Central station

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For other uses, see Central Station (disambiguation).

A late nineteenth century photochrom of Amsterdam Centraal in the Netherlands

A central station usually designates the principal passenger railway station of cities which have multiple stations. The central station functions as the main transport hub for rail transport, normally with interchange with other modes of public transport. Certain services, such as intercity of high-speed routes make their only stop in the city at the central station, while commuter services may serve all stations in the city. A central station may be a terminal station, with all services ending at the station, or may permit through services. It need not be geographically "central".

[edit] Europe

Non-English language names for central or main station:

Centraal Station (abbreviated formerly as CS and currently as Centraal) in Dutch
centralstation (abbreviated central or C) in Swedish
Dworzec Główny in Polish
Estación Central in Spanish
Főpályaudvar (abbreviated főpu.) in Hungarian
Gar in Turkish
Gare centrale in French
Glavni kolodvor (abbreviated Gl. kol.) in Croatian
Hauptbahnhof (abbreviated Hbf or HB) in German
hlavní nádraží (abbreviated hl. n.) in Czech
hovedbanegård in Danish
sentralstasjon in Norwegian
Stazione Centrale in Italian
Централна гара (tsentralna gara) in Bulgarian

[edit] United Kingdom

Railway stations in Britain using the suffix 'Central' often do not refer to a centrally located station, and many of these cannot be said to be 'principal' stations, and are merely called Central to distinguish them from other stations called North, South, East or West, or for reasons of prestige. In some cases, a station that was originally owned by the Great Central Railway in locations served by more than one station were called 'Central'. 'Town' is also a suffix used, as for example Edenbridge Town, used to distinguish it from Edenbridge station.

One of the few 'principal' stations in the UK that is called 'Central' and truly is in the centre of the city it serves is Glasgow Central station; although Glasgow was once served by four 'principal' terminus stations, all within the city centre, only one was called 'Central'. Likewise, Cardiff Central is located in the city centre and is the mainline hub of South Wales' rail network which includes 19 other stations in Cardiff itself, one of which is another principal city centre station, Cardiff Queen Street.

[edit] Austria

All central stations in Austria:

Graz Hauptbahnhof
Innsbruck Hauptbahnhof
Klagenfurt Hauptbahnhof
Leoben Hauptbahnhof
Linz Hauptbahnhof
Salzburg Hauptbahnhof
St. Pölten Hauptbahnhof
Vienna Hauptbahnhof - the new central station for Vienna, currently under construction.
Villach Hauptbahnhof
Wels Hauptbahnhof
Wiener Neustadt Hauptbahnhof
Wörgl Hauptbahnhof

[edit] Belarus

Brest Central Station (Brest-Centralny, Брест-Центральный)

[edit] Belgium

There are only three stations as "central stations"

[edit] Bulgaria

Central Railway Station, Sofia (Централна гара София)
Central Railway Station, Plovdiv (Централна гара Пловдив)

[edit] Croatia

Zagreb Central Station

[edit] Czech republic

[edit] Denmark

There are only two stations:

Copenhagen Central Station (Københavns Hovedbanegård)
Århus Central Station (Århus Hovedbanegård)

[edit] Finland

There are two central railway stations in Finland:

Helsinki Central railway station (Helsingin päärautatieasema)
Turku Central railway station (Turun päärautatieasema)

[edit] Germany

In German-speaking countries, the general term for a central station is "Hauptbahnhof", literally meaning "Main Station" but mostly translated as "Central Station"

As at 4 October 2010, the Deutsche Bahn's Bahnhöfe in Deutschland website (German language only) designated Berlin Hauptbahnhof^[1] and 119 other stations in Germany^[2] as having the status of Hauptbahnhof. Those stations were:

[edit] Italy

[edit] Netherlands

There are five stations designated as "central stations" in the Netherlands.

[edit] Norway

Oslo Central Station(Oslo Sentralstasjon)
Trondheim Central Station(Trondheim Sentralstasjon)

[edit] Poland

There is only one "central" station in Poland. The main train station in Warsaw uses this suffix. All the main train stations in other cities tend to use the suffix "Główny" (meaning "main") or one of its derivatives.

[edit] Portugal

[edit] Slovakia

Bratislava hlavná stanica

[edit] Slovenia

Ljubljana railway station Železniška postaja Ljubljana

[edit] Sweden

In Sweden, the suffix "Central" is used even if referring to the only station in town.

[edit] Switzerland

Zürich Hauptbahnhof

[edit] America

[edit] North America

Main article: Union station

A union station is a central station that in the past served more than one railway company. This is most commonly used in North America, where in some cities a single station would serve several private railway companies. This is no longer the case, as the government-funded Amtrak took over the operation of all intercity passenger rail in the 1970s and 1980s. The term was also used in Europe prior to the nationalization of railway companies.

