Portal:Trains/Selected article/2015 archive

This is an archive of article summaries that have appeared in the Selected article section of Portal:Trains in 2015. For past archives, see the complete archive page.

Week 1: December 28, 2014 - January 3

The Grand Trunk Western Railroad Company (reporting mark GTW) is an important American subsidiary of the Canadian National Railway (reporting mark CN) operating in Michigan, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio. Since a corporate restructuring in 1971 the railroad has been under CN's subsidiary holding company the Grand Trunk Corporation. Grand Trunk Western's routes are part of CN's Midwest Division. Its primary mainline between Chicago, Illinois, and Port Huron, Michigan, serves as a connection between railroad interchanges in Chicago and rail lines in eastern Canada and the Northeastern United States. The railroad's extensive trackage in Detroit and across southern lower Michigan has made it an essential link for the automotive industry as a hauler of parts and automobiles from manufacturing plants.

Recently selected: A/S Graakalbanen - Gotthard railway - GO Transit

Week 2: January 4 - January 11

The Great Central Main Line (GCML), also known as the London Extension of the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway (MS&LR), is a former railway line in the United Kingdom. It opened in 1899 and ran from Sheffield in the North of England, southwards through Nottingham and Leicester to Marylebone Station in London. The GCML was the last main line railway built in Britain during the Victorian period. It was built by the railway entrepreneur Edward Watkin who aimed to run a high-speed, north-south main line to London. The line was not only designed to a specification which would permit trains to run at higher speeds, but also built to a larger loading gauge in anticipation of larger continental European trains. The GCML operated as a fast trunk route from the North and the East Midlands to London. It was not initially a financial success, only recovering under the leadership of Sam Fay. In the 1960s, the line was viewed by Dr Beeching as an unnecessary duplication of other lines which served the same places, especially the Midland Main Line and to a lesser extent the West Coast Main Line. Most of the route was closed between 1966 and 1969 under the Beeching axe. A part of the former main line has been preserved as the Great Central (heritage) Railway between Leicester and Loughborough. The route is being assessed by the Labour Party as a cheaper alternative to High Speed 2.

Recently selected: Grand Trunk Western Railroad - A/S Graakalbanen - Gotthard railway

Week 3: January 11 - January 17

The Green Diamond was a streamlined passenger train operated by the Illinois Central Railroad between Chicago, Illinois and St. Louis, Missouri. It operated from 1936 until 1968. It was the Illinois Central's first streamliner. Initially it operated with Illinois Central 121, the last of the 1930s fixed-consist articulated streamliners built in the United States. After 1947 it operated with more conventional streamlined equipment until its discontinuance. The name honored the "green diamond" in the Illinois Central's logo as well as the Diamond Special, the Illinois Central's oldest train on the Chicago-St. Louis run.

Recently selected: Great Central Main Line - Grand Trunk Western Railroad - A/S Graakalbanen

Week 4: January 18 - January 24

The Green Line is a light rail system run by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) in the Boston, Massachusetts, metropolitan area. It is the oldest Boston subway line, with tunnel sections dating to 1897. It runs underground through downtown Boston, and on the surface on several radial boulevards and into inner suburbs. With a daily weekday ridership of 210,000 in early 2014, it is the second most heavily-used light rail system in the country. The line was assigned the green color in 1967 during a systemwide rebranding because several branches pass through sections of the Emerald Necklace of Boston. The four branches are the remnants of a large streetcar system, which began in 1856 with the Cambridge Horse Railroad and was consolidated until the Boston Elevated Railway several decades later. The Tremont Street Subway—the oldest subway tunnel in North America—opened its first section on September 1, 1897, to take streetcars off overcrowded downtown streets; it was extended five times over the next five decades. The streetcar system peaked in size around 1930 and was gradually replaced with trackless trolleys and buses, with cuts as late as 1985. A new branch opened on a converted commuter rail line in 1959; the Green Line Extension project will add two new branches into Somerville and Medford in 2017 and 2019.

Recently selected: Green Diamond - Great Central Main Line - Grand Trunk Western Railroad

Week 5: January 25 - January 31

The Grorud Line (Norwegian: Grorudbanen) is a 13.0-kilometer long (8.1 mi) line on the Oslo Metro between Tøyen and Vestli in Oslo, Norway. Built as a mix of underground, at ground level and as an elevated line, it runs through the northern part of Groruddalen, serving such neighborhoods as Grorud, Romsås and Stovner. Line 5 runs along the line eight times per hour. The westernmost part of the line, from Tøyen to Carl Berners plass, is also used by Line 6, which continues along the Ring Line. The two will be connected via the Løren Line when construction concludes. With 40,000 daily riders, the Grorud Line is the busiest branch of the metro. Proposals for an urban railway through the upper parts of Groruddalen were first articulated in public documents in 1919. Planning started in the late 1940s and the line was politically approved in 1954, along with three other metro lines and the Common Tunnel. Construction started in 1956 and was part of a process to transform Groruddalen into a residential area. The first part of the Grorud Line, from Tøyen to Grorud, was opened on 16 October 1966. The rest of the line opened in three stages: to Rommen on 3 March 1974, to Stovner on 18 August and to Vestli on 21 December 1975. The Ring Line connection opened on 22 August 2006 and since 2013 the Løren Line has been under construction.

Recently selected: Green Line (MBTA) - Green Diamond - Great Central Main Line

Week 6: February 1 - February 7

The Great Western Railway (GWR) 5700 Class, or 57xx class, is a class of 0-6-0 pannier tank steam locomotive, built between 1929 and 1950. 863 were built, making them the most prolific class of the GWR, and one of the most numerous classes of British steam locomotive. Although officially designated by GWR as "light goods and shunting engines", they were also used for passenger working on branch, suburban, and shorter mainline journeys. They were distributed across most of the GWR network and, after nationalisation of the railways in 1948, across the British Railways Western Region, and also other regions. The 5700s were not as glamorous as the GWR Castles and Kings, but became just as much of an icon of the GWR. As a result of the 1955 Modernisation Plan, the 5700 Class was withdrawn from BR service between 1956 and 1966. Nineteen withdrawn locomotives were sold to London Transport and industry, of which ten were later preserved, along with six that were retrieved from scrapyards.

