Abandoned railway station

There are various circumstances when this may occur – a railway company may fall bankrupt, or the station may be closed due to the failure of economic activity such as insufficient passenger numbers, operational reasons such as the diversion or replacement of the line.

Many former railways are converted into long-distance cycleways, such as large sections of the National Cycle Network in the United Kingdom.

Prominent examples include the ornate Gare d'Orsay in Paris, which was converted into the Musée d'Orsay art gallery; the Manchester Central railway station, which was put to new use first as a car park and later refurbished as the Manchester Central Conference Centre; and Broad Street Station in Richmond, Virginia, which now houses the Science Museum of Virginia.

Many abandoned railway stations and line are now being brought back into operational service, notably in the UK where environmental policy is driving the reversal of some of the Beeching closures of the 1960s.

In London the Docklands Light Railway made use of disused railway infrastructure for much of its construction; in Manchester it is proposed to expand the Metrolink light rail system by re-opening abandoned rail lines; and in Scotland, the Scottish Government has brought the Waverley Line partially back into passenger service.