Train station
Stations on a single-track line often have a passing loop to accommodate trains travelling in the opposite direction.
Connections may be available to intersecting rail lines or other transport modes such as buses, trams, or other rapid transit systems.
[8] The term depot is not used in reference to vehicle maintenance facilities in the U.S., whereas it is used as such in Canada and the United Kingdom.
The world's first recorded railway station, for trains drawn by horses rather than engined locomotives, began passenger service in 1807.
The inn closed in 2017; in 2024 there were plans to renovate the derelict station in time for the 200th anniversary of the opening of the railway line.
Many stations date from the 19th century and reflect the grandiose architecture of the time, lending prestige to the city as well as to railway operations.
Various forms of architecture have been used in the construction of stations, from those boasting grand, intricate, Baroque- or Gothic-style edifices, to plainer utilitarian or modernist styles.
[20] Train stations built more recently often have a similar feel to airports, with a simple, abstract style.
Other station facilities may include: toilets, left-luggage, lost-and-found, departures and arrivals schedules, luggage carts, waiting rooms, taxi ranks, bus bays and even car parks.
These are usually open for travellers when there is sufficient traffic over a long enough period of time to warrant the cost.
In many African, South American, and Asian countries, stations are also used as a place for public markets and other informal businesses.
Stations located at level crossings can be problematic if the train blocks the roadway while it stops, causing road traffic to wait for an extended period of time.
They are used by a cross-city extension of the main line, often for commuter trains, while the terminal platforms may serve long-distance services.
Examples of underground through lines include the Thameslink platforms at St Pancras in London, the Argyle and North Clyde lines of Glasgow's suburban rail network, in Antwerp in Belgium, the RER at the Gare du Nord in Paris, the Milan suburban railway service's Passante railway, and many of the numerous S-Bahn lines at terminal stations in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, such as at Zürich Hauptbahnhof.
An American example of a terminal with this feature is Union Station in Washington, DC, where there are bay platforms on the main concourse level to serve terminating trains and standard island platforms one level below to serve trains continuing southward.
The lower tracks run in a tunnel beneath the concourse and emerge a few blocks away to cross the Potomac River into Virginia.
Train journeys through such cities often require alternative transport (metro, bus, taxi or ferry) from one terminus to the other.
For instance, in Istanbul transfers from the Sirkeci Terminal (the European terminus) and the Haydarpaşa Terminal (the Asian terminus) historically required crossing the Bosphorus via alternative means, before the Marmaray railway tunnel linking Europe and Asia was completed.
While a junction or interlocking usually divides two or more lines or routes, and thus has remotely or locally operated signals, a station stop does not.
A halt, in railway parlance in the Commonwealth of Nations, Ireland and Portugal, is a small station, usually unstaffed or with very few staff, and with few or no facilities.
[34][35] A number of other halts are still open and operational on privately owned, heritage, and preserved railways throughout the British Isles.
The word is often used informally to describe national rail network stations with limited service and low usage, such as the Oxfordshire Halts on the Cotswold Line.
It has also sometimes been used for stations served by public services but accessible only by persons travelling to/from an associated factory (for example IBM near Greenock and British Steel Redcar– although neither of these is any longer served by trains), or military base (such as Lympstone Commando) or railway yard.
[36] In Ireland, a few small railway stations are designated as "halts" (Irish: stadanna, sing.
In Australia, with its sparse rural populations, such stopping places were common on lines that were still open for passenger traffic.
In the state of Victoria, for example, a location on a railway line where a small diesel railcar or railmotor could stop on request, allowing passengers to board or alight, was called a "rail motor stopping place" (RMSP).
[38] The passenger could hail the driver to stop, and could buy a ticket from the train guard or conductor.
[41] In West Malaysia, halts are commonplace along the less developed KTM East Coast railway line to serve rural 'kampongs' (villages), that require train services to stay connected to important nodes, but do not have a need for staff.
Considerations include: In the United Kingdom, rail operators will arrange alternative transport (typically a taxi) at no extra cost to the ticket holder if the station they intend to travel to or from is inaccessible.
