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A railway station (or, in American English , '''train station''' / '''railroad station''') is a facility, consisting usually of at least one building and other installations, at which Passenger s may board and alight from Train s and/or Goods may be loaded or unloaded. Early stations were usually built with both passenger and goods facilities (though there was very often a separate freight terminal nearby, even in quite small communities). This dual purpose is less common today, and in many cases goods facilities are restricted to major stations. Generally stations are sited next to a railway or railroad line, or form the Terminus for a particular route. Usually Platforms are present to allow passengers to access trains easily and safely. Platforms may be connected by Subway s, Bridge s, or Level Crossing s to the main part of the station; passenger facilities such as Shelter , Ticket sales, Waiting Room s and Benches are partly there, partly on the platforms. The term station stop is used to differentiate a stop for a station from a stop for another reason, such as an Engine Change . As well as providing services for passengers and loading facilities for goods, stations often had locomotive and rolling stock depots (including refuelling, sidings and sheds). A train station that is jointly used by several Rail Transport companies is sometimes called a Union Station , or an interchange station. Stations co-located with other transport systems such as Tram s and Bus es may also be referred to as interchanges, as may stations offering both metro/subway and heavy-rail services. DEVELOPMENT in Kyoto , Japan , are often still built to a grand scale, though with steel, glass and abstract design]] The first train stations resembled Tram Stop s, with little in the way of buildings or facilities. The first railway stations in the modern sense were on the Liverpool And Manchester Railway , opened in 1830 . Today Liverpool Road Station is preserved as part of the Museum Of Science And Industry In Manchester . It resembles a row of Georgian houses {Link without Title} . Many train stations — unsurprisingly — date from the 19th Century and reflect the architecture of the time, grand in scale and size, lending prestige to the city as well as to railway operations. Countries where railways arrived later may still have such architecture, as later stations often imitated 19th century styles. Various forms of architecture have been used in the construction of railway stations, from those boasting grand and intricate almost Baroque -style edifices, to more stark Utilitarian or Modern styles. Stations built more recently often have a similar feel to airports, with a cold and plain abstract style. Examples of modern stations include those on newer High-speed Rail networks, such as the Shinkansen in Japan and TGV lines in France . Britain boasts a new modern rail terminus at Waterloo International , the end-point for the Eurostar Channel Tunnel rail services to France and Belgium . This station will cease to be the Eurostar terminal when the new St Pancras Railway Station , connected to the high-speed Channel Tunnel Rail Link , opens in 2007. SUPERLATIVES The world's busiest railway station, in terms of daily passenger throughput, is Shinjuku Station in Tokyo , Japan . Ikebukuro Station , just minutes away, is the world's second-busiest. By train throughput, the world's busiest railway station is Clapham Junction in London . The world's largest train station, in terms of floor area, is Nagoya Station in Nagoya , Japan . However, the Nagoya Station complex incorporates two office towers and an underground shopping concourse, so the railway terminal itself is not large in comparison to others. Shinjuku Station is the second largest. In terms of platform capacity, the world's largest train station is Grand Central Terminal in New York City , USA . TERMINAL STATIONS , Germany , showing the terminal trackage beyond the station building.]] See Also: terminal station A terminus is a station sited where a railway line ends or terminates. Thus, platforms can be reached without crossing tracks. Often a terminus is the final destination of a train, but not necessarily. When a train is required to travel onwards from a terminus, it must reverse out of the station to continue the trip. Various methods exist to counter this problem. The same applies if the station is not a terminus, but the train service involves reversing direction anyway. Reversing direction often causes some worry to travellers who are inexperienced and have no detailed geographic knowledge of the railway lines — one might assume the train has finished its journey and is returning to the starting location. Some travellers prefer facing forward; if possible they change place when there is a reversal of direction. In some types of carriages, train personnel (or even passengers themselves) are able to turn the seats when the train changes direction so that all travellers face forward. STATION FACILITIES Train stations usually include either ticket booths, or s, Left-luggage , Lost-and-found , Departures And Arrivals Boards , luggage carts, Waiting Room s, Taxi Rank s and Bus bays. Larger or manned stations tend to have a greater range of facilities. A most basic station might only have platforms, though it would still be distinguished from a halt, a stopping or halting place that may not even have platforms. CONFIGURATIONS OF TRAIN STATIONS , England serves trains passing through the station. Passengers reach the island platform (on right) by a pedestrian footbridge.]] In addition to the basic configuration of a train station, various features set certain types of station apart. The first is the , the road and railway will be at different levels. The platforms will often be raised or lowered relative to the station entrance: the station buildings may be on either level, or both. The other arrangement, where the station entrance and platforms are on the same level, is also common, but is perhaps rarer in urban areas, except when the station is a terminus. Elevated stations are more common, not including metro stations. An unusual configuration is where the station serves railway lines at differing levels. This may be due to the station's situation at a point where two lines cross, or may be to provide separate station capacity for two types of service, e.g. intercity and suburban, or simply two different destinations. Stations may also be classified on the layout of the platforms. Apart from single-track lines, the most basic arrangement is a pair of railway tracks for the two directions; but even there there is a basic choice of an island platform between the tracks, or two separate platforms outside the tracks. With more tracks, the possibilities expand. Some stations have unusual platform layouts, due to space constraints of the station location, or the alignment of the railway lines. Examples are non-parallel platforms and curved stations (and platforms). A list is available detailing further examples of less usual Railway Station Layouts . ACCESSIBILITY Accessibility for people with disabilities is important in train station design and mandated by law in some countries. Considerations include: elevator or ramp access to all platforms, matching platform height to train floors, making wheelchair lifts available when platforms do not match vehicle floors, accessible toilets and pay phones, audible station announcements, safety measures such as tactile marking of platform edges and covering of Third Rail . SEE ALSO
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