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, which is not to be confused with those stations in which "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 (Chicago) was owned by the Illinois Central Railroad.
Non-English-speaking countries
When translating foreign station names, "Central Station" is commonly used if the literal meaning of the station's name is "central station", "principal station" or "main station". An example of the last 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, but tourist, travel and railway operator websites as well as the English publications of some national railway operators often use "Central Station" or "central railway station" instead.
Non-English names for "Central Station" include:
Централна гара (tsentralna gara) in Bulgarian
střed in Czech
Centraal Station (abbreviated formerly as CS and currently as Centraal) in Dutch
Gare centrale in French
Hauptbahnhof, historically also Centralbahnhof or Zentralbahnhof, in German
תחנה מרכזית (tahana merkazit) in Hebrew
Stazione Centrale (abbreviated C.le) in Italian
sentralstasjon in Norwegian
Estação Central in Portuguese
Estación Central in Spanish
centralstation (abbreviated central or C) in Swedish
Non-English terms that literally mean "principal station" or "main station" are often translated into English as "Central":
Glavni kolodvor (abbreviated Gl. kol.) in Croatian
hlavní nádraží (abbreviated hl. n.) in Czech
hovedbanegård (abbreviated H) in Danish
Hauptbahnhof (abbreviated Hbf in Germany and Austria and HB in Switzerland) in German
Dworzec Główny (abbreviated Gł.) in Polish
hlavná stanica (abbreviated hl. st.) in Slovak
Examples of central stations
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
Wien Hauptbahnhof
Graz Hauptbahnhof
Linz Hauptbahnhof
Salzburg Hauptbahnhof
Innsbruck Hauptbahnhof
St. Pölten Hauptbahnhof
Wels Hauptbahnhof
Wörgl Hauptbahnhof
Leoben Hauptbahnhof
Belarus
Brest Central Station (Brest-Centralny, Брест-Центральный)
Belgium
Three stations in Belgium are named "-Central" (Dutch Centraal).
Antwerp Central Station (Antwerpen-Centraal)
Brussels Central Station (Bruxelles-Central / Brussel-Centraal) - not to be confused with the city's main international station, Brussels Midi (meaning "Brussels south"; the French word "Midi" is generally used as the station's name in English).
Verviers-Central railway station (Verviers-Central)
Bulgaria
There are three stations with "central" in their names:
Central Railway Station, Sofia (Централна гара София)
Central Railway Station, Plovdiv (Централна гара Пловдив)
Ruse Central railway station (Централна гара Русе)
Czechia
The following stations are named "main station" (abbreviated hl.n.):
Brno hlavní nádraží (Brno)
Česká Lípa hlavní nádraží (Česká Lípa)
Děčín hlavní nádraží (Děčín)
Hradec Králové hlavní nádraží (Hradec Králové)
Karviná hlavní nádraží (Karviná)
Kutná Hora hlavní nádraží (Kutná Hora)
Mladá Boleslav hlavní nádraží (Mladá Boleslav)
Nymburk hlavní nádraží (Nymburk)
Olomouc hlavní nádraží (Olomouc)
Ostrava hlavní nádraží (Ostrava)
Pardubice hlavní nádraží (Pardubice)
Plzeň hlavní nádraží (Pilsen)
Praha hlavní nádraží (Prague)
Hlavní nádraží - the corresponding metro station in Prague
Prostějov hlavní nádraží (Prostějov)
Trutnov hlavní nádraží (Trutnov)
Ústí nad Labem hlavní nádraží (Ústí nad Labem)
The following stations are named "central" (střed):
Brumov střed (Brumov)
Louny střed (Louny)
Mikulášovice střed (Mikulášovice)
Ostrava střed (Ostrava)
Smržovka střed (Smržovka)
Trutnov střed (Trutnov)
Zlín střed (Zlín)
In addition to the above, Praha Masarykovo nádraží was named "Praha střed" from 1953 until 1990.
Denmark
Two Danish stations, as follows, have names often translated as "Central".
Aarhus Central Station – the busiest Danish station outside the Copenhagen area
Copenhagen Central Station – the largest station in Denmark
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. A station of lesser importance is calld a banegård. However a city can have several banegårde as well as a hovedbanegård, and several cities and towns that have a banegård such as Aalborg do not have a hovedbanegård. Thus, Copenhagen Central Station is not the most central in Copenhagen, nor is it the most central that serves a broad range of routes, that would be Nørreport Station, which has been translated into English as Nørreport Metro Station. 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), 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.
Finland
Two Finnish stations can be translated to central:
Helsinki Central railway station (Finnish: Helsingin päärautatieasema, Swedish: Helsingfors centralstation)
Turku Central railway station (Finnish: Turun päärautatieasema, Swedish: Åbo centralstation)
Germany
The German word for "central station" is Hauptbahnhof (literally "main railway station"); historically Centralbahnhof and Zentralbahnhof were also used. Geographically central stations may be named Mitte or Stadtmitte ("city centre"), e.g. Koblenz Stadtmitte station. In most German cities with more than one passenger station, the principal station is usually the Hauptbahnhof; 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.
