A railway station is a facility for the loading and unloading of passengers, the loading of freight and the operation of trains on the tracks within it. A station may also include other transport services, such as buses, trams and rapid transit systems. A station building may be at ground level, below the trackbed, elevated above it or in a tunnel underneath it.
Often, the design of a station is guided by codes. These codes dictate the number and size of entrances, their locations, the numbers of ticket offices and the cost of staffing them. Ideally, the entrances must have sufficient room to enable all passengers entering or exiting to be served at once and the number of platforms a station has must be matched to its passenger volume.
In addition to entrances, ticket offices and platforms, the station building must contain facilities for passengers such as shops, cafes and restaurants, toilets, waiting areas, and seating areas. In some cases, the buildings may also house offices for the railway company and other organisations such as the police or fire service. A station building must also be designed to allow for future expansion and modifications, with appropriate access routes to facilitate this.
The level of the track and platforms is a key feature that distinguishes stations. Most stations are sited where a road crosses the railway, resulting in the tracks and platform levels being at different heights. The platforms may be separated by the road, with the station building above the tracks (bay platforms), or they may form an island between the two, requiring a bridge or underpass to be accessed. Alternatively, platforms may be placed side by side, which requires a much wider space and is less efficient.
Many old railway stations have been built to a standard architectural style, often with tall and elegant towers, squared and coursed sandstone walls, quoined at the corners and multi-pane vertical sashed windows. These buildings are often regarded as icons of their time. Some, such as Antwerpen-Centraal in Belgium, are solid, imposing structures that embody the grand history of continental rail travel. Others are more functional, such as Dunedin’s railway station in New Zealand, a fine example of a post-war utilitarian structure.
In the past, many railways required that all passengers enter a station only after buying a ticket and passing through a turnstile or similar mechanism. This was a good way of keeping track of how many people were using the stations and reducing fraud and theft. Many railways are now moving to open stations, in which passengers can freely move through the facilities, without needing a ticket. Care must be taken to ensure that this does not undermine safety and security. For example, it would not be wise to have a bar in a station on a line which has a high rate of alcohol related disorder. Similarly, it may not be suitable for a station to have fast food outlets.
