Table of contents:
- Grand Central Terminal
- St Pancras Station, London
- Chhatrapati Shivaji Station, Mumbai
- Shinjuku Station, Tokyo
- Abandoned Canfranc International Station, Spain
Video: 5 train stations that have become attractions: the largest, most expensive and most abandoned, etc
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
Acquaintance with new countries for many tourists begins from the train stations - these buildings, like the entrance gates, greet guests and provide food for first impressions. Therefore, it was railway stations, like ports in past centuries, that tried to decorate and give them monumentality. Often, train stations, as important public objects, become part of the history of their country and turn into real attractions.
Grand Central Terminal
The oldest railway junction of the huge city holds the world record for the number of platforms (there are 44!) And tracks (67). In 1871, at the time of its final completion, the Grand Central Station was the most expensive in the world. $ 43 million was spent on its construction. Today, when the budget of huge skyscrapers exceeds billions, this amount does not seem very impressive, but for the end of the 19th century it was impressive.
Americans are very fond of their train station, it is one of the tourist attractions (even those guests of the city who prefer to travel by other means of transport drop in here). In addition, the famous building has already appeared in several dozen films, so it is a real world star. It is interesting that until recently the "secret" 61st platform operated at the Central Station. True, it was used only once in history - to board the Franklin Roosevelt train.
St Pancras Station, London
A magnificent example of English neo-Gothic architecture of the Victorian period made of red brick has become one of the "calling cards" of London. The most impressive part of it, apart from the façade, is the iron-and-glass arched railway landing. The station received its first visitors in 1868, and at that time the huge terminal was the widest transparent structure in the world. Queen Victoria personally oversaw the construction of a unique building that was supposed to symbolize the greatness of the British Empire. The railway junction received its name in honor of the nearby church of St. Pancratius.
Chhatrapati Shivaji Station, Mumbai
Another magnificent Victorian creation, located in a former colony, was even named after Queen Victoria. The station, reminiscent of an oriental palace, took 10 years to build and was launched in 1888. He changed the name only a hundred years later, instead of the English ruler, he now bears the name of the national hero of India. Today, Chhatrapati Shivaji Station is one of the few railway junctions included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Shinjuku Station, Tokyo
The railway station, located in one of the districts of Tokyo, may not be a masterpiece of architecture, but entered the Guinness Book of Records as the busiest train station in the world. About 3.5 million passengers pass through it every day. To accommodate such a human flow, the building has more than 200 exits. Interestingly, at the end of the 19th century, when this branch line was created, Shinjuku Station was not at all an important transport hub, but gradually, with the development of the city, its importance and passenger traffic increased. The station is also remembered by the Japanese in connection with the student unrest in the late 1960s, when a crowd of 300,000 in honor of the International Anti-War Day blocked the tracks and stopped the movement of trains, and in May 1995 a major terrorist attack was prevented here - a member of the Aum Shinrikyo sect tried to install the device containing cyanide in the underpass toilet. Fortunately, a vigilant train station attendant noticed this and mass poisoning at the busiest station in the world was prevented.
Abandoned Canfranc International Station, Spain
In 1928, Canfranc International Station was the largest in Europe. For several decades, it served as the most important station between Spain and France and received thousands of passengers every day. This unusual gigantic structure (the length of many platforms exceeds 200 meters) was called the "Mountain Titanic" - and, unfortunately, he almost shared the fate of the magnificent ship. In 1970, a train crash destroyed the bridge between France and Spain, and the railway line was abandoned because it was too expensive to repair the crossing. This section of the border between the two countries was closed, and the luxurious train station - a masterpiece of art nouveau architecture - was simply abandoned.
Today, the unique building is used in an extremely unusual way - in one of its underground tunnels, at a depth of 850 meters, a unique scientific laboratory was built, completely protected from external radiation. High-precision experiments are carried out there and thus the station, abandoned for 50 years, continues to be useful. The Spanish government plans to create a luxury hotel on its basis and, perhaps, Canfranc will soon find a second life in this capacity.
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