Railway stations I have known ...... no. 2 Roma Termini

Now I am the first to admit that these pictures do not do justice to the main railway station in Rome.

But there you are, they are mine and we are stuck with them.

We didn’t actually either arrive or leave by train but used the station to eat, which may seem daft but the chain of restaurants called Ciao were second to none, serving up a variety of fresh and interesting food and were always well patronised.

Sadly the chain is no more and a place where you could eat excellent food at a decent prices across Italy is no more.

The railway station is big.  It replaced an earlier one built in 1868, and opened in 1950.  It has 33 platforms, 150 million passengers pass through each year and there are daily international services to Munich, Geneva and Vienna.

And there are lots of shops.

All in all it’s got the lot.

Location; Rome






Picture; Roma Termini, 2009, from the collection of Andrew Simpson

Railway stations I have known ...... no. 1 the Gare du Nord

Now I collect railways stations like others collect bus numbers, although that said I have less in the collection than I would like and quite a few date back decades.

The Gare du Nord was the first railway station outside Britain that I visited, unless you count the one at Calais which we used to catch the Paris train.

I have no real memory of the Gare du Nord, except the night we ended up at a restaurant almost opposite.

The food was good, but like all areas beside a mainline railway station the surrounding streets were down at heal and there was an edgy atmosphere.

The station opened in 1861 and is apparently the busiest railway station in Europe and the 24th busiest in the world.

And that is about all I am going to say on the subject.

Location; Paris

Picture; The Gare du Nord, 1980 from the collection of Andrew Simpson