Recently selected: Grorud Line - Green Line (MBTA) - Green Diamond

Week 7: February 8 - February 14

The Harrow and Wealdstone rail crash was (and as of December 2014 remains) the worst peacetime rail crash in the United Kingdom: a multiple train collision at Harrow and Wealdstone station, in London, on the morning of 8 October 1952. An express train from Perth crashed at speed into the rear of a local passenger train stopped at the station's platform no 4. The wreckage blocked adjacent lines, and within a few seconds a "double-headed" express train, travelling north at 60 miles per hour (100 kph), crashed into the Perth train's locomotive. There were 112 fatalities and 88 people were detained in hospital. The slow lines were reopened early the following morning, but it was several days before traffic was allowed on all lines. A subsequent Ministry of Transport report on the crash found that the driver of the Perth train had passed a caution signal and two danger signals before colliding with the local train. The accident accelerated the introduction of Automatic Warning System – by the time the report had been published British Railways had agreed to a five-year plan to install the system that warned drivers that they had passed an adverse signal.

Recently selected: GWR 5700 Class - Grorud Line - Green Line (MBTA)

Week 8: February 15 - February 21

The Hauerseter–Gardermoen Line (Norwegian: Hauerseter–Gardermobanen), previously also known as the Gardermoen Line, is an abandoned, 6.7-kilometer (4.2 mi) branch line in Ullensaker, Norway, which connected Hauerseter Station on the Trunk Line to Gardermoen Air Station. The line had three branches at Gardermoen, one of which led to Trandum. Plans for a branch existed from the early 20th century, but the line was not built until the German occupation of Norway in 1940, when the Luftwaffe upgraded Gardermoen. The line opened on 13 June 1941. After the end of the Second World War in 1945 the line was transferred to the Royal Norwegian Air Force. The line saw limited passenger and cargo traffic, mostly the haulage of aviation fuel. From the 1970s the line fell out of general use, although it was kept in case of war.

Recently selected: Harrow and Wealdstone rail crash - GWR 5700 Class - Grorud Line

Week 9: February 22 - February 28

Heathrow Airtrack was a proposed railway link in west London, England, UK. The line as proposed by BAA, would have run from Heathrow Terminal 5 into central London and across the suburbs of south-west London. BAA announced that it was abandoning the project in April 2011. In October 2011 Wandsworth Council announced a revised plan called Airtrack-Lite. The BAA proposal would have provided direct rail services from the airport to London Waterloo, Reading and Guildford, and offered an alternative route to the existing rail routes to Heathrow (namely Heathrow Express, Heathrow Connect and the Piccadilly line). The scheme, estimated to cost around £673 million, was controversial mainly because of the projected impact on local road traffic due to the high number of level crossings on the route. In April 2011, BAA announced that it was abandoning the project, citing the unavailability of government subsidy and other priorities for Heathrow, such as linking to Crossrail and HS2. Both proposals involve reopening a section of the former West Drayton to Staines railway line, roughly following the southern route of the line to a junction with the Staines to Windsor Line and a reinstatement of the Staines West chord.

Recently selected: Hauerseter–Gardermoen Line - Harrow and Wealdstone rail crash - GWR 5700 Class

Week 10: March 1 - March 7

The Helsinki Metro (Finnish: Helsingin metro, Swedish: Helsingfors metro), is the metro system in Helsinki, Finland. It is the world's most northern metro system, and the only one in Finland. The system was opened to the general public on 2 August 1982 after 27 years of planning. It is operated by Helsinki City Transport (HKL) for Helsinki Regional Transport Authority (HSL) and carries 62 million passengers per year. The system contains a single forked line with seventeen stations along a total length of 21.1 kilometres (13.1 mi). It primarily serves the tightly built suburbs of East Helsinki, but can also be used as a means of transport within the central parts of the city. The Länsimetro extension will continue the line into western Helsinki and the southern parts of the neighbouring city of Espoo, now served by buses only. The local commuter rail network (overground) that serves north and northwest directions does not intersect with the metro network, but passengers can change trains at the Helsinki Central Railway Station (Metro station Rautatientori).

Recently selected: Heathrow Airtrack - Hauerseter–Gardermoen Line - Harrow and Wealdstone rail crash

Week 11: March 8 - March 14

Hemel Hempsted station was a railway station in the town of Hemel Hempstead in Hertfordshire, England. UK. It was opened in 1877 by the Midland Railway and was originally the terminus of the Nickey Line, a now-defunct branch line which provided railway services to Chiltern Green and Luton and later to Harpenden. The station was located next to an embankment by the junction of Midland Road and Adeyfield Road, opposite the Midland Hotel. The hotel still stands today and the segment of Midland Road that ran in front of it is now a parking area. Midland Road crossed the railway via a bridge. It had a single platform and a booking office, waiting room and a passing loop. A goods yard was located to the west of the station. Passenger traffic on the line ceased in 1947 and the station closed fully in 1963. The siding remained in use for some goods trains until 1969 when the track was lifted and the station was demolished. The Midland Road bridge was filled in and a block of flats was built on the site of the station. The parapet on the north side has survived where the present-day Nickey Line cycle path begins its route to Harpenden. On platform signs and on tickets, the Midland Railway always spelled the station name as Hemel Hempsted without the 'a'.

Recently selected: Helsinki Metro - Heathrow Airtrack - Hauerseter–Gardermoen Line

Week 12: March 15 - March 21

Preserved Hetch Hetchy Railroad rolling stock in 2007

The Hetch Hetchy Railroad (HHRR) was a 68-mile (109 km) standard gauge Class III railroad constructed by the City of San Francisco to support the construction and expansion of the O'Shaughnessy Dam across Hetch Hetchy Valley. Based in Groveland, the HHRR operated from 1917 to 1949. It primarily carried construction crews and materials, but also took excursion passengers, freight, and mail. The line extended from its western terminus at Hetch Hetchy Junction (a junction with the Sierra Railroad at Sierra milepost 26, 1,000 feet (300 m) elevation at 37°48′07″N 120°29′17″W / 37.802°N 120.488°W / 37.802; -120.488), topping out at Poopenaut Pass at 5,064 feet (1,544 m) elevation (37°54′04″N 119°50′17″W / 37.9012°N 119.8381°W / 37.9012; -119.8381), to its eastern terminus at about 3,800 feet (1,200 m) elevation on the rim of the Hetch Hetchy Valley (est. 37°56′49″N 119°46′59″W / 37.947°N 119.783°W / 37.947; -119.783) above the construction site. The mountainous terrain resulted in steep grades (over 4%) and extremely sharp curves (30 degrees, a 190-foot (58 m) radius), requiring trains to move slowly, at speeds of less than 8 miles per hour (13 km/h).

