Central station

Central stations emerged in the second half of the nineteenth century during what has been termed the "Railway Age".

[4] In Europe, it was normal for the authorities to exercise greater control over railway development than in Britain[5] and this meant that the central station was often the focal point of town planning.

"[7] 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.

[8] 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.

[9] 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,[9] creating a "city within a city.

"[10] 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.

[1] 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"[11] which makes them "one of the most complex social areas" of the city.

[1] The reinvigoration of central stations since the 1980s has been, in part, due to the rise of high speed rail services.

Spain opted for a hybrid approach with new high speed railway lines using existing central stations.

Both stations bear the title of Hovedbanegård in Danish, which literally translated means main-(rail)way-yard, but which actually refers to the infrastructure complexity, size and importance.

Copenhagen Central Station is however the most important, with its many more platforms and historic facilities (that has now been moved to other locations, in response to changed need from modern locomotives, wagons and coaches),[clarification needed] and despite serving almost the same amount of regional and intercity trains as Nørreport, it allows for longer stops and with much more room for passengers to traverse the station along serving international trains.

Since the 2000s, the rule is that a city's principal station may be called "Centraal" if it has more than a certain number of passengers per day (currently 40.000).

Additionally, stations with international high-speed trains may be given the name Centraal; this applies to Arnhem.

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.

is used in many Polish cities to indicate the most important passenger or goods station, for instance Szczecin Główny.

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.