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Trivia: Interesting or unusual railway stations in other countries.

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Midnight Sun

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There is one station where it is advised not to buy a single ticket to there. This being 'Hell, near Trondheim in Norway. No point in temping fate.

The details for trains on the www.banenor.no site in English.

From Hell there are regional train services towards Trondheim, Steinkjer and Östersund in Sweden.
 
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30907

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Not to mention the Looe branch at Liskeard, it's almost like it has its own station.
Both that and Watford are directly connected to other platforms within the station; Tabor's is across the forecourt (though the connecting spur, cutting through sidings, is similar to Liskeard as I first remember it about 1970).
I haven't been, but the station at Nova Gorica is in Slovenia, but the forecourt is in Italy.
Pedant mode - not quite, the 1947 border is marked by a plaque about halfway across it.
 

tasky

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It's been written about a lot, by people far better at it than me, but Kyoto station is a remarkable construction. At platform level, fairly typical of major Japanese stations, with different sub-stations for different rail companies, and a special section just for Shinkansen. Lots of renowned ekiben (station bento) providers, too. However, the main railway building is epic in scale and construction, although often criticised for being "not Japanese enough". It features JR's own department store (Isetan) built into the slope, and some sky walks and sky gardens high above the platforms.

gyul1zmjp3401.jpg

I remember feeling massively exposed on the escalators here, they're a bit scary if you look behind you!
 

paddington

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There's also Lotstetten and Jestetten which are in Germany but served by the Swiss rail network.
 

jamesontheroad

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I have never been, but one day I want to visit Doai station on the Joetsu Line in Japan, operated by JR East.

The southbound platform is normal enough, elevated above ground. The northbound platform, however, is the deepest underground station in Japan, located in the 14km long Shin-Shimizu Tunnel. There are no elevators, only a vertiginous descent of 486 steps. It is almost a ghost station, with only a smattering of hikers and tourists using it.

There are some amazing photos here: https://offbeatjapan.org/doai-station-deepest/
 

tony6499

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There is one station where it is advised not to buy a single ticket to there. This being 'Hell, near Trondheim in Norway. No point in temping fate.

The details for trains on the www.banenor.no site in English.

From Hell there are regional train services towards Trondheim, Steinkjer and Östersund in Sweden.

There was a feature on this station on the Scenic Railway programme last week and showed around the station and interviewed the station master
 

MarcVD

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The french village of Leymen is served by a section of a few kilometres running in french territory of the line 10 Dornach-Rodersdorf of the swiss tramway network of Basel. Less surprising today, as this network has recently been extended to french and german localities just beyond the border, but a real oddity 30 or 40 years ago,
 

181

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I haven't been, but the station at Nova Gorica is in Slovenia, but the forecourt is in Italy

Pedant mode - not quite, the 1947 border is marked by a plaque about halfway across it.

There are some pictures at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transalpina_Square.

The Canadian National station in Vancouver is another border-related oddity -- it's arguably the main station in a major Canadian city (the Canadian Pacific station has more trains, but only on a commuter route), but most of the (few) trains are run by Amtrak and serve no other Canadian stations.

North America has quite a lot of both a) major city stations with very few trains, and b) stations where the only passenger trains call in the middle of the night; arguably neither counts as unusual there.
 

30907

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There is one station where it is advised not to buy a single ticket to there. This being 'Hell, near Trondheim in Norway.
Only English speakers need worry, though :)
On a related theme, suitable for Advent, in Germany you can get from the Kingdom of Heaven (Himmelreich, Freiburg/Breisgau) via the Pearly Gates (Himmelpforten, Lower Elbe) to the Heavenly City (Himmelstadt, Augsburg). It is a considerable journey.
Others have pursued the idea, I won't:)
http://www.victorianweb.org/technology/railways/61.html.

In any case, there's nothing unusual about the stations AFAIK (only been through Himmelreich - and Hell)
 

Wirewiper

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The french village of Leymen is served by a section of a few kilometres running in french territory of the line 10 Dornach-Rodersdorf of the swiss tramway network of Basel. Less surprising today, as this network has recently been extended to french and german localities just beyond the border, but a real oddity 30 or 40 years ago,

Rather like Strasbourg's Line D extends into [corrected] Kehl, Germany. International travel for €1.60!

Another international journey you can do on local light rail for a few euros is on the San Sebastian/Donostia Metro, which terminates just over the French border at Hendaye/Hendaia.
 
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Spoorslag '70

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Rather like Strasbourg's Line D extends into Kiel, Germany. International travel for €1.60!
It's Kehl (Kiel is somewhere completly different and would be a steal for €1.60 from Straßburg).

Another station that popped up in my mind when planning a fun trip for "dies academicus" (where my only lecture on Thursdays is cancelled - excellent!) is Mittergars (between Mühldorf and Wasserburg): Request stop, very odd times (a couple of trains between 6am and 8am, one at 10:42, one at 14:42 and a couple of trains from 22:00) and closing from the december timetable change.
 

eastwestdivide

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... Kingdom of Heaven (Himmelreich, Freiburg/Breisgau) via the Pearly Gates (Himmelpforten, Lower Elbe) to the Heavenly City (Himmelstadt, Augsburg). It is a considerable journey...
Double bonus for Himmelreich, as it's on the Höllentalbahn (Hell's Valley Railway). I took a pic through a grubby window:
Himmelreich.jpg
 

61653 HTAFC

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Latour De Carol and Montreux, each with three different track gauges
Latour is particularly peculiar: three different gauges with three different electrification systems all terminate there. A couple of stops up the line towards Toulouse is the station of L'Hospitalet-près-l'Andorre which acts as a sort of "Andorra Parkway" station!
 

70014IronDuke

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I haven't been, but the station at Nova Gorica is in Slovenia, but the forecourt is in Italy.
Whereas once it had armed border fences, now within Schengen there are apparently no obstacles any more.
As 30907 says, not quite - from memory, the border line is about 10 - 12 metres from the station door. Still quite amazing though, I agree.

And it hasn't been 'armed' especially (apart from the fact that police both sides routinely carry side arms) for many years. Yes, I think it was a tense border in the early-mid 50s, especially after the UN (I think it was) first delineated it, but even by the 80s, my impression is that it had become quite friendly. There was actually some border revision (in the 70s, perhaps?) because the line zig-zagged eg inside a cemetery, which kind of made putting flowers on some grave a rather special experience :)

Italy allowed a corridor road to be built through the cut off north of Gorica to what is now Slovenia's Goriska Brda region - not sure when, but I think it was still Yugoslav times, ie pre 1991.

By the early 2000s, ie before Schengen, the border fencing was removed in front of Nova Gorica station, and the public was allowed to enter the Italian side, but not beyond the bounds of the square. Whether anyone actually controlled it from the offical border crossing - about 150 metres down the road - I have no idea.

Meanwhile all the usual border apparatus has sprung up between the states of the former Yugoslavia....

Well, the Croatia - Slovene border is a Schengen border, so it's actually very much mandated by the EU. I suspect the locals know how and where to do a quick cross for a glass of vino in better a gostilna. But I did get told of a group of four Germans who strayed into Croatia from Slovenia not too far from Ljutomer who were fined something awful - I think it was euro 400 each by the Croat border guards, which seems a trifle excessive. (But I suppose Croats away from the coast have to make their money somehow :( ) This was maybe 7 years ago.

As for, say, Bosnia to Croatia, or Montenegro to Kosovo etc, I suspect there are many places where the locals cross illicitly. Pretty much impossible to seal those borders completely without huge amounts of money.
 

MacCookie

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On a similar note, the stations north of Domodossola but still in Italy are electrified on the Swiss system, and served by Swiss BLS trains.

Brig to Domodossola is managed by SBB and uses Swiss voltage and train protection system.

Someone mentioned bus station on top of the railway station. Check out Chur, CH. Not only does it have a bus station above the platforms, but it has different gauge railway lines and there’s a second set of metre gauge platforms on the street outside the station.

Someone mentioned Basel Bad, CH. Not only is this the border station in Switzerland, but the station is managed by DB (the only station they manage that’s not in Germany).

Basel Centralbahnhof, CH, has SBB and SNCF platforms, with the TGV using the SBB platforms.

Venlo, NL, has platforms where the voltage can be changed to suit the traction being used.

Lugano, CH, is a standard gauge station with a funicular railway station and a second metre gauge line.

Beinwil am See, CH, has a level crossing over a roundabout on the end of the platform.

cheers,
Ewan
 

MarcVD

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Venlo, NL, has platforms where the voltage can be changed to suit the traction being used.

There are several others. Aachen has at least two commutable tracks, Basel at least one. Certainly many others. Some have disappeared recently with the generalization of multi-system locos : Quevy, Jeumont, Luxemburg.
 

MarcVD

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Latour is particularly peculiar: three different gauges with three different electrification systems all terminate there. A couple of stops up the line towards Toulouse is the station of L'Hospitalet-près-l'Andorre which acts as a sort of "Andorra Parkway" station!

The UIC gauge track with 1500V catenary does not terminate there but goes all the way to Puigcerda. It has no regular service, but as far as I know, has not been lifted.
 

ricohallo

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Netherlands:
The stations of Enschede de Eschmarke and Glanerbrug between Enschede and Gronau are only served by DB trains.

Belgium:
Line 144 (Gembloux - Jemeppe-sur-Sambre) with stations Mazy and Chapelle-Dieu: only a few peak hour trains.
Furthermore the stations of Aarsele, Ville-Pommeroeul, Harchies, Callenelle, Maubray, Pry and Beignée also only get peak hour trains.
Mortsel-Oude-God station between Antwerp and Mechelen: Every time a train comes into the tunnel an alarm will sound and the automatic doors will close for a moment. Never seen this kind of system anywhere else.
Athus station: Frequently served by CFL by 1-2x/hour services from Luxembourg Monday-Sunday, while SNCB/NMBS only provides a 1x/hour service mondays-fridays only, with some additional peak hour trains. Before the December 2018 timetable change the SNCB/NMBS service was even only once per 2 hours.

Luxembourg:
Line 60B (Noertzange - Rumelange) with stations Kayl, Tétange and Rumelange: only a few peak hour trains.
Stations Paradiso and Merkholtz between Kautenbach and Wiltz: the only request stops in Luxembourg and in fact in all of the BeNeLux.

France:
Audun-le-Tiche station is only served by CFL services from Esch-sur-Alzette. Similarly Volmerange-les-Mines is only served by CFL services from Bettembourg. Both stations are also maintained by CFL.

Germany:
The stations of Beringhausen and Messinghausen between Hagen and Warburg (Westf) get a very sparce train service of just a few early morning and late evening trains.
Weener station is only served by Dutch Arriva trains from Groningen.
Igel station is only served by CFL services between Luxembourg and Koblenz.
Emden Außenhafen station is only served by a few trains a day, which are timed to the departures of the ferries departing from the ferry terminal next to the railway station.
 

61653 HTAFC

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The UIC gauge track with 1500V catenary does not terminate there but goes all the way to Puigcerda. It has no regular service, but as far as I know, has not been lifted.
I travelled the route last year, the Iberian gauge track is all there is until a few hundred metres before arrival at Latour.

There's the remains of a junction just beyond Puigcerda, but that's all Iberian gauge.
 

Spamcan81

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In Cuba Ciego de Avila station is served by two lines that cross each other on the flat at right angles so the platforms are at 90º to each other.
 

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30907

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The UIC gauge track with 1500V catenary does not terminate there but goes all the way to Puigcerda. It has no regular service, but as far as I know, has not been lifted.
Looking at satellite view, it's still there but access to the sidings at Puigcerda has been cut. However, I dont recall seeing it from the train in September.
I presume it was used for freight, as AFAIK SNCF passenger trains have always finished at Latour - unlike at Hendaye and Cerbere.
 

MarcVD

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Looking at satellite view, it's still there but access to the sidings at Puigcerda has been cut. However, I dont recall seeing it from the train in September.
I presume it was used for freight, as AFAIK SNCF passenger trains have always finished at Latour - unlike at Hendaye and Cerbere.

Yes, just had a look too. Not only all the UIC gauge sidings in Puigcerda but also the track from Latour are clearly disused now. I was there some 30 years ago, and while the regular SNCF trains already terminated in Latour, I was able to board a tourist train that went to Puigcerda. Clearly not feasable anymore today.
 

Fireless

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Enschede station in the Netherlands has a track connection between the line from Germany (track 4 b) and the dutch railway system (track 4) which is usually blocked by two buffer stops.
 

axlecounter

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The following official SBB document shows that the Swiss/Italian infrastructure boundary is at Iselle just south of the Simplon Tunnel portal:

https://company.sbb.ch/content/dam/...nze/Factsheet_Domodossola.pdf.sbbdownload.pdf

However of course Swiss voltage and train protection does continue to Domodossola, but maybe RFI is responsible for infrastructure maintenance?

That is correct. The infrastructure is managed by SBB until the northern portal of the short tunnel after the Simplon tunnel (and before Iselle), beyond that by RFI. Although it has to be said that rail traffic is managed by BLS between Brig and Domodossola, while the actual “signaller work” is by BLS between Brig and St.di G.* and by RFI from there to Domo, the stations on italian ground being all manned (by RFI staff)!

* that is, Stazione di Galleria, the “station” in the middle of the Simplon tunnel where a train can change tube.
 

Beebman

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Looking at satellite view, it's still there but access to the sidings at Puigcerda has been cut. However, I dont recall seeing it from the train in September.
I presume it was used for freight, as AFAIK SNCF passenger trains have always finished at Latour - unlike at Hendaye and Cerbere.

I've found a cab view video from Ripoll to La Tour de Carol shot 5 years ago:


The part of the video from Puigcerda starts at 1:04:55. At 1:05:34 to to 1:05:46 there are standard-gauge sidings coming in from the left and the current end of the standard-gauge line from La Tour appears on the right. It would appear that the standard-gauge once crossed the broad-gauge on the level but it's all now disconnected.
 

30907

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I've found a cab view video from Ripoll to La Tour de Carol shot 5 years ago:


The part of the video from Puigcerda starts at 1:04:55. At 1:05:34 to to 1:05:46 there are standard-gauge sidings coming in from the left and the current end of the standard-gauge line from La Tour appears on the right. It would appear that the standard-gauge once crossed the broad-gauge on the level but it's all now disconnected.

Thanks. So 5 years ago the standard gauge was heavily overgrown in places and obviously long disused. I wonder when it was last used?
 
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