Recently selected: Hemel Hempsted (Midland) railway station - Helsinki Metro - Heathrow Airtrack

Week 13: March 22 - March 28

The Hi-Levels are a fleet of bilevel intercity railroad passenger cars built by the Budd Company for the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway in the 1950s and 1960s. The first two coaches entered service on the El Capitan in 1954 and were an immediate success. Budd built sufficient coaches, dining cars, and lounge cars to fully reequip the El Capitan, with additional coaches seeing use on the San Francisco Chief. Despite plans no Hi-Level sleeping cars were ever produced. Amtrak inherited much of the Santa Fe's Hi-Level fleet in 1971 and continued to use the equipment on its western routes. In 1979 the first Superliners, based on the Hi-Level concept though built by Pullman-Standard, began entering service. As of 2013 Amtrak continues to operate five Hi-Level lounges, which it calls the "Pacific Parlour Cars", on the Coast Starlight.

Recently selected: Hetch Hetchy Railroad - Hemel Hempsted (Midland) railway station - Helsinki Metro

Week 14: March 29 - April 4

A Hiawatha Service train departs Sturtevant station in 2008

Hiawatha Service, or Hiawatha, is the name of an 86-mile (138 km) train route operated by Amtrak on the western shore of Lake Michigan, although the name was historically applied to several different routes that extended across the Midwest and out to the Pacific Ocean. As of 2007, fourteen trains (seven round-trips, six on Sunday) run daily between Chicago, Illinois, and Milwaukee, Wisconsin, making intermediate stops in Glenview, Illinois, Sturtevant, Wisconsin, and General Mitchell International Airport. The line is partially supported by funds from the state governments of Wisconsin and Illinois. The service carried over 800,000 passengers in fiscal year 2011, a 4.7% increase over FY2010. It is Amtrak's ninth-busiest route, and the railroad's busiest line in the Midwest. Ridership has been steadily increasing, with 8 of the last 9 years showing ridership increases as of 2013. Ridership per mile is also very high, exceeded only by the Northeast Regional and the Capitol Corridor. A one-way trip between Milwaukee and Chicago takes about 90 minutes. In the 1930s the same trip took 75 minutes on the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad's Hiawatha.

Recently selected: Hi-Level - Hetch Hetchy Railroad - Hemel Hempsted (Midland) railway station

Week 15: April 5 - April 11

The extra-wide southbound platform at London Underground's Angel station in 2005

Angel is a London Underground station in Angel of the London Borough of Islington. It is on the Bank branch of the Northern line, between Old Street and King's Cross St. Pancras stations, in Travelcard Zone 1. The station was originally built by the City & South London Railway (C&SLR) and opened on 17 November 1901. The station served as a terminus until the line was extended to Euston on 12 May 1907. The station was rebuilt in the early 1990s to accommodate the large number of passengers using the station. This made the station to have an extra-wide southbound platform, the longest escalators on the Underground network and the fourth longest escalators in Western Europe. It is also a proposed station on the Crossrail 2 (Chelsea-Hackney line) project.

Recently selected: Hiawatha Service - Hi-Level - Hetch Hetchy Railroad

Week 16: April 12 - April 18

Beacon Hill is a station on Sound Transit's Link Light Rail system. It is situated between the Mount Baker and SODO stations on the Central Link line, which runs from Seattle–Tacoma International Airport through Rainier Valley to Downtown Seattle. The station is located 160 feet (49 m) under the southeast corner of Beacon Avenue South and South Lander Street in the Beacon Hill neighborhood of Seattle, Washington. Beacon Hill Station was first proposed in 1998 and was opened on July 18, 2009, as part of the inaugural Link line, after five years of tunnel boring and station construction. It consists of a single island platform, divided into two sections by the Beacon Hill Tunnel; four high-speed elevators ferry passengers from the platform to the surface entrance. Trains serve the station 20 hours a day every day; the headway between trains is 7.5 minutes during peak periods, with less frequent service at other times. Beacon Hill Station is also served by two King County Metro buses that stop at a pair of sheltered bus stops on Beacon Avenue.

Recently selected: Angel tube station - Hiawatha Service - Hi-Level

Week 17: April 19 - April 25

Bristol Parkway railway station, on the South Wales Main Line, is in the Stoke Gifford area of the Bristol conurbation. It is 112 miles (180 km) from London Paddington. Its three-letter station code is BPW. The station was opened in 1971 by British Rail, and was the first in a new generation of park and ride stations. It is the third-most heavily used station in the West of England, after Bristol Temple Meads and Bath Spa. There are three platforms, and a well-equipped waiting area. The station is managed by First Great Western, who provide most of the trains at the station, with CrossCountry providing the rest. The line is not electrified, but will be by 2016 as part of the planned modernisation of the Great Western Main Line. A new platform will also be built, allowing increased services from London.

Recently selected: Beacon Hill (Link station) - Angel tube station - Hiawatha Service

Week 18: April 26 - May 2

The Broadway Limited was a passenger train operated by the Pennsylvania Railroad between New York City and Chicago. It operated from 1912 to 1995. It was the Pennsylvania's premier train, competing directly with the New York Central Railroad's 20th Century Limited. The Broadway Limited continued operating after the Penn Central Transportation merger, one of the few long-distance trains to do so. Penn Central conveyed the train to Amtrak in 1971; Amtrak discontinued it in 1995. The train's name referred not to Broadway in Manhattan, but rather to the "broad way" of the Pennsylvania's four-track right of way along a large portion of the route.

Recently selected: Bristol Parkway railway station - Beacon Hill (Link station) - Angel tube station

Week 19: May 3 - May 9

The Cincinnati, Lebanon and Northern Railway (CL&N) was a local passenger and freight-carrying railroad in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Ohio, connecting Cincinnati to Dayton via Lebanon. It was built in the late 19th century to give the town of Lebanon and Warren County better transportation facilities. The railroad was locally known as the "Highland Route", since it followed the ridge between the Little and Great Miami rivers, and was the only line not affected by floods such as the Great Dayton Flood of 1913. The company went through multiple bankruptcies, both before and after its 1881 completion, until the Pennsylvania Railroad gained control in 1896 and leased it in 1921. Except for several years in the mid-1880s, when the line was under control of the 3 ft (914 mm) narrow gauge Toledo, Cincinnati and St. Louis Railroad, it was not a major line, in part due to its steep approach to downtown Cincinnati. For this reason, portions of the line have been abandoned, beginning in 1952 with a segment north of Lebanon. Passenger service was eliminated entirely in 1934. Conrail, the Pennsylvania Railroad's successor, sold the remaining trackage in the 1980s to the Indiana and Ohio Railway, a short line now owned by RailAmerica. That company continues to provide local freight service on the ex-CL&N, and the Lebanon Mason Monroe Railroad operates tourist trains on a portion of the line near Lebanon.

