The criteria for the station or stations located on a high-speed network in a given city must consider the optimal requirements of city and citizens, as well as those specific to the railway system. A functional design is absolutely essential, and parallel business activities are a common feature of high speed stations. Apart from services inside railway stations, the intermodal component, meaning the connection of the rail station to the city centre and airports, is very important, mainly if the link is created with the help of rail transport as well. The perception of rail stations as “disturbing” architectural structures inside cities is no longer valid.
Railway stations are a crucial aspect of every railway journey, so it is vital for the facilities they offer to be designed in a way that meets the needs of each passenger. The problems that railway station managers are faced with are related to the way in which these railway stations can become more attractive for passengers, provide more accessible and more eco-friendly services or efficient methods through which railway stations can gene-rate profits. Railway stations have to be attractive and meet the expectations of passengers and retail customers. Most of the times, the railway station is the first image associated with the idea of railway transport. They have to transform, just like airports, into profit-generating hubs.
What can we say about the central position of a railway station? Many railway station locations are attractive as retail location, due to their high accessibility on regional scale, but whether they have the real effect on the distribution of retail location still needs to be investigated. One of the acute problems that railway managers are confronted with is the liberalisation of the railway passenger transport services on long distances, an activity initiated in 2010 in most West-European countries. Thus, railway station managers will have to prove their impartiality with respect to all market players. New operators will demand their own ticketing facilities to meet the demands of their customers and the railway stations will have to provide almost the same facilities as airports: restaurants, shopping centres, modern waiting rooms.
Railway stations in Western Europe, such as those in Germany, France, Great Britain, Switzerland, Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands are already providing customers with high-standard services that integrate in the urban landscape as profit-generating shopping centres and which are no longer seen as mere railway stations in the city centre.
The rapid development of the different transit systems has led to the modernisation of railway stations along the crossed route. They have to be as aesthetically built or modernised as possible and to dispose of enough capacity to provide shelter for users. Passengers in transit need special places where they should wait for the next train. Railway stations, integrated to other open and attractive public spaces and eco-friendly pedestrian ways will attract users and will maintain passenger traffic.
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