Beautiful train stations around the world you can’t miss

 Perhaps the most prized architectural feature in a city is one of its beautiful train stations. People frequently choose the sky over the rail because there are seemingly nonstop flights everywhere. But even so, there’s something nostalgic and even romantic about boarding a train that can’t be matched by any other way of transportation, especially with aeroplanes becoming more advanced every year. Here is a pick-out of some of the most breathtaking train stations around the world.

Kuala Lumpur Railway Station

Inaugurated in 1910, this spectacular train station was designed by the British government architect named Arthur Benison Hubback and opened in 1910. The  neo-Moorish Kuala Lumpur station, Malaysia, is a stunning agglomeration of minarets, pavilions with dome tops, and articulated arches. The gorgeous white-and-cream train station, which is now more of a centre for commuters than visitors, is nonetheless worth a visit. 

Milano Centrale

Milano Centrale is Italy’s second largest station and opened in 1931. Union Station in Washington, D.C. served as its inspiration at first, but after Mussolini came to power, he enlarged the Beaux Arts design to incorporate aspects of Art Nouveau and Art Deco. The astonishing results include five train shelters covered in enormous iron-and-glass canopies, 118,000 square feet of marble floors, and a variety of muscular stone sculptures.

Kanazawa station 

Initial responses to Kanazawa’s circa 1898 station’s refurbishment in 2005 were conflicting. Many people found the addition of the ultramodern glass and steel dome and enormous drum-shaped wood gate to be out of place. However, tourists continue to swarm to the dramatic additions to the Ishikawa, Japan station, and the new buildings’ attractiveness easily rivals the other attractions in the ancient town, such as a geisha district and former samurai quarters. 

Helsinki Central Station

Finland's capital city’s one of the most popular landmark, the city’s initial train station was erected in 1860 and connected Helsinki and Hämeenlinna. It was replaced by the current one that is still there today, an Art Deco-style building with a curved grand entrance. Even though the new one gained appeal right away, things got off to a bumpy start since Carl Albert Edelfelt, the original architect, had designed a structure that was too tiny. As a result, the government held a competition to choose a new architect. Eliel Saarinen was chosen as the station’s new designer after 21 entries were received. 

Toledo Metro Station

Internationally recognised architects gave the metro stations in Naples a spectacular makeover in the early 2000s. Oscar Tusquets, a Spanish architect, used the elements of soil, water, and light in the design of one of them, the Toledo metro station. The brand-new station, which opened in 2012, is a stunning sea of blue bisazza mosaics. Every detail of the station has been thoughtfully sketched, like the shapes, colours or the materials, to create a one of a kind legacy of aesthetic value.

Grand Central Station 

With 45 track platforms and 63 tracks, Grand Central is the biggest train station in the world. Trains depart from that station every 58 seconds during the busiest part of the morning commute. The current design, finished in 1913, is still a masterpiece of New York architecture. The painted zodiac constellations on the vast concourse’s cavernous domed ceiling were nearly completely covered by cigarette smoke damage until a 1998 restoration. Elegant marble staircases at either end and a four-faced milk-glass and bronze clock above its central information booth stand out in the expansive concourse. A Tiffany clock on the terminal’s 42nd Street facade and the iconic underground Oyster Bar restaurant, which has a serpentine lunch bar, a whispering gallery in its doorway arch, and terra-cotta Guastavino tiles lining its vaulted ceiling, are two further attractions.

King’s Cross Station

Designed by architect Lewis Cubitt, this historic section of London was completed in 1852. As the entrance to Platform 9 ¾ and the Hogwarts Express in the Harry Potter series, it makes one of its most eminent appearances. J.K. Rowling chose King’s Cross because it was there that her parents first met, on a train. It is a significant monument with its own cultural significance and serves as more than just a transportation hub. There are plenty of facts given the more than 160 years of history.

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