Recently selected: Broadway Limited - Bristol Parkway railway station - Beacon Hill (Link station)

Week 20: May 10 - May 16

The entrance to Acton Town station in 2006

Acton Town is a London Underground station in the south-west corner of Acton of the London Borough of Ealing, west London. The station is served by the District and Piccadilly lines and is in Travelcard Zone 3. Acton Town station was opened as Mill Hill Park on 1 July 1879 by the District Railway (DR, now the District line). It remained as a terminus until on 1 May 1883 and 23 June 1903 the DR opened two branches from Acton Town to Hounslow Town and Park Royal & Twyford Abbey respectively. On 4 July 1932 the Piccadilly line was extended to Acton Town. The original brick-built station was built in 1879 and in February 1910 the station building was reconstructed. On 1 March 1910 the station was given its present name. In 1931 and 1932 the station was rebuilt again in preparation for transferring the Uxbridge branch service from the District line to the Piccadilly line. The new station was designed by Charles Holden in a modern European geometric style using brick, reinforced concrete and glass.

Recently selected: Cincinnati, Lebanon and Northern Railway - Broadway Limited - Bristol Parkway railway station

Week 21: May 17 - May 24

In the United States, a railway post office, commonly abbreviated as RPO, was a railroad car that was normally operated in passenger service as a means to sort mail en route, in order to speed delivery. The RPO was staffed by highly trained Railway Mail Service postal clerks, and was off-limits to the passengers on the train. In the UK, the equivalent term was Travelling Post Office (TPO). From the middle of the 19th century, many American railroads earned substantial revenues through contracts with the U.S. Post Office Department (USPOD) to carry mail aboard high-speed passenger trains; and the Railway Mail Service enforced various standardized designs on RPOs. In fact, a number of companies maintained passenger routes where the financial losses from moving people were more than offset by transporting the mail.

Recently selected: Acton Town tube station - Cincinnati, Lebanon and Northern Railway - Broadway Limited

Week 22: May 24 - May 30

In railroad terminology, a stock car, cattle car or cattle wagon (British English) is a type of rolling stock used for carrying livestock (not carcasses) to market. A traditional stock car resembles a boxcar with louvered instead of solid car sides (and sometimes ends) for the purpose of providing ventilation; stock cars can be single-level for large animals such as cattle or horses, or they can have two or three levels for smaller animals such as sheep, pigs, and poultry. Specialized types of stock cars have been built to haul live fish and shellfish and circus animals such as camels and elephants. Until the 1880s, when the Mather Stock Car Company and others introduced "more humane" stock cars, loss rates could be quite high as the animals were hauled over long distances. Improved technology and faster shipping times have greatly reduced losses.

Recently selected: railway post office - Acton Town tube station - Cincinnati, Lebanon and Northern Railway

Week 23: May 31 - June 6

Arnos Grove is a London Underground station located in Arnos Grove of the London Borough of Enfield, London. It is on the Piccadilly line between Bounds Green and Southgate stations and is in Travelcard Zone 4. The station opened on 19 September 1932 as the most northerly station on the first section of the Piccadilly line extension from Finsbury Park to Cockfosters. It was the terminus of the line until services were further extended to Oakwood on 13 March 1933. It is the first surface station north after the long tunnel section from the east of Barons Court via Central London. The station has four platforms which face three tracks. The station was designed by architect Charles Holden, and has been described as a significant work of modern architecture. On 19 February 1971, the station was Grade II listed. In 2005, the station was refurbished with the heritage features also maintained. In July 2011 Arnos Grove's listed status was upgraded to Grade II*. The station was awarded with the Best Newcomer and the Best Overall Garden in the Underground in Bloom 2011 competition and also in the London in Bloom competition.

Recently selected: stock car - railway post office - Acton Town tube station

Week 24: June 7 - June 13

Cleveland Lakefront Station is an Amtrak train station at North Coast Harbor in Cleveland, Ohio. The station was built in 1977 to provide service to the Lake Shore Limited route, which was reinstated by Amtrak via Cleveland and Toledo in 1975. It replaced service to Cleveland Union Terminal (now Tower City Center). Lakefront Station is a modern station located just north of downtown Cleveland on the Lake Erie waterfront, near the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Great Lakes Science Center, the Steamship William G. Mather Museum, and FirstEnergy Stadium. The station has had little to no renovation since its opening. As of January 2014^[update], the only trains that stop at Lakefront Station are Amtrak's Lake Shore Limited and Capitol Limited trains, both of which arrive/depart between 1:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. The RTA Waterfront Line will stop at Lakefront Station, but only upon request. The Pennsylvanian served Cleveland from 1998 to 2003, when it reverted to its original Pittsburgh–New York route.

Recently selected: Arnos Grove tube station - stock car - railway post office

Week 25: June 14 - June 20

Higher-speed rail (HrSR), also known as high-performance rail or higher-performance rail, is a jargon used to describe inter-city passenger rail services that have top speeds of more than conventional rail but are not high enough to be called high-speed rail services. The term is also used by planners to identify the incremental rail improvements to increase train speeds and reduce travel time as alternatives to larger efforts to create or expand the high-speed rail networks. Some countries use the term medium-speed rail, or semi-high speed rail instead.

Recently selected: Cleveland Lakefront Station - Arnos Grove tube station - stock car

Week 26: June 21 - June 27

Morden is a London Underground station in Morden in the London Borough of Merton. The station is the southern terminus for the Northern line and is the most southerly station on the Underground network. The next station north is South Wimbledon. The station is located on London Road (A24), and is in Travelcard Zone 4. Nearby are Morden Hall Park, the Baitul Futuh Mosque and Morden Park. The station was one of the first modernist designs produced for the London Underground by Charles Holden. Its opening in 1926 contributed to the rapid development of new suburbs in what was then a rural part of Surrey with the population of the parish increasing nine-fold in the decade 1921–1931.

