Looking at Buildings

Passenger-carrying railways were a British invention, so there were no foreign stations for imitation. The functions of a typical station were nevertheless clear from early on: offices for issuing tickets and handling goods, a waiting room for passengers, and accommodation for a station master and other staff. These could usually be accommodated in relatively modest house-like buildings, and in the early days of the railways some stations were adapted from an existing buildings such as inns.

The