
  9. Leoben Hauptbahnhof

    Belarus

  10. Brest Central Station

    Belgium

Three stations in Belgium are named "-Central".
  1. Antwerp Central Station
  2. Brussels Central Station - not to be confused with the city's main international station, Brussels Midi.
  3. Verviers Central Station

    Denmark

Two Danish stations have names sometimes translated to central:
  1. Aarhus Central Station - the busiest Danish station outside the Copenhagen area
  2. Copenhagen Central Station - the largest station in Denmark

    Bulgaria

There are three stations with "central" in their names:
  1. Central Railway Station, Sofia
  2. Central Railway Station, Plovdiv
  3. Ruse Central railway station

    Czech Republic

The following stations are named "main station" :
The following stations are named "central" :
In addition to the above, Praha Masarykovo nádraží was named "Praha střed" from 1953 until 1990.

Finland

Two Finnish stations can be translated to central:
  1. Helsinki Central railway station
  2. Turku Central railway station

    Germany

The German words for "central station" are Centralbahnhof and Zentralbahnhof. Geographically central stations may be named Mitte or Stadtmitte, e.g. Koblenz Stadtmitte station. In most German cities with more than one passenger station, the principal station is called Hauptbahnhof meaning "main railway station"; some German sources translate this as "central station" although stations named Hauptbahnhof may not be centrally located.
While using Hauptbahnhof in its journey planner and passenger information, in English-language publications Deutsche Bahn uses variously Hauptbahnhof, Main and Central.
In Germany, Hauptbahnhof is abbreviated to Hbf.
The following stations historically bore the name Centralbahnhof or Zentralbahnhof as part of their proper name:
  1. Chemnitz Hauptbahnhof
  2. Köln Hauptbahnhof
  3. Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof
  4. Hamburg Dammtor station: documents from around the time of the opening of the station refer to Centralbahnhof. or Zentral-Bahnhof.
  5. Ingolstadt Hauptbahnhof
  6. Magdeburg Hauptbahnhof
  7. Mainz Hauptbahnhof
  8. München Hauptbahnhof until 1 May 1904.
  9. Oldenburg Hauptbahnhof
  10. Osnabrück Hauptbahnhof
  11. Stuttgart Zentralbahnhof was a centrally located station on the Zentralbahn.

    Italy

  12. Agrigento Centrale railway station
  13. Bari Centrale railway station
  14. Barletta Centrale railway station
  15. Bologna Centrale railway station
  16. Catania Centrale railway station
  17. Gorizia Centrale railway station
  18. La Spezia Centrale railway station
  19. Lamezia Terme Centrale railway station
  20. Livorno Centrale railway station
  21. Messina Centrale railway station
  22. Milano Centrale railway station
  23. Napoli Centrale railway station
  24. Palermo Centrale railway station
  25. Pescara Centrale railway station
  26. Pisa Centrale railway station
  27. Prato Centrale railway station
  28. Reggio Calabria Centrale railway station
  29. Tarvisio Centrale railway station - now closed
  30. Torre Annunziata Centrale railway station
  31. Trieste Centrale railway station
  32. Treviglio railway station, also known as Treviglio Centrale
  33. Treviso Centrale railway station
  34. Trieste Centrale railway station

    Netherlands

In the Netherlands, a centraal station, in its original sense, was a railway station that was served by several railway companies; it therefore used to have the same meaning as a union station in the English-speaking world. Since the various private railways were merged in the early 20th century into a national railway, the term came to mean, in everyday language, the main railway station of a city.
Since the 2000s, the railways hold to the rule that a city's principal station may be called "Centraal" if it has more than a certain number of passengers per day. This meant that Almere Centraal had to be demoted to Almere Centrum; however, Leiden was renamed Leiden Centraal. Additionally, stations with international high-speed trains may be given name Centraal; this applies to Arnhem. Breda was supposed to receive the epithet after renovation in 2016, but since high speed services do not yet call there, it is still called Breda.
Non-railway signage, such as on buses or roads, sometimes indicates Centraal or CS even when a city's main railway station is not actually so named.
Eight stations have the word Centraal:
  1. Amsterdam Centraal
  2. Den Haag Centraal
  3. Leiden Centraal
  4. Rotterdam Centraal
  5. Utrecht Centraal
  6. Arnhem Centraal
  7. Eindhoven Centraal
  8. Amersfoort Centraal
There are also stations with the word Centrum, which indicates the station is in the city centre:
  1. Almere Centrum
  2. Barneveld Centrum
  3. Ede Centrum
  4. Kerkrade Centrum
  5. Lelystad Centrum
  6. Schiedam Centrum
  7. Veenendaal Centrum
  8. Vlaardingen Centrum

    Norway

  9. Oslo Central Station
  10. Trondheim Central Station

    Poland

The designation "main station" is used in many Polish cities to indicate the most important passenger or goods station, for instance Szczecin Główny. However, there is an exception:
  1. Warszawa Centralna railway station is the principal station in the capital Warsaw, the Warszawa Główna railway stations having closed.

    Sweden

In Sweden the term "central station" is used to indicate the primary station in towns and cities with more than one railway station. Many are termini for one or more lines. However, the term can also occur in a broader sense, even being used for the only railway station in a town. In some cases, this is because other stations have closed but, in others, the station is called "central" even though there has only ever been one. In these cases, the term "central" was used to highlight the level of service required due to the station's importance in the network, particularly at important railway junctions.
  1. Arlanda Central Station
  2. Gothenburg Central Station
  3. Halmstad Central Station
  4. Hässleholm Central Station
  5. Jönköping Central Station
  6. Malmö Central Station
  7. Norrköping Central Station
  8. Nässjö Central Station
  9. Stockholm Central Station
  10. Uppsala Central Station
  11. Västerås Central Station
  12. Lund Central Station
  13. Kalmar Central Station
  14. Karlskrona Central Station
  15. Kristianstad Central Station
  16. Linköping Central Station
  17. Helsingborg Central Station
  18. Södertälje Central Station
  19. Örebro Central Station

    Switzerland

Similar to principal stations in Germany, the most important station in Zürich is called Hauptbahnhof, which in some sources is translated to central station in English.
Additionally, Basel SBB railway station was originally known as the Centralbahnhof or, in English, Basle Central Station and is still sometimes referred to today as the Centralbahnhof or Basel/Basle Central Station.
In Switzerland, Hauptbahnhof is abbreviated to HB.

Turkey

  1. Adana Central railway station
  2. Ankara Central railway station
  3. Eskişehir Central railway station
  4. Gaziantep Central railway station
  5. İstanbul Sirkeci railway station
  6. İzmir Alsancak railway station
  7. Kars Central railway station
  8. Kayseri Central railway station
  9. Mersin Central railway station

    United Kingdom

Many railway stations in Britain that use 'Central' are not principal stations, and are called Central to distinguish them from other stations with different names, or for prestige. In some cases, a station originally owned by the Great Central Railway in locations served by more than one station was called Central. Town also appears: for example distinguishes it from station.
One of the few principal stations in Britain that is called 'Central' and truly is in the centre of the city it serves is Glasgow Central. Though Glasgow was once served by four principal terminus stations, all within the city centre, only one was called 'Central'. With a few exceptions such as the Argyle line, Central serves all stations south of the city while Glasgow Queen Street serves as the principal station for all services North of the city. Likewise, Cardiff Central is located in the city centre and is the mainline hub of the South Wales' rail network, which includes 19 other stations in Cardiff itself, one of which is another principal city centre station, Cardiff Queen Street.
  1. Acton Central railway station
  2. Belfast Central railway station
  3. Birkenhead Central railway station
  4. Brackley Central railway station
  5. Burnley Central railway station
  6. Cardiff Central railway station
  7. Central railway station
  8. Central Croydon railway station
  9. Chesterfield Central railway station
  10. Coatbridge Central railway station
  11. Dumbarton Central railway station
  12. Exeter Central railway station
  13. Finchley Central tube station
  14. Folkestone Central railway station
  15. Gainsborough Central railway station
  16. Glasgow Central railway station
  17. Greenock Central railway station
  18. Hackney Central railway station
  19. Hamilton Central railway station
  20. Helensburgh Central railway station
  21. Hendon Central tube station
  22. Hounslow Central tube station
  23. Hyde Central railway station
  24. Kirkby-in-Ashfield Central railway station
  25. Leicester Central railway station
  26. Lincoln Central railway station
  27. Liverpool Central railway station
  28. Loughborough Central railway station
  29. Manchester Central railway station
  30. Mansfield Central railway station
  31. Milton Keynes Central railway station
  32. New Mills Central railway station
  33. Newcastle Central railway station and associated Central Station Metro station
  34. Redcar Central railway station
  35. Rotherham Central railway station
  36. Rugby Central railway station
  37. St Helens Central railway station
  38. St Helens Central railway station
  39. Salford Central railway station
  40. Scarborough Central railway station
  41. Southend Central railway station
  42. Southampton Central railway station
  43. Staveley Central railway station
  44. Sutton-in-Ashfield Central railway station
  45. Telford Central railway station
  46. Tuxford Central railway station
  47. Walthamstow Central station
  48. Warrington Central railway station
  49. Wembley Central station
  50. Windsor & Eton Central railway station
  51. Wrexham Central railway station

    America

North America

United States
In the United States, several "Central" stations were built by railways called "Central", the best known example being Grand Central Station in New York City, is so named because it was built by the New York Central Railroad.
This contrasts with a union station, which, in the past, served more than one railway company. The government-funded Amtrak took over the operation of all intercity passenger rail in the 1970s and 1980s.
In Brazil, "Central Station" is called as "Estação Central" and can be a place that integrates bus or train.

India

Sentral is the Malay spelling for the English word central.

South Africa