Recently selected: higher-speed rail - Cleveland Lakefront Station - Arnos Grove tube station

Week 27: June 28 - July 4

Mount Baker is a station on Sound Transit's Link Light Rail system. It is situated between the Columbia City and Beacon Hill stations on the Central Link line, which runs from Seattle–Tacoma International Airport through Rainier Valley to Downtown Seattle. The elevated station consists of two side platforms located west of the intersection of Rainier Avenue and Martin Luther King Jr. Way in the Mount Baker neighborhood of Seattle, Washington. A light rail station in the Mount Baker area was first proposed in 1995 and approved the following year. Construction began in late 2005 and the station was opened for regular service on July 18, 2009. Trains serve the station 20 hours a day every day; the headway between trains is 7.5 minutes during peak periods, with less frequent service at other times. Mount Baker Station is also served by five King County Metro bus routes that connect it to Downtown, Capitol Hill, Rainier Beach, the Central District, and the University District.

Recently selected: Morden tube station - higher-speed rail - Cleveland Lakefront Station

Week 28: July 5 - July 11

Mukilteo is train station serving the city of Mukilteo, Washington. It is owned by Sound Transit, who runs the North Line of their Sounder commuter rail service through the station from Everett to King Street Station in Seattle. The station includes a parking lot with 63 spaces, as well as connections to nearby Washington State Ferries, Community Transit, and Everett Transit service on State Route 525. Mukilteo Station opened with a single side platform in 2008 as the first phase of a multi-modal replacement for the Mukilteo ferry terminal, with the second platform and its pedestrian overpass scheduled to open in 2015.

Recently selected: Mount Baker (Link station) - Morden tube station - higher-speed rail

Week 29: July 12 - July 18

The Røa Line (Norwegian: Røabanen) is a rapid transit line of the Oslo Metro, Norway, which runs from Majorstuen in Oslo to Østerås in Bærum. It serves neighborhoods such as Smestad, Hovseter, Huseby and Røa in northwestern Oslo, and Grini, Øvrevoll and Østerås in northeastern Bærum. The line is served by Line 5 of the metro, which connects to the city center via the Common Tunnel and onwards along the Grorud Line. The lowest part of the Røa Line, consisting of two stations, is shared with the Kolsås Line, and thus also served by Line 2 of the metro. The Røa Line is owned by Kollektivtransportproduksjon, and operated by Oslo T-banedrift on contract with the public transport agency Ruter. The first part of the line, originally a light rail, was from Majorstuen to Smestad, and opened in 1912. It was built as a cooperation between the Municipality of Aker and the company Holmenkolbanen, and connected to the Holmenkoll Line's terminus. In 1928, the line received a connection to the city center when the first part of the Common Tunnel was completed. In 1935, the first extension of the Røa Line proper was made, when the line was extended to Røa. In 1942, the Kolsås Line became a branch. Additional extensions to the Røa Line were made in 1948 to Grini, in 1951 to Lijordet and in 1972 to Østerås. By then, the line had become an integrated part of the municipal Oslo Sporveier. The line was upgraded to rapid transit in 1995, became part of the metro and started running through the city center.

Recently selected: Mukilteo (Sounder station) - Mount Baker (Link station) - Morden tube station

Week 30: July 19 - July 25

The Scarborough Metro-North Railroad station serves Scarborough-on-Hudson and Briarcliff Manor, New York, via the Hudson Line. Trains leave for New York City every 25 to 35 minutes on weekdays. The station is 28.7 miles (46.2 km) from Grand Central Terminal and travel time to Grand Central is about 42 minutes on the express and 61 minutes on local service. The Scarborough station is within walking distance of most houses in the hamlet. As of 2007^[update], daily commuter ridership was 865. Trains stop at the station every hour, except during peak hours, when trains stop there two to four times per hour. Construction of the Scarborough station dates back to the 1860s, when the first station building stood along the Hudson River Railroad, which was completed in 1851 and served areas from New York City to Rensselaer. It became part of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's Metro-North Railroad in 1983, when the service was created. The station was included in a revitalization plan in 2007 to help serve its commuters.

Recently selected: Røa Line - Mukilteo (Sounder station) - Mount Baker (Link station)

Week 31: July 26 - August 1

Sea Mills railway station is on the Severn Beach Line and serves the district of Sea Mills and nearby Westbury on Trym in Bristol, England. It is 6 miles (9.7 km) from Bristol Temple Meads, situated at the confluence of the River Avon and River Trym and near the A4 Bristol Portway. Its three letter station code is SML. The station has a single platform which serves trains in both directions. As of 2014^[update] it is managed by First Great Western, which is the third franchise to be responsible for the station since privatisation in 1997. They provide all train services at the station, mainly a train every forty minutes in each direction between Bristol Temple Meads and Avonmouth. The station was opened in 1865 by the Bristol Port Railway and Pier, and had a single platform. It later became part of the Clifton Extension Railway, and had a second platform built. The station was expanded over the years, and at one point had four porters staffing it. However the Severn Beach Line declined over the latter half of the twentieth century and by the 1970s the station had no staff and only one platform. Services however have increased since 2000.

Recently selected: Scarborough (Metro-North station) - Røa Line - Mukilteo (Sounder station)

Week 32: August 2 - August 8

Shirehampton railway station is on the Severn Beach Line and serves the district of Shirehampton in Bristol, England, 7.6 miles (12.2 km) from Bristol Temple Meads. The station has a single platform which serves trains in both directions. As of 2015^[update] it is managed by First Great Western, which is the third franchise to be responsible for the station since privatisation in 1997. The station was opened in 1865 as the headquarters of the Bristol Port Railway and Pier, a railway which ran along the River Avon from Hotwells to a pier at Avonmouth, and was linked to the national network in 1877. The station had a single platform to begin with, but was rebuilt with a second in 1903, as well as a signal box and a goods yard. By the 1930s the station had ten staff. The Severn Beach Line declined over the latter half of the twentieth century, with passenger numbers falling significantly. Goods services at Shirehampton ended in 1965, and all staff were withdrawn in 1967. The second platform and signal box were taken out of use in 1970, with the station buildings sold off and later destroyed by fire. Services had decreased to ten per day each direction by 2005, but have since increased to twenty-four trains per day.

Recently selected: Sea Mills railway station - Scarborough (Metro-North station) - Røa Line

Week 33: August 9 - August 15

SODO is a station on Sound Transit's Link Light Rail system. It is situated between the Beacon Hill and Stadium stations on the Central Link line, which runs from Seattle–Tacoma International Airport through Rainier Valley to Downtown Seattle. The station consists of two at-grade side platforms at the intersection of the SODO Busway and South Lander Street in the SoDo neighborhood of Seattle, Washington. SODO Station was first proposed in the late 1980s, but was ignored in subsequent light rail proposals until the addition of the Beacon Hill Tunnel to the Central Link route in 1998. It was built between 2005 and 2006 by Kiewit Pacific and opened to Link service on July 18, 2009. Trains serve the station 20 hours a day every day; the headway between trains is 7.5 minutes during peak periods, with less frequent service at other times. SODO Station is also served by several Sound Transit Express and King County Metro buses that stop on the SODO Busway adjacent to the platforms.

Recently selected: Shirehampton railway station - Sea Mills railway station - Scarborough (Metro-North station)

Week 34: August 16 - August 22

The Turboliners were a family of gas turbine trainsets built for Amtrak in the 1970s. They were among the first new equipment purchased by Amtrak and represented an attempt by Amtrak to update its fleet with faster, more modern trains. The first batch, known as RTG, were built by the French firm ANF and entered service on multiple routes in the Midwestern United States in 1973. The new trains led to ridership increases wherever they were used; the fixed consist proved a detriment as demand outstripped supply. The high cost of operating the trains led to their withdrawal from the Midwest in 1981. The second batch, known as RTL, were of a similar design but manufactured by Rohr Industries, an American company. These entered service on the Empire Corridor in the state of New York in 1976. The RTLs remained in service there through the 1990s, supplemented by several rebuilt RTGs. In the late 1990s and early 2000s New York and Amtrak partnered to rebuild the RTLs for high-speed service; this project failed and the last RTL trainsets left revenue service in 2003. After the settlement of legal issues New York sold the remaining trainsets for scrap in 2012.

Recently selected: SODO (Link station) - Shirehampton railway station - Sea Mills railway station

Week 35: August 23 - August 29

Yawkey is a passenger rail station on the MBTA Commuter Rail Framingham/Worcester Line, located in the Fenway-Kenmore neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts near Kenmore Square. The station sits below grade between Beacon Street and Brookline Avenue, next to the Massachusetts Turnpike. Yawkey station was originally opened as an infill station in 1988, for limited service to Boston Red Sox games at Fenway Park. Regular commuter service began in 2001 for riders headed to Boston University, Kenmore Square, and the Longwood Medical and Academic Area. Inbound and outbound trains formerly shared a single two-car platform on the inbound track, requiring Yawkey passengers to embark or debark from the front two cars of outbound trains or the rear two cars of inbound trains. In 2012, work began on a new station, which includes two longer high-level platforms and an overhead pedestrian bridge. Passengers boarded from the east end of the new station until March 10, 2014; after delays, it opened fully that day. The new station is served by all Worcester Line trains; it is expected to increase ridership at Yawkey from 585 total daily boardings and alightings to 937. By a 2012 count, there were 827 daily (362 boardings and 465 alightings).

Recently selected: Turboliner - SODO (Link station) - Shirehampton railway station

Week 36: August 30 - September 5

Zoloti Vorota (Ukrainian: Золотi ворота) is the 29th station of the Kyiv Metro system that serves the Ukrainian capital Kyiv. The station was opened as part of the first segment of the Syretsko–Pecherska line on 31 December 1989. It serves as a transfer station to the Teatralna station of the Sviatoshynsko–Brovarska line. It is located near the city's Golden Gate, from which the station takes its name. The original design plans for the station called for a clean utilitarian structure typical of metro stations of that period. Due to the efforts of the city's chief architect Mykola Zharikov, the design was scrapped in favor of one that resembles an ancient Kievan Rus' temple by Borys Zhezherin, Vadym Zhezherin, and Zharikov himself. Vadym Zhezherin and Mykola Zharikov, among the other artists and architects of the station, were bestowed the State Prize of Ukraine in the Field of Architecture for their work in 1991. The station features 80 distinct mosaic pieces and images depicting the history of Kievan Rus'. The station is regarded as one of the most impressive metro stations in Europe, being placed on a list compiled by The Daily Telegraph in 2013.

Recently selected: Yawkey (MBTA station) - Turboliner - SODO (Link station)

Week 37: September 6 - September 12

A Soviet IS class 2-8-4 in 1935

In the Whyte notation, a 2-8-4 is a steam locomotive that has one unpowered leading axle, usually in a leading truck, followed by four powered and coupled driving axles, and two unpowered trailing axles, usually mounted in a bogie. This locomotive type is most often referred to as a Berkshire, though the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway used the name Kanawha for their 2-8-4s. In Europe, this wheel arrangement was mostly seen in mainline passenger express locomotives and, in certain countries, in tank locomotives. Other equivalent classifications are: 1'D2' in UIC classification (also known as German and Italian classifications); 142 in French classification; 47 in Turkish classification; 4/7 in Swiss classification; and 1-4-2 in Russian classification.

Recently selected: Zoloti Vorota (Kiev Metro) - Yawkey (MBTA station) - Turboliner

Week 38: September 13 - September 19

The 209 series (209系) is a commuter electric multiple unit (EMU) train type operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East) in the Tokyo area of Japan. The series was introduced in 1993 to replace the aging 103 series stock on the Keihin-Tōhoku and Negishi lines. The concept of the 209 series was to create a low-cost, minimal lifespan train (approximately 15 years) that would be replaced rather than rebuilt when they became life-expired. The 209 series was the first of the "New series trains" (新系列電車, Shin-keiretsu densha), and served as the basis for the E501, E217, 701, and E127 series rolling stock, as well as the E231 series stock, which in turn became the blueprint for successive trains developed by JR East and other railway companies in Japan.

Recently selected: 2-8-4 - Zoloti Vorota (Kiev Metro) - Yawkey (MBTA station)

Week 39: September 20 - September 26

The 20th Century Limited was an express passenger train on the New York Central Railroad (NYC) from 1902 to 1967, advertised as "The Most Famous Train in the World". In the year of its last run, The New York Times said that it "...was known to railroad buffs for 65 years as the world's greatest train". The train traveled between Grand Central Terminal (GCT) in New York City and LaSalle Street Station in Chicago, Illinois, along the railroad's "Water Level Route". The NYC inaugurated this train as competition to the Pennsylvania Railroad, aimed at upper class and business travelers. It made few station stops along the way and used track pans to take water at speed. Beginning on June 15, 1938, when it got streamlined equipment, it ran the 958 miles in 16 hours, departing New York City at 6:00 P.M. Eastern Time and arriving at Chicago's LaSalle Street Station the following morning at 9:00 A.M. Central Time, averaging 60 miles per hour (97 km/h) For a few years after World War II the eastward schedule was shortened to 15½ hours. Its style was described as "spectacularly understated ... suggesting exclusivity and sophistication". Passengers walked to the train on a crimson carpet which was rolled out in New York and Chicago and was designed for the 20th Century Limited. "Getting the red carpet treatment" passed into the language from this memorable practice. "Transportation historians", said the writers of The Art of the Streamliner, "consistently rate the 1938 edition of the Century to be the world's ultimate passenger conveyance—at least on the ground".

Recently selected: 209 series - 2-8-4 - Zoloti Vorota (Kiev Metro)

Week 40: September 27 - October 3

Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, 4-4-4 represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles, four powered and coupled driving wheels on two axles, and four trailing wheels on two axles. In the United States, this arrangement was named the Reading type, since the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad was the first to use it. In Canada, this type was known as the Jubilee. Other equivalent classifications are: 2B2 in UIC classification (also known as German classification and Italian classification), 222 in French classification, 26 in Turkish classification, and 2/6 in Swiss classification.

Recently selected: 20th Century Limited - 209 series - 2-8-4

Week 41: October 4 - October 10

The Abbey Line (or St Albans Abbey Branch Line) is a railway line from Watford Junction to St Albans Abbey. The 6.5-mile (10.5 km) route passes through town and countryside in the county of Hertfordshire, just outside the boundaries of the London fare zones. Its northern terminus in St Albans Abbey is located in the south of the city, around 1.2 kilometres (0.75 mi) away from the larger St Albans City railway station on the Thameslink line. The Abbey Line is a semi-rural line and, due to its single-track operation, service frequencies are limited. The service is sometimes referred to locally as the Abbey Flyer.

Recently selected: 4-4-4 - 20th Century Limited - 209 series

Week 42: October 11 - October 17

Access to the Region's Core (ARC) was a commuter rail project to increase passenger service capacity on New Jersey Transit (NJT) between Secaucus Junction in New Jersey and Manhattan in New York City. New infrastructure would have included new trackage, a new rail yard, and a tunnel under the Hudson River. A new station adjacent to New York Penn Station was to be constructed as running more trains into the current station was deemed unfeasible. An estimated budget for the project was $8.7 billion. Construction began in mid-2009 and the project was slated for completion in 2018, but it was cancelled in October 2010 by Governor Chris Christie, citing the possibility of cost overruns and the state's lack of funds. The project was initiated after studies conducted in the 1990s determined that new rail tunnels under the Hudson River were the best approach to address transportation needs for the New York metropolitan area. After its cancellation, the federal government demanded repayment of funding received by NJT for the project. The Christie administration engaged a law firm to present its arguments for non-payment which were subsequently rejected by the Federal Transit Administration. An agreement was eventually reached in which part of the funds would be returned while other monies would be used on transit-related projects. Soon after work was halted there was speculation that the previously discussed idea of New York Transit Authority's 7 Subway Extension continuing into New Jersey would be revived, but was later scuttled. A March 2012 Government Accountability Office investigated the decision to cancel the project and provided comments that questioned Christie's rationale.

Recently selected: Abbey Line - 4-4-4 - 20th Century Limited

Week 43: October 18 - October 24

Airport (Catalan: Aeroport) is a Rodalies de Catalunya terminus railway station serving Barcelona–El Prat Airport. It is located adjacent to the airport's terminal T2B, in the municipality of El Prat de Llobregat, in Catalonia, Spain. The station is currently served by Barcelona commuter rail service line R2 Nord. Opened on 15 July 1975 (1975-07-15), the current station and its connecting branch line are due to disappear around 2018 with the construction of a new airport rail link, which will reach the 1.8-kilometre-away (1.1 mi) terminal T1. Besides, Barcelona Metro line 9 is scheduled to start services at the station in February 2016.

Recently selected: Access to the Region's Core - Abbey Line - 4-4-4

Week 44: October 25 - October 31

The Berlin S-Bahn is a rapid transit railway system in and around Berlin, the capital city of Germany. It has been operated under this name since December 1930, having been previously called the special tariff area Berliner Stadt-, Ring- und Vorortbahnen (Berlin cross-city, circular, and suburban railways). While in the first decades of this tariff zone the trains were steam-drawn, and even after the electrification of large parts of the network a number of lines remained under steam, today the term S-Bahn is used in Berlin only for those lines and trains with third-rail electrical power transmission and the special Berlin S-Bahn loading gauge. The third unique technical feature, of the Berlin S-Bahn, the automated mechanical train control is being phased out and replaced by a communications-based train control system, but which again is specific to the Berlin S-Bahn. In other parts of Germany and other German-speaking countries, the brand name S-Bahn is used without those Berlin specific features. The Berlin S-Bahn is now an integral part of the Verkehrsverbund Berlin-Brandenburg, the unique tariff zone for all kinds of public transit in and around Berlin and the federal state (Bundesland) of Brandenburg.

Recently selected: Airport (Rodalies de Catalunya) - Access to the Region's Core - Abbey Line

Week 45: November 1 - November 7

A train at Bjørnsletta station on its opening day in 2010

Bjørnsletta is a station on the Kolsås Line of the Oslo Metro. It serves the residential area of Øraker in Oslo, Norway and is served by Line 2. The station opened on 17 August 2010 and replaced two former stations: Bjørnsletta (located at a different location) and Lysakerelven. Both these stations were closed in 2006 while the Kolsås Line was being upgraded from a light rail to a rapid transit. Bjørnsletta is 8.2 kilometres (5.1 mi) from Stortinget.

Recently selected: Berlin S-Bahn - Airport (Rodalies de Catalunya) - Access to the Region's Core

Week 46: November 8 - November 14

The Blackpool tramway runs from Blackpool to Fleetwood on the Fylde Coast in Lancashire, England. It was the last surviving first-generation tramway in the United Kingdom until it was replaced by a fleet of modern Flexity 2 trams in 2012. However, today the traditional trams still provide a 'heritage service' on bank holiday weekends and during the summer, as well as operate on tours during the illuminations. In 2015 it was announced that the heritage service would run every weekend from March to November. The line dates back to 1885 and is one of the oldest electric tramways in the world. It is operated by Blackpool Transport (BTS), and runs for 11 miles (18 km) and carries 6,500,000 passengers each year. Excluding museums, it is one of only a few tramways in the world that uses double-deck trams, others including Hong Kong and Alexandria Tram in Egypt.

Recently selected: Bjørnsletta (station) - Berlin S-Bahn - Airport (Rodalies de Catalunya)

Week 47: November 15 - November 21

Blommenholm Station (Norwegian: Blommenholm stasjon) is a railway station of the Drammen Line situated at Blommenholm in Bærum, Norway. Located 12.23 kilometres (7.60 mi)^* from Oslo Central Station, it is served by line L1 of the Oslo Commuter Rail. It is located in a primarily residential area and has four regular hourly services operated by the Norwegian State Railways. The station features an island platform accessible from the station building on the south side. The station opened on 10 May 1910, following the construction of housing in the vicinity. It received major upgrade from 1917 to 1922, when an all-new station building and the railway was doubled, electrified and gauge converted to standard gauge. This gave a thirty-minuted headway to Oslo and Sandvika. Blommenholm was manned until 1969 and previously featured a post office.

Recently selected: Blackpool tramway - Bjørnsletta (station) - Berlin S-Bahn

Week 48: November 22 - November 28

The Blue Line, also known as the O'Hare-Congress Line and the West-Northwest Line, consists of a 26.93-mile (43.34 km) long Chicago 'L' line which extends through the Loop from O'Hare International Airport at the far northwest end of the city, through downtown via the Milwaukee-Dearborn Subway and across the West Side to its southwest end at Forest Park, with a total of 33 stations. It is the CTA's second busiest rail line, with an average of 186,796 passengers boarding each weekday in September 2012. The Blue Line and Red Line are the only two routes of the CTA rail system to currently run 24 hours a day and is one of only six mass-transit rail lines in the United States to do so (the others being the PATCO Speedline, Staten Island Railway, the PATH lines, one line of Minneapolis-St. Paul's METRO and the New York City Subway). The Blue Line is one of the 5 rail lines that run into Chicago suburbs, with the others being the Green, Purple, Pink, and Yellow lines.

Recently selected: Blommenholm Station - Blackpool tramway - Bjørnsletta (station)

Week 49: November 29 - December 5

Bolton Interchange is a transport interchange combining Bolton railway station and a four stand bus station in the town of Bolton in Greater Manchester, England. The station is located on the Manchester spur of the West Coast Main Line and is managed by Northern Rail. The station is 11+1⁄4 miles (18.1 km) north west of Manchester Piccadilly. The railway station was originally named Bolton Trinity Street to differentiate it from nearby Bolton Great Moor Street station which closed in 1954. The station was also known as "Bridgeman Street Station" and "Bradford Square Station". The original main station building was demolished in the 1980s, but the Victorian buildings survive on the platforms. The clock tower was dismantled and rebuilt next to the new station. The station is on the Ribble Valley Line, a local line running north to Blackburn and Clitheroe. There are services used by commuters from Wigan Wallgate and on the Manchester to Preston Line.

Recently selected: Blue Line (CTA) - Blommenholm Station - Blackpool tramway

Week 50: December 6 - December 12

Oxford Circus is a London Underground station serving Oxford Circus at the junction of Regent Street and Oxford Street, with entrances on all four corners of the intersection. The station is an interchange between the Bakerloo, Central and Victoria lines. It is the busiest station in the United Kingdom, with 98.51 million entries and exits in 2014. The station is in Travelcard Zone 1. The Central line station opened on 30 July 1900, and the Bakerloo line station on 10 March 1906. Both are Grade II listed. The station was rebuilt in 1912 to relieve congestion. Further congestion led to another reconstruction in 1923. Numerous improvements were made as part of the New Works Programme and as a flood protection measure. To accommodate additional passengers on the Victoria line, a new ticket hall was built. The Victoria line station opened on 7 March 1969, including cross-platform interchange with the Bakerloo line.

Recently selected: Bolton Interchange - Blue Line (CTA) - Blommenholm Station

Week 51: December 13 - December 19

BR standard class 9F number 92220 Evening Star is a preserved British steam locomotive completed in 1960. It was the last steam locomotive to be built by British Railways. It holds the distinction of being the only British main line steam locomotive earmarked for preservation from the date of construction. It was the 999th locomotive of the whole British Railways Standard range.

Recently selected: Oxford Circus tube station - Bolton Interchange - Blue Line (CTA)

Week 52: December 20 - December 26

Breland Station (Norwegian: Breland stasjon) is a railway station of the Sørlandet Line situated at Breland in Marnardal, Norway. Located 385.10 kilometers (239.29 mi) from Oslo Central Station, it is served by a singlelong-distance train in each direction, operated by the Norwegian State Railways, to serve commuter traffic to and from Kristiansand. The station has two platforms and a passing loop, although the main platform is only 46 meters (151 ft) long. The station was opened on 17 December 1943 as part of the segment of the Sørlandet Line between Kristiasand and Sira. The line past the station was electrified in 1946 and the station automated in 1969. The following year the station became unmanned and the station building was demolished in 1987. The Norwegian National Rail Administration has decided to close the station in 2019, as it only served 2,200 annual passengers in 2008

Recently selected: BR 92220 Evening Star - Oxford Circus tube station - Bolton Interchange

Week 53: December 27, 2015 - January 2, 2016

Brevik Station (Norwegian: Brevik stasjon) is a former railway station located at Strømtangen in the village of Brevik in Porsgrunn, Norway. It served as the terminus of the Brevik Line from 16 October 1895 to the station closed on 1 December 1982. The station building is designed by Paul Due in Romansque style, is preserved and has been listed as a cultural heritage site. There was a major political discussion if the station should be located at Strømtangen or Setretangen. Construction commenced in 1893 and opened on 15 October 1895. The station initially saw heavy intercity traffic as it served the coastal ferries onwards to Agder until 1927. The main traffic was however a commuter train service to Porsgrunn and Skien, which operated until 1 February 1964. All passenger transport ceased on 26 May 1968. The station building was renovated in the late 1980s and is now used for office space.

Recently selected: Breland Station - BR 92220 Evening Star - Oxford Circus tube station