Central station

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For other uses, see Central Station (disambiguation).
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A late nineteenth century photochrom of Amsterdam Centraal in the Netherlands

Central station is a frequently-encountered element in the name of railway stations. It has no standardised meaning. Central station may be the official name of a centrally-located station, for example Exeter Central railway station; a station once served by a railway which used central as part of its name, for example Grand Central Station in New York City was part of the New York Central Railroad; or it may be used for the primary railway station in a large town or city even if it is not centrally located.[citation needed]

"Central station" is also sometimes used in English-language references to stations in the non-English speaking world which have names including words not otherwise used in English, such as the Danish word hovedbanegård.

Contents

Europe[edit]

Non-English language 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
  • Centralbahnhof or Zentralbahnhof in German
  • Stazione Centrale (abbreviated C.le) in Italian
  • sentralstasjon in Norwegian
  • Estación Central in Spanish
  • centralstation (abbreviated central or C) in Swedish


Non-English language terms literally meaning "main station", which are sometimes translated as "Central station" if an English-language name is required:

  • Glavni kolodvor (abbreviated Gl. kol.) in Croatian
  • hlavní nádraží (abbreviated hl. n.) in Czech
  • hovedbanegård in Danish
  • Hauptbahnhof (abbreviated Hbf or HB) in German
  • Dworzec Główny in Polish
  • hlavná stanica (abbreviated hl. st.) in Slovak

United Kingdom[edit]

Many railway stations in Britain using the suffix 'Central' cannot be said to be 'principal' stations, and are merely called Central to distinguish them from other stations with different names, 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 was 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'. With a few exceptions such as the Argyle line, Central serves all stations south of the city while Glasgow Queen Street serves as 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 South Wales' rail network which includes 19 other stations in Cardiff itself, one of which is another principal city centre station, Cardiff Queen Street.

  1. Acton Central railway station
  2. Belfast Central railway station
  3. Birkenhead Central railway station
  4. Brackley Central railway station
  5. Burnley Central railway station
  6. Cardiff Central railway station
  7. Chesterfield Central railway station
  8. Coatbridge Central railway station
  9. Croydon Central railway station
  10. Dumbarton Central railway station
  11. Exeter Central railway station
  12. Finchley Central tube station
  13. Folkestone Central railway station
  14. Gainsborough Central railway station
  15. Glasgow Central railway station
  16. Greenock Central railway station
  17. Hackney Central railway station
  18. Hamilton Central railway station
  19. Helensburgh Central railway station
  20. Hendon Central tube station
  21. Hounslow Central tube station
  22. Hyde Central railway station
  23. Kirkby-in-Ashfield Central railway station
  24. Leicester Central railway station, part of the Great Central Railway's London Extension
  25. Lincoln Central railway station
  26. Liverpool Central railway station
  27. Loughborough Central railway station
  28. Manchester Central railway station
  29. Mansfield Central railway station
  30. Milton Keynes Central railway station
  31. New Mills Central railway station
  32. Newcastle Central railway station and the associated Central Station Metro station on the Tyne and Wear Metro
  33. Redcar Central railway station
  34. Rotherham Central railway station
  35. Rugby Central railway station
  36. St Helens Central railway station
  37. St Helens Central (GCR) railway station
  38. Salford Central railway station
  39. Southend Central railway station
  40. Southampton Central railway station
  41. Staveley Central railway station
  42. Sutton-in-Ashfield Central railway station
  43. Telford Central railway station
  44. Tuxford Central railway station
  45. Walthamstow Central station
  46. Warrington Central railway station
  47. Wembley Central station
  48. Windsor and Eton Central railway station
  49. Wrexham Central railway station

Belarus[edit]

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

Belgium[edit]

Three stations in Belgium have suffix "-Centra(a)l". See also the section on the Netherlands.

  1. Antwerp Central Station (Antwerpen-Centraal)
  2. Brussels Central Station (Bruxelles-Central / Brussel-Centraal) (not to be confused with Brussels Midi, the main station which is served by international trains)
  3. Verviers Central Station (Verviers-Centraal)

Denmark[edit]

There are two stations with central in their names:

  1. Aarhus Central Station - the busiest Danish station outside the Copenhagen area
  2. Copenhagen Central Station - the largest station in Denmark

Bulgaria[edit]

There are two stations with central in their names:

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

Czech Republic[edit]

  1. Praha Masarykovo nádraží was called Praha střed (Prague Central) from 1953 to 1990.

Finland[edit]

There are two stations with names which could be translated to central:

  1. Helsinki Central railway station (Helsingin päärautatieasema)
  2. Turku Central railway station (Turun päärautatieasema)

Germany[edit]

Leipzig Central Station is the world's largest railway station when measured by floor area
Hamburg Central Station is the busiest station in Germany

In Germany Hauptbahnhof literally means "main station"[1][2][3] but its usage is the equivalent to "central station"[4] in other European countries, as can be seen from the fact that the term Centralbahnhof was commonly used for these stations prior to the 1920s. In most cities and towns where there is more than one passenger station, the Hauptbahnhof is the principal one, and other stations may be more central to the town. A Hauptbahnhof may also be a goods station or marshalling yard or, as in the case of Gevelsberg, just a halt.

The German national railway operator, Deutsche Bahn, has designated 122 stations as Hauptbahnhof.[5][6]

Hamburg Central Station is the busiest in Germany,[7] with 450,000 passengers and visitors daily.[8] The largest station in Germany by number of tracks is Munich Hbf with 32 above-ground tracks, whilst the largest by area is Leipzig Hbf which covers 85,000 square metres. The smallest town in Germany with a Hauptbahnhof is Berchtesgaden. Today, Remscheid Central and Gevelsberg Central are only served by a single Regionalbahn or S Bahn service. The most recent station to be named a Hauptbahnhof by DB is Stralsund Central Station.

A selection of stations called Hauptbahnhof follows:

  1. Augsburg Central Station
  2. Berlin Central Station
  3. Cologne Central Station
  4. Dortmund Central Station
  5. Dresden Central Station
  6. Düsseldorf Central Station
  7. Duisburg Central Station
  8. Essen Central Station
  9. Frankfurt Central Station
  10. Hamburg Central Station
  11. Hanover Central Station
  12. Karlsruhe Central Station
  13. Leipzig Central Station
  14. Munich Central Station
  15. Nuremberg Central Station
  16. Regensburg Central Station
  17. Stuttgart Central Station
  18. Ulm Central Station
  19. Würzburg Central Station

Italy[edit]

  1. Agrigento Centrale railway station
  2. Bari Centrale railway station
  3. Barletta Centrale railway station (FNB)
  4. Bologna Centrale railway station
  5. Caltanissetta Centrale railway station
  6. Gorizia Centrale railway station
  7. La Spezia Centrale railway station
  8. Lamezia Terme Centrale railway station
  9. Livorno Centrale railway station
  10. Messina Centrale railway station
  11. Milano Centrale railway station
  12. Napoli Centrale railway station
  13. Palermo Centrale railway station
  14. Pescara Centrale railway station
  15. Pisa Centrale railway station
  16. Prato Centrale railway station
  17. Reggio Calabria Centrale railway station
  18. Tarvisio Centrale railway station - now closed
  19. Torre Annunziata Centrale railway station
  20. Trieste Centrale railway station
  21. Treviglio railway station, also known as Treviglio Centrale
  22. Treviso Centrale railway station
  23. Trieste Centrale railway station

Netherlands[edit]

In the Netherlands, a central station (in its original sense) was a railway station that was served by several railway companies and thus was the most important station of the city.[citation needed] 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.

Five stations have the suffix "Centraal":

  1. Amsterdam Centraal
  2. Den Haag Centraal
  3. Leiden Centraal
  4. Rotterdam Centraal
  5. Utrecht Centraal
  6. Breda Centraal (after renovation)
  7. Arnhem Centraal (after renovation)

There are also stations with the suffix "Centrum", which indicates that the station is located in the city centre:

  1. Almere Centrum
  2. Barneveld Centrum
  3. Ede Centrum
  4. Kerkrade Centrum
  5. Lelystad Centrum
  6. Veenendaal Centrum

Norway[edit]

  1. Oslo Central Station (Oslo Sentralstasjon)
  2. Trondheim Central Station (Trondheim Sentralstasjon)

Poland[edit]

The designation "main station" (Dworzec główny, abbreviated to " Gł") is used in many Polish cities to indicate the most important passenger or goods station. Warsaw Central Station is not only the principal station in the country's capital, but as the largest in terms of passenger traffic received additional distinguishing feature that distinguishes it from other stations in the country.

  1. Warszawa Centralna

Sweden[edit]

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 required due to the station's importance in the network, particularly at important railway junctions.

  1. Arlanda Central Station (Stockholm Arlanda Airport)
  2. Gothenburg Central Station
  3. Halmstad Central Station
  4. Hässleholm Central Station
  5. Jönköping Central Station
  6. Malmö Central Station
  7. Norrköping Central Station
  8. Nässjö Central Station
  9. Stockholm Central Station
  10. Uppsala Central Station
  11. Västerås Central Station
  12. Lund Central Station
  13. Kalmar Central Station
  14. Karlskrona Central Station
  15. Kristianstad Central Station
  16. Linköping Central Station
  17. Helsingborg Central Station
  18. Södertälje Central Station
  19. Örebro Central Station

America[edit]

North America[edit]

United States[edit]

In the United States, "Central" stations tend to be those built by railways called "Central", the best known example being Grand Central Station in New York City, is so named because it was built by the New York Central Railroad, not for its location or importance.

This contrasts with a union station which is a station that, in the past, served more than one railway company (the equivalent term in Europe is a joint station). 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.

Canada[edit]

Cuba[edit]

South America[edit]

Asia[edit]

China[edit]

India[edit]

Israel[edit]

Hong Kong[edit]

Malaysia[edit]

Sentral is the Malay spelling for the English word central.

Australia[edit]

Africa[edit]

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Notes[edit]

  1. ^ Rudolf Böhringer German for everybody--and you! 1966 Page 2 "Well, Bahnhof means, of course, 'station' just as Hauptbahnhof means 'main station'."
  2. ^ German Dictionary 21st Century Edition. Collins. 1999. 
  3. ^ Rough Guide to Berlin. Rough Guides. April 2008. p. 363. 
  4. ^ Ernst, Dr.-Ing. Richard (1989). Wörterbuch der Industriellen Technik (5th ed.). Wiesbaden: Oscar Brandstetter, p. 461. ISBN 3-87097-145-2.
  5. ^ Search Hbf at www.bahnhof.de
  6. ^ Search for Hauptbahnhof at www.bahnhof.de
  7. ^ "Top 20 der meistfrequentierte Bahnhofe der Welt" (in German). Globometer. Retrieved 12 May 2013. 
  8. ^ "Hamburg Hbf". www.bahnhof.de (in English). Deutsche Bahn. Retrieved 12 May 2013. 
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