The following stations historically bore the name Centralbahnhof or Zentralbahnhof as part of their proper name (See Centralbahnhof):
Chemnitz Hauptbahnhof
Köln Hauptbahnhof
Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof
Hamburg Dammtor station: documents from around the time of the opening of the station refer to Centralbahnhof. or Zentral-Bahnhof.
Ingolstadt Hauptbahnhof
Magdeburg Hauptbahnhof
Mainz Hauptbahnhof
München Hauptbahnhof until 1 May 1904.
Oldenburg Hauptbahnhof (called Centralbahnhof Oldenburg from 1879 to 1911)
Osnabrück Hauptbahnhof
Stuttgart Zentralbahnhof (or Centralbahnhof) was a centrally located station on the Zentralbahn (replaced by Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof, which opened on a new site east of the centre in 1922).
Italy
Agrigento Centrale railway station
Bari Centrale railway station
Barletta Centrale railway station (FNB)
Bologna Centrale railway station
Catania Centrale railway station
Gorizia Centrale railway station
La Spezia Centrale railway station
Lamezia Terme Centrale railway station
Livorno Centrale railway station
Messina Centrale railway station
Milano Centrale railway station
Napoli Centrale railway station
Palermo Centrale railway station
Pescara Centrale railway station
Pisa Centrale railway station
Prato Centrale railway station
Reggio Calabria Centrale railway station
Tarvisio Centrale railway station - now closed
Torre Annunziata Centrale railway station
Trieste Centrale railway station
Treviglio railway station, also known as Treviglio Centrale
Treviso Centrale railway station
Netherlands
In the Netherlands, a centraal station (abbreviated CS), in its original sense, was a railway station served by several railway companies; so it had the same meaning as a union station in the USA. 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 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). 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 the name Centraal; this applies to Arnhem. Breda was intended 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:
Amsterdam Centraal
Den Haag Centraal
Leiden Centraal
Rotterdam Centraal
Utrecht Centraal
Arnhem Centraal
Eindhoven Centraal
Amersfoort Centraal
There are also stations with the word Centrum, which indicates the station is in the city centre:
Almere Centrum
Barneveld Centrum
Ede Centrum
Kerkrade Centrum
Lelystad Centrum
Schiedam Centrum
Veenendaal Centrum
Vlaardingen Centrum
Norway
Oslo Central Station (Oslo Sentralstasjon)
Trondheim Central Station (Trondheim Sentralstasjon)
Poland
The designation "main station" (Dworzec główny, abbreviated to " Gł.") is used in many Polish cities to indicate the most important passenger or goods station, for instance Szczecin Główny. However, there is an exception:
Warszawa Centralna railway station is the principal station in Warsaw, but Warszawa Główna railway station (reopened in March 2021) is the terminus for several train services.
The following stations are named "main station" (dworzec główny):
The adjective "main" is thus not used only for stations in a few capitals of voivodeships, including: Białystok, Gorzów Wielkopolski, Katowice, Kielce and Łódź.
Sweden
In Sweden the term "central station" (Centralstation, abbreviated to Central or C) 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 provided, due to the station's importance in the network, particularly at important railway junctions.
Switzerland
As in Germany, the most important station in Zürich is Zürich Hauptbahnhof, which is sometimes translated as central station.
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.
Turkey
Adana Central railway station
Ankara Central railway station
Eskişehir Central railway station
Gaziantep Central railway station
İstanbul Sirkeci railway station
İzmir Alsancak railway station
Kars Central railway station
Kayseri Central railway station
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, Glasgow Central serves all stations south of the city while Glasgow Queen Street is 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, including another principal city centre station, Cardiff Queen Street.
Not all the stations in the following list still exist.
Acton Central railway station
Belfast Central railway station
Birkenhead Central railway station
Brackley Central railway station
Burnley Central railway station
Cardiff Central railway station
Central railway station (London)
Central Croydon railway station
Chesterfield Central railway station
Coatbridge Central railway station
Dumbarton Central railway station
Exeter Central railway station
Finchley Central tube station
Folkestone Central railway station
Gainsborough Central railway station
Glasgow Central railway station
Greenock Central railway station
Hackney Central railway station
Hamilton Central railway station
Helensburgh Central railway station
Hendon Central tube station
Hounslow Central tube station
Hyde Central railway station
Kirkby-in-Ashfield Central railway station
Leicester Central railway station
Lincoln Central railway station
Liverpool Central railway station
Loughborough Central railway station
Manchester Central railway station
Mansfield Central railway station
Milton Keynes Central railway station
New Mills Central railway station
Newcastle Central railway station and associated Central Station Metro station
Redcar Central railway station
Rotherham Central railway station
Rugby Central railway station
St Helens Central railway station
St Helens Central (GCR) railway station
Salford Central railway station
Scarborough Central railway station
Southampton Central railway station
Southend Central railway station
Staveley Central railway station
Sutton-in-Ashfield Central railway station
Telford Central railway station
Tuxford Central railway station
Walthamstow Central station
Warrington Central railway station
Wembley Central station
Windsor & Eton Central railway station
Wrexham Central railway station
Central America
Cuba
Central Railway Station, Havana, commuter and national rail station in Havana
North America
Canada
Central station (Edmonton), in Edmonton
Montreal Central Station, in Montreal
Guelph Central Station, an intermodal (rail/bus) station in Guelph
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, which 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 equivalent term in Europe is a joint station). The government-funded Amtrak took over the operation of all intercity passenger rail in the 1970s and 1980s.
