Stunning railway stations are among the most coveted examples of urban architecture. People nowadays would rather fly than use the train because of the abundance of nonstop flights to every conceivable destination. However, there is something romantic and glitzy about boarding a train that can’t be duplicated by any other way of transportation, including aircraft, which are becoming more advanced every year. After all, railways have a reputation for being the catalyst behind the Gilded Age economic, political, and social transformation of the United States.
Since rail travel became more fashionable in the second half of the glitzy 19th century, many of the stations were naturally stunning examples of architectural brilliance. The most impressively beautiful railway stations are tangible evidence of the economic growth spurred by the construction of major transit nodes, from the high ceiling frescoes inspired by the heavens to the shiny red brick flooring.
Some of the most breathtaking structures in the world may be located in railway stations, and you might be surprised to see them on your everyday commute or on exciting trips around the globe. The dramatic architecture of major railway stations, such as London’s St. Pancras International in the Gothic Revival style or Los Angeles’ Union Station in the Art Deco and Spanish Colonial styles of John and Donald Parkinson, makes taking the train something to look forward to. If you’re planning a trip across the globe soon, you should definitely include a stop at one of these iconic hubs.
The World Trade Center Transportation Hub, designed by Santiago Calatrava, finally opened in March in Lower Manhattan. The Oculus, a glass and steel building measuring 800,000 square feet, is the project’s focal point. Eleven subway lines, the PATH, the Battery Park City Ferry Terminal, and a number of downtown structures are all connected by one junction. The main hall’s ceiling is 355 feet high, and it has white marble flooring and a retractable skylight. Westfield World Trade Center, a mall of 365,000 square feet, opened in the Oculus in August.
1. Kuala Lumpur Railway Station
Designed by a British government architect named Arthur Benison Hubback and opened in 1910, the Kuala Lumpur station in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia is a neo-Moorish delight, a fantastical agglomeration of minarets, dome-capped pavilions, and articulated archways. Now more of a hub for commuters than tourists, the magnificent white-and-cream Anglo-Asian station is still worth a stop.
2. Kanazawa Station
Reactions were divided to the 2005 renovation of Kanazawa’s vintage 1898 station. Many others found the new glass and steel dome and massive drum-shaped wooden gate to be an awkward feature. The stunning renovations at the Ishikawa, Japan station may not be as old or as interesting as the rest of the town’s historic landmarks like the geisha area or the ancient samurai quarters, but they continue to draw in plenty of tourists.
3. Liège-Guillemins Railway Station
A new train station in Liège, Belgium, designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, has steel, glass, and white concrete. His 2009 version, which replaced a 1958 International Style building (which had itself replaced an 1842 Beaux Arts edifice), has no facades to bring together two neighbourhoods that had been split by the railroad. Calatrava’s fascination with the malleability of concrete is on full display here; the enormous ribbed vault he designed flows naturally, like a wave breaking over the thousands of people that pass beneath it every day.
4. Milano Centrale
After Rome’s Stazione Termini, Milan’s Central Station became the country’s second-largest upon its opening in 1931. Mussolini, once in power, enlarged the Beaux Arts design to include aspects of Art Nouveau and Art Deco, albeit the building’s inspiration originated from Washington, DC’s Union Station. Incredible outcomes include five railway shelters with enormous iron-and-glass canopies, an assortment of musculature-filled stone sculptures, and 118,000 square feet of marble floors.
5. Hungerburg Station
In 2002, Zaha Hadid’s Bergisel ski-jump tower became an instant landmark in Austria’s Innsbruck area. With this plan in mind, she went back to work on the Nordpark Cable Railway, a 1.1-mile long, four-station funicular line that takes riders up a steep slope. This line replaced a tram that had been in service for 100 years. Hadid’s stations are topped with sweeping glass forms that evoke snowdrifts and ice floes. Hungerburg Station, the highest point reached by the funicular since its completion in 2007, is seen below.
6. Sirkeci Railway Station
As Istanbul’s gateway to Europe, the magnificent Sirkeci station was appropriately a melding of French Art Nouveau and Ottoman aesthetics. When it was opened in 1890, it boasted cutting edge technology thanks to its 300 gas lamps and imported Austrian tile stoves. Bands of bricks decorate the outside of this station, which can be found near the mouth of the Bosporus Strait, and there are clock towers and stained-glass windows, too. When the famous Orient Express ceased stopping in Istanbul in 1977, it was the end of an 80-hour voyage from Paris’s Gare de l’Est.
7. Antwerpen-Centraal Station
The grand waiting hall of the 1905-built Antwerp station is embellished with more than 20 different types of marble and stone, yet the space is kept from feeling heavy by the abundance of natural light provided by the high, arched windows and skylights. A similarly impressive iron and glass vaulted ceiling may be seen over the top railway station.
New tunnels were built to accommodate through traffic and high-speed rail, but the old terminal’s integrity was preserved thanks to a meticulous restoration in 2009. This allowed the original pediments and turrets, which had been destroyed in the 1950s, to be recreated.
8. Haydarpaşa Railway Station
Haydarpaşa, a less well-known but no less impressive station in Istanbul, is unique in that it was constructed on ground recovered from the Bosporus Strait, leaving it surrounded by water on three sides. Built by German architects Otto Ritter and Helmut Conu and dedicated on the birthday of Sultan Mehmed V in 1909, the structure is a massive example of neoclassical architecture.
There are high windows and vaulted ceilings in the station’s concourse. Despite being closed since 2012 for repairs and the installation of high-speed rail, Haydarpaşa is still a magnificent sight from the outside, especially when seen from the water.