[edit] United States

Buffalo Central Terminal, in Buffalo, New York, United States
Central Station (Chicago), in Chicago, Illinois, United States
Central Station (Chicago terminal), in Chicago, Illinois, United States
Grand Central Station (Chicago), in Chicago, Illinois, United States
Central (CTA Purple Line), in Evanston, Illinois, United States
Central (CTA Green Line), in Chicago, Illinois, United States
Central Station (Memphis), in Memphis, Tennessee, United States
Miami Central Station, in Miami, Florida, United States
Grand Central Terminal, in New York City, United States
Pennsylvania Station, also in New York City, United States^[3]
30th Street Station, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.^[4]

[edit] Canada

Central (ETS), a light rail station in Edmonton, Canada
Central Station (Montreal), in Montreal, Canada

[edit] Cuba

Central Railway Station, Havana, commuter and national rail station in Havana, Cuba

[edit] South America

Central Station (Rio de Janeiro), in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Santiago Estación Central in Santiago, Chile

[edit] Asia

Central stations in Malaysia are called Sentral, which is the Malay spelling for the English word central.

Central Station (MTR), on the MTR metro system in Hong Kong, People's Republic of China
Kuala Lumpur Sentral railway station, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

[edit] India

Chennai Central (MAS), in Chennai, Tamil Nadu
Kanpur Central (CNB), in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh
Mumbai Central (BCT), in Mumbai, Maharastra
Trivandrum Central (TVC), in Trivandrum, Kerala
Mangalore Central (MAQ), in Mangalore, Karnataka

[edit] Israel

Be'er Sheva Central Railway Station, in Be'er Sheva
Haifa Central Railway Station, in Haifa
Jerusalem Central Railway Station (Under construction), In Jerusalem
Tel Aviv Central Railway Station, Tel Aviv

[edit] Hong Kong

Central Station -- This is an interchange station in the Mass Transit Railway (MTR) system, which links together the Tsuen Wan Line, the Island Line, the Tung Chung Line and the Airport Express. The station is named after the Central District on Hong Kong Island, where it is located. Unlike the central stations in most other cities in the world, this station is not served by intercity trains.
Hung Hom Station -- This is currently the only station in Hong Kong for border-crossing trains to cities in China. After the opening of the Kowloon Southern Link, Hung Hom Station will also become an interchange station of the East Rail Line and the West Rail Line in the MTR system. Practically speaking, this station is the de facto central station of Hong Kong.
West Kowloon Station -- This is the proposed terminal station for the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link, a high-speed intercity railway that connects Hong Kong to cities in the Chinese province of Guangdong. It will also link together the West Rail Line, the Tung Chung Line and the Airport Express of the MTR system. Therefore, it will potentially become the new de facto central station of Hong Kong.

[edit] Australia

Central railway station, Brisbane, in Brisbane, Australia
Flinders Street Station, in Melbourne, Australia. Melbourne Central Station is not the main central railway station in Melbourne, being named after Melbourne Central shopping centre.
Central railway station, Sydney also known as Sydney Terminal.

[edit] Notes

^ "Bahnhöfe in Deutschland - Ergebnisse Bahnhofsname hauptbahnhof [Stations in Germany - results for hauptbahnhof]". Deutsche Bahn website. Deutsche Bahn. http://www.bahnhof.de/site/bahnhoefe/de/bahnhofssuche__deutschland/bahnhofssuche/bahnhofsdaten__filter.html?c210230=hauptbahnhof&x=0&y=0. Retrieved 3 October 2010. (German)
^ "Bahnhöfe in Deutschland - Ergebnisse Bahnhofsname hbf [Stations in Germany - results for hbf]". Deutsche Bahn website. Deutsche Bahn. http://www.bahnhof.de/site/bahnhoefe/de/bahnhofssuche__deutschland/bahnhofssuche/bahnhofsdaten__filter.html?c210230=hbf. Retrieved 3 October 2010. (German)
^ This station now serves Amtrak, New Jersey Transit, and the Long Island Rail Road; Grand Central Terminal serves Metro-North. Other important hubs in the area include Hoboken Terminal, Jamaica Station, Pennsylvania Station (Newark), and Secaucus Junction.
^ Suburban Station and Market East Station are also hubs in that city, connected by an underground railway corridor; however, 30th Street serves Amtrak as well as SEPTA, whereas the others don't.

[0] "Bahnhöfe in Deutschland - Ergebnisse Bahnhofsname hauptbahnhof [Stations in Germany - results for hauptbahnhof]". Deutsche Bahn website. Deutsche Bahn. http://www.bahnhof.de/site/bahnhoefe/de/bahnhofssuche__deutschland/bahnhofssuche/bahnhofsdaten__filter.html?c210230=hauptbahnhof&x=0&y=0. Retrieved 3 October 2010. (German)

[1] "Bahnhöfe in Deutschland - Ergebnisse Bahnhofsname hbf [Stations in Germany - results for hbf]". Deutsche Bahn website. Deutsche Bahn. http://www.bahnhof.de/site/bahnhoefe/de/bahnhofssuche__deutschland/bahnhofssuche/bahnhofsdaten__filter.html?c210230=hbf. Retrieved 3 October 2010. (German)

[2] This station now serves Amtrak, New Jersey Transit, and the Long Island Rail Road; Grand Central Terminal serves Metro-North. Other important hubs in the area include Hoboken Terminal, Jamaica Station, Pennsylvania Station (Newark), and Secaucus Junction.

[3] Suburban Station and Market East Station are also hubs in that city, connected by an underground railway corridor; however, 30th Street serves Amtrak as well as SEPTA, whereas the others don't.

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