Buffalo Central Terminal, in Buffalo, New York
Central Station, Chicago
Grand Central Station, Chicago
Central (CTA Green Line), Chicago, Illinois
Central (CTA Purple Line), Evanston, Illinois
Central Station (JTA Skyway), Jacksonville, Florida
Central Station (Memphis), Memphis, Tennessee
MiamiCentral, Miami, Florida
Grand Central Terminal, New York City
Great Central Station, Chicago
South America
Argentina
Estación Central in Buenos Aires, Argentina operated from 1872 to 1897.
Brazil
In Brazil, "Central Station" is called as "Estação Central" and can be a place that integrates bus or train.
Central do Brasil, in Rio de Janeiro
Estação da Luz, in São Paulo
Chile
Estación Alameda in Santiago, Chile is known unofficially as Estación Central
Asia
Bangladesh
Kamalapur Railway Station
Mainland China
The stations in special and first classes, with numerous trunk lines passing and tens of thousands of passengers boarding and alighting each day, could be regarded as a "central station" in respective cities.
Hong Kong
Hung Hom station, the terminus for Beijing–Kowloon railway, Guangzhou–Kowloon through train, Beijing–Kowloon through train, Shanghai–Kowloon through train, East Rail line and West Rail line
Central and Hong Kong stations, a main interchange station of the MTR rapid transit system (located in Central; served by the Airport Express, Island line, Tsuen Wan line and Tung Chung line.)
Kowloon station, a central station in West Kowloon of the MTR rapid transit system (served by the Airport Express and Tung Chung line; linked with West Kowloon station, served by the Guangzhou–Shenzhen–Hong Kong Express Rail Link)
Tuen Mun station, an interchange station in Tuen Mun (served by the West Rail line and several light rail routes)
Sha Tin station, a central station in Sha Tin New Town
Tung Chung station, a central station on Lantau Island
India
Kanpur Central (CNB), in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh
Mangalore Central (MAQ) in Mangalore, Karnataka
Mumbai Central (BCT), in Mumbai, Maharashtra
Trivandrum Central (TVC), in Trivandrum, Kerala
MGR Chennai Central (MAS), in Chennai, Tamil Nadu
Indonesia
Manggarai Central Station (MRI) in Tebet, South Jakarta
Israel
Be'er Sheva Center railway station, Be'er Sheva
Haifa Center HaShmona railway station, Haifa
Modi'in Central railway station, Modi'in
Tel Aviv Savidor Central railway station, Tel Aviv
Japan
Kagoshima-Chūō Station in Kagoshima, formerly Nishi-Kagoshima Station
Malaysia
Sentral is the Malay spelling for the English word central.
Kuala Lumpur Sentral station, in Kuala Lumpur
South Korea
In South Korea, major railway stations of the city don't usually have additional names besides the name of the respective city, like these examples below.
Seoul Station in Seoul
Busan Station in Busan
However, some stations do have a term 중앙(Jungang)(literally. Central) in their names to differentiate the original station. These stations are usually located in closer locations to the city centre.
Changwon Jungang station in Changwon
Dongducheon Jungang station in Dongducheon
Samseong Jungang station in Samseong-dong, Seoul
Jung-ang station (Uijeongbu) in Uijeongbu
Also, there are Jungang metro stations which are named after the neighborhood name, Jungang-dong.
Jungang station (Ansan)
Jungang station (Busan Metro)
Taiwan
Taipei Main Station in Taipei City
Taichung railway station in Taichung City
Kaohsiung Main Station in Kaohsiung City
Thailand
Bangkok railway station will no longer be active in 2021, when it will be converted into a museum. It will change its official name to Hua Lamphong Station. The State Railway of Thailand will move Bangkok's central station operations to Bang Sue Grand Station.
Africa
South Africa
Johannesburg Park Station, Johannesburg
Australia
Central railway station, Brisbane
Melbourne Central railway station, named after Melbourne Central Shopping Centre, Melbourne
Central railway station, Sydney, also known as Sydney Terminal, Sydney
Gawler Central railway station, Adelaide
Wynnum Central railway station, Brisbane
Cockburn Central railway station, Perth
Notes
External links
Railway stations by type