Union station

This article is about the generic term. For stations named Union Station, see list of union stations. For other uses, see Union Station.

A union station (also union terminal or joint station) is the term used for a train station where tracks and facilities are shared by two or more railway companies, allowing passengers to connect conveniently between them. The term 'union station' is used in North America and 'joint station' in Europe.

Historically, a union station was used by all passenger trains serving the city. Today, this is not necessarily true. In Chicago, Illinois, for example, commuter trains use four different terminals, while the city's Union Station handles all intercity traffic.

North America

See also: List of Union Stations

In North America, a union station is usually owned by a separate corporation whose shares are owned by the different railways which use it, so that the costs and benefits of its operations are shared proportionately among them. This contrasts with the system of trackage rights or running rights, where one railway company owns a line or facility, but allows another company to share it under a contractual agreement. However, the company that owns the union station and associated trackage does assign trackage rights to the railroads that use it. Many of the jointly-owned stations were built by terminal railroads. Examples include the Ogden Union Railway & Depot Company, jointly owned by Southern Pacific and Union Pacific to manage the Ogden Union Station in Ogden, Utah, and the Denver Terminal Railway Company, representing the Denver & Rio Grande Western, Chicago Burlington & Quincy, Union Pacific, Atchison Topeka & Santa Fe, Colorado & Southern and Chicago Rock Island & Pacific railways, which managed the station in Denver, Colorado.

Major Union Stations in North America (still in use)

• Indianapolis, 1850
• Washington, D.C., 1908
• Winnipeg, 1911
• Chicago, 1925
• Toronto, 1927
• Los Angeles, 1939

Other Union Stations in North America

• Alexandria, Virginia, 1905
• Salt Lake City, Utah, 1909 (Oregon Short Line and San Pedro, Los Angeles & Salt Lake)
• Salt Lake City, Utah, 1911 (Denver & Rio Grande Western and Western Pacific)
• Kansas City, Missouri, 1914
• Denver, Colorado, 1914
• New Haven, Connecticut, 1920
• Ogden, Utah, 1924
• Miami, Florida, 2012
• Worcester Union Station,(MBTA Commuter Rail,Amtrak Lake Shore Limited), Built: 1911 (Rebuilt in 2000)

Europe

In most countries in Europe, railways have historically been owned and operated by state enterprises. Where only one railway company exists, there is no need for a "joint station". However, before nationalisation many companies existed and sometimes they had "joint stations". In some cases this persists today. "Joint stations" are often found near borders where two state-owned railway companies meet, for example, Basel Badischer Bahnhof.

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, before the railways were nationalised in 1948, the term used was joint station. This term has occasionally been revived since the railways were returned to the private sector in the 1990s, but is not as familiar or as well-understood as "union station" in the United States. One of the problems is that the station effectively has to have a landlord, though ticketing arrangements may be separate. In some cases this is the residuary national owner of the track, Network Rail.

Germany, Austria and Switzerland

In Germany, the equivalent term Gemeinschaftsbahnhof is used in administrative language only. The term Hauptbahnhof corresponds to Central Station and means the most important and usually most frequently used station of a city.

Bohemia and Moravia

In Bohemia (part of the territory of the Czech Republic today) some stations were called the "společné nádraží" (the common station) before the state took over the private railway companies. "Praha-Smíchov společné nádraží" is to this day the functional name of the second station built in 1872 by the same investor near the first station Smíchov of the Pražská západní dráha (Prague Western Railroad). The new station served as the main marshalling yard of Prague. Three routes flowed into it: Pražská spojovací dráha (the Prague Connecting Railroad, 1872), the extension of Buštěhradská dráha from Hostivice (1872) and Pražsko-duchcovská dráha (the Railroad Prague – Duchcov, 1873). Nowadays the "společné nádraží" forms an unremarkable separate platform of the station Praha-Smíchov, known in timetables as "Praha-Smíchov severní nástupiště" (the northern platform).

"Společné nádraží" was built 1845–1848 at Brno.

"Společné nádraží" was at Železná Ruda as well, station at border Bavaria – Austro-Hungarian Empire. It was in operation 1878–1938.

Nowadays the largest stations are called "hlavní nádraží" (main station).

External links

• The Straight Dope: Why do so many cities have a "Union Station"?