Europe's abandoned railway stations
In some of Europe's biggest cities sit abandoned rail relics, some converted to other uses while others stand derelict.
For the first time in almost a century, visitors have been descending into the bowels of the original Shepherd’s Bush underground subways in London, which have been out of use since they served as air-raid shelters during World War II.
Transport for London’s tour, launched in October, acts as a reminder that there are thousands of disused and abandoned railway stations and depots across Britain and Europe. While many have completely disappeared, some have been converted to other uses and others stand derelict. At these ghost stations in city centres and by grassy tracks surrounded by fields, we can imagine the former scenes of hissing steam, urgent whistles, slamming of doors, and the excitement of arrivals and departures.
Collectors of lost railways and stations develop a keen eye for surviving features: bridge abutments where arches have been demolished; rail-less embankments that cut across the contours of the landscape. But it is the buildings that are of most interest, because we can relish the details that remain: perhaps a long-stopped clock; the fretwork of a platform verandah; a waterless water column; and hints of former traffic, such as an empty goods van on a rusty siding.
But things do change. That station house you see today in some small town, with its musty ticket hall, fractured plasterwork, barely legible signs and inevitable graffiti, with rosebay and buddleia blooming in the track-bed, may next year be smartened up, repainted and revived as a cafe or a community centre, once again serving a purpose. In a strange way we can enjoy decay – and what writer Rose Macaulay calls “ruin pleasure” – as it mingles with nostalgia and offers an insight into the recent past. The sensations and feelings aroused by such discoveries only enrich our travel.
Chamberí Metro Station, Madrid
The Spanish capital’s first underground line, which opened in 1919, could not be extended for modern trains and closed in 1966. Restored to its original condition, its furnishings, ceramic tiling and Art Nouveau advertisements are redolent of the 1920s. A visit provides an intriguing trip to the Madrid of 100 years ago when people were reluctant to go underground to travel, and the rounded shapes and bright, strong colours were intended to reassure. It is open to the public as a living museum, though trains still whizz through.
Stay: Posada del Leon de Oro; rooms from about $110 a night.
Brignoles, Var, France
This classic country station, with a crossing loop on the single track, has welcomed no passenger trains since 1939. The line through Brignoles was used by occasional goods trains until 1987, and the rails remain in place. In summer, it can still be visited on the Train Touristique du Centre-Var, starting from Carnoules-les-Platanes and using vintage diesel railcars. Step on the platform and imbibe the ambience of the French country railway, which film buffs may have seen in Daniel Auteuil’s The Well-Digger’s Daughter (2011). And there’s plenty to explore in the attractive medieval town of Brignoles, surrounded by vineyards and with lively markets on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
Stay: Hotel Ibis, Chemin Adrets, is in a green setting; rooms from about $135 a night.
Colditz Station, Saxony, Germany
Colditz Castle, a supposedly escape-proof former prisoner-of-war camp, still stands on the hill above this disused station. Nowadays it houses a youth hostel and a museum. But visitors have to arrive, and escape, by road, as the line closed in 1999. The station strongly evokes the same forbidding aspect as the castle. A standard German design, it manages to have a somewhat sinister aspect, enhanced by the windowless wings on each side of the central pavilion.
Stay: Parkhotel Muldental, a modernised Art Nouveau house, is about 3km away and on the Muldental cycleway; rooms from about $125 a night.
Old Lagos Station, Lagos, Portugal
Situated next to the new terminus, the original final stop of the Algarve railway was the most westerly station in mainland Europe when it opened in 1922. Rail buffs could start from here to travel by train all the way to Vladivostok on the Pacific coast of Russia. It is an attractive building, with tiled panels set into the walls. Abandoned in 2003, it has yet to find a role. Adjacent, and for many years equally neglected, is the Lagos railway museum, housed in the former locomotive shed. Two 19th-century English-built locomotives are said to be inside.
Stay: Vila Gale Lagos, Rua Sophie Andresen, Meia Praia, a resort hotel with large gardens; rooms from about $142 a night.
Anhalter Bahnhof, Berlin
Europe’s largest station when it was rebuilt and extended in 1880, Anhalter Bahnhof served lines radiating east and south, and international trains travelling as far as Greece and Italy. Its glazed brick classical-imperial splendour was intended to reflect the wealth and power of the new German empire. Left roofless by Allied bombs, from 1952 it was disused and today only the central part of the great facade, with its porte-cochere, remains. Nearby is the Natur-Park Sudgelande, once the huge Tempelhof marshalling yard but these days mingling greenery, railway relics and modern sculpture in an atmospheric setting.
Stay: Soho House; rooms from about $180 a night.
Kacov Station, Kutna Hora District, Czech Republic
In the middle of Bohemia, Kacov is a small village with a wayside station on a rural cross-country line. It’s a classic provincial building, brick with stucco rendering and upstairs accommodation for the stationmaster and his family. Though it has no regular trains, Kacov is the terminus for a tourist service, the Sazava-Pacific, often pulled by steam locomotives. Since work on conserving the track is ongoing, it is best to check timetables on the website.
Stay:Kacov is home to one of the country’s oldest breweries, Pivovar Hubertus, which welcomes visitors at its hotel; rooms from about $126 a night.
Mesocco, Ticino Canton, Switzerland
Mesocco was the terminus of the metre-gauge Bellinzona-Mesocco railway from 1907-1972. A surprising number of narrow-gauge routes threaded the Swiss Alps, opening the way to places previously reached only by packhorse. This line was an outlier of the Rhaetian network, leading up to the San Bernardino ski slopes. Remains of tracks can be seen round the Alpine-style station house in the village centre. Much of the 30km from Bellinzona up to Mesocco is now a walkway amid magnificent Alpine scenery.
Stay: Hotel Bellevue in San Bernardino, 16km up the valley; rooms from about $215 a night.
Vukovar, Croatia
In the bitter warfare following the break-up of Yugoslavia in the early ’90s, this town on the Danube, close to the Serbian border, was a scene of destruction and atrocities. The old station, close to the river, wrecked by shellfire during the 87-day siege by Serbian forces in 1991, is a shock to the visitor. The relatively recent nature of these events means this ruin has not been softened by the patina of time. The extent of destruction was such that Vukovar has become one of Europe’s “dark tourism” destinations. To stand in what remains of the station building is a grim reminder of what intercommunal strife can do.
Stay: Hotel Lav overlooks the river; rooms from about $135 a night.
Haapsalu, Estonia
Like many other seaside towns at the end of a branch line, this pleasant Baltic resort 100km from Tallinn has lost its railway link, which closed in 2004, a century after it opened. The stone and wood station building is grand, befitting the royal and aristocratic clientele of the spas and therapeutic mud baths for which the place was famous. Its 216m platform canopy was claimed as Europe’s longest, and perhaps still is. While many old stations are left to deteriorate, this one has been maintained in pristine condition and is now a railway museum.
Stay: Hotel Paeva Villais on the waterfront; rooms from about $162 a night.
In the know
London Transport offers Hidden London tours to remote and closed stations and tunnels on the Underground that are usually off-limits to visitors. Its Shepherd’s Bush tours run Wednesday to Sunday; tickets £44 ($77).
David Ross is the author of Abandoned Train Stations (Amber Books, 2022).
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