Note that the term train station is American English. The usual term in British English is railway station.
A train station is a place where trains stop to allow passengers to enter and get off. These vary greatly, and may include platforms, tunnels, bridges and/or level crossings to reach the platforms, counters and/or machines where tickets are sold, waiting rooms, shelters and benches, etc.
A train station that is jointly used by several rail transport companies is sometimes called a union station.
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2 Train stations in a tunnel 3 Train stations at a crossing 4 Other special configurations 5 Convenience stores at train stations 6 See also |
A terminus is a station at the end of a railway. Platforms can be reached without crossing tracks.
Often a terminus is the final destination of a train, but not necessarily. Convenience of reversing direction is especially important if it is not. For such a train service preferably a train is used for which the driver just has to walk to the other side, i.e., it does not require connecting a locomotive on one side and disconnecting the other one. A multiple unit can be used, or in the case of a long train, one with both a pushing and a pulling locomotive. A train may also have a locomotive on one side and a passenger car with driver's cabin on the other side.
The same applies if the station is not a terminus, but the train service involves reversing direction anyway.
The first applies at:
For some more on this, see Commuter train.
At train stations the railway is often at ground level or elevated. However, some train stations of regular railways are in a tunnel, like the underground stations of metro systems. These include:
The Netherlands:
Terminus
The second applies at:
Reversing direction often causes some worry to travellers who are inexperienced and have no detailed geographic knowledge of the railway lines: they think they will be going back all the way, but instead, there is of course a junction soon, where the train takes another branch than where it came from. Some travellers prefer facing forward; if possible they change place when there is a reversal of direction. Train stations in a tunnel
Belgium:
Poland:
Some train stations are at a non-level crossing of regular railway lines, providing stops on both lines. These include:
The Netherlands:
The Netherlands:
Signal box, Transport, hump yard, Public transport, Metro station, Bus stop, Human positions, and:
