World's Best Train Stations

[Cirrus]

Here are some of the better ones from around the US. Pictures without a listed source are my own.

Washington Union Station:
In my biased opinion, the best in America, along w/ Grand Central. Pictures never do it justice.





Philadelphia 30th Street Station:
The outside is unextraordinary IMO (a lot of American stations look similar, though smaller), but it's one of the few stations in the country(along with NY and DC) that have really European levels of activity and trains.

source


source


Boston South Station:
Unfortunately only a shadow of its former greatness, but still an awesome building.

source


Cincinnati Union Terminal:
So unique. So deco. So cool.

source


source


Saint Louis Union Station:
Probably the most famous of the many Romanesque stations in the US, although it has more French influences than most.

source


Worcester, MA Union Station:
It just doesn't get any more gorgeous than this...

source


Richmond Main Street Station:
... Unless you've been to Richmond.

[elsonic]

Limoges, France


flickr user cercamon http://www.flickr.com/photos/cercamo...ith/535163771/

Metz, France


flickr user j.labrado
http://www.flickr.com/photos/1885756...th/2857269848/

[hammersklavier]

This is definitely the coolest feature of 30th Street Station.

(from http://www.bridgeandtunnelclub.com/b...tion/index.htm)

[Bedhead]

That Leipzig train shed is something else. That Cincinnati hall is quite something, too.

People are probably sick of me posting pictures of London stations, but here goes anyway.

Paddington, the granddaddy of all great train sheds:









St Pancras, London's most beautiful station. (The first pic is from behind glass - sorry about that).




My pics

[Misterfreeman87]

Liege-Guillemins station

by NguyenDai

(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2338/...034e34d6f7.jpg)

by René





http://www.eifelmomente.de/herbst/12...g-und-luettich


http://www.core.form-ula.com/wp-cont...1_tgv-1big.jpg












http://www.pbase.com/ernst/gare_tgv


http://www.visitbelgium.com/index.ph...t01returnid=75

doesnt get any better then this

[RLS_rls]

^WOW! I'd say that has lasting factor.

I kind of agree with Adrian though, I think Grand Central is a bit overrated. Wasn't Beaux Arts just a modern interpretation of Greco-Roman architecture? That would put Grand Central and Beijing West in the same field, seeing as the latter is a weird combination of old and new. It's a modern interpretation of classical Chinese architecture, the eastern equivalent of GC or any other pre-war western station. I'd lump them together in the same field, regardless of the hype surrounding Grand Central.

The Waterloo Eurostar terminal:


http://londonist.com/attachments/Dea...9_waterloo.jpg

Helsinki Railway Station (personal favourite):


http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...n_20050604.jpg


http://www.traveladventures.org/cont...-station08.jpg

[Uptowngirl]

Some people consider Beaux Arts elegant, beautiful architecture.
I never understood why it was hated so much.

[Busy Bee]

I personally love Florence Santa Maria Novella. Its not for everyone, but I have a thing for Italo-Faschist totalitarian architecture. The heavy stone, the huge custom typography, the worn in griminess, I love it.



link



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[Don098]

Originally Posted by AdrianXSands

btw, grand central is one of the most architecturally over-rated buildings in the world. people are obsessed with it as if it's some beautiful greek monument.
instead, it's nothing more than a terrible beaux-arts rendition of roman architecture and embodies those east coast architects's obsession with un-imagination that was so popular in the early 20th century. big deal.
and other than the really awesome heavy iron and glass section of old penn station, what was so great about it?

Honestly, who cares? 99% of the people that walk in there aren't architecture critics...sheesh!

[M.K.]

Originally Posted by Misterfreeman87

Liege-Guillemins station



http://www.visitbelgium.com/index.ph...t01returnid=75

doesnt get any better then this

It seems really the best ever seen. And if has roll stairs or ramps all trains access both directions up & down, then even the best. Unfortunate is sad not seen in all train stations automatic stairs for everything. Most of time most of them are very out-dated, the stairs are bad to carry luguage and with narrow platforms. Mainly access in most are too confuse.

[RLS_rls]

[QUOTE=Busy Bee;4663398]I personally love Florence Santa Maria Novella. Its not for everyone, but I have a thing for Italo-Faschist totalitarian architecture. The heavy stone, the huge custom typography, the worn in griminess, I love it.



link

Isn't this one of the only examples of Futurist architecture?

[RLS_rls]

edit: oops

[lfc4life]

Originally Posted by Busy Bee

I personally love Florence Santa Maria Novella. Its not for everyone, but I have a thing for Italo-Faschist totalitarian architecture. The heavy stone, the huge custom typography, the worn in griminess, I love it.

horrible building imo, now Milano Centrale that is a nice railway station

[wrab]

Originally Posted by RLS_rls

.....I kind of agree with Adrian though, I think Grand Central is a bit overrated. Wasn't Beaux Arts just a modern interpretation of Greco-Roman architecture? .....

I suppose, if you're just talking about the external aesthetics - but this isn't the best or only way to consider a structure's importance. Programmatically, GC pioneered the use of the ramp and the loading dock for passenger travel, and its influence is still in evidence at just about every airport on the planet.

[muppet]

|More on here:

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=174030

Originally Posted by Jiang

Wuhan railway station














Yes, that is CRH3(ICE)










































































































Source: HuanChina ssc

[John Martin]

My personal favorite would have to be Michigan Central.

[CGII]

Originally Posted by wrabbit

I suppose, if you're just talking about the external aesthetics - but this isn't the best or only way to consider a structure's importance. Programmatically, GC pioneered the use of the ramp and the loading dock for passenger travel, and its influence is still in evidence at just about every airport on the planet.

Meh, I mean I guess the ramp thing is nice...but seriously Grand Central just isn't that architecturally compelling, even within the history of Beaux Arts. The reason it is a celebrated building is because it is a relic of a time period that took great civic pride in its transportation network...a care and appreciated reflected in the grandeur, size and finish of the building itself. What makes it nice is that it is a big, extravagant space the likes of which simply aren't built anymore, not that it's architecturally special. If Penn Station still existed nobody would care about Grand Central.

As a semi-frequent user of Grand Central, I can tell you that it's an incredible place if only because every inch of it is so lavish, which is very appreciated in the dingy, smelly underworld of NYC transit.

[Ch.G, Ch.G]

Not feeling Wuhan at all, especially compared to the Calatrava stations posted. I'd never seen the one in Cincinatti but, wow, it's fantastic. Ditto Eliel Saarinen's Helsinki station and that one Busy Bee posted in Florence. All stunning.

[muppet]

^wait till Wuhan is finished (and lit)

[schem]

I'm most likely biased, but I think the recent upgrade to one of our city stations is fantastic.

I do like some of the older architecture of other stations posted though.


Planet Ware


Mark Ruff & Shannon McGrath http://www.worldarchitecturenews.com...upload_id=1169


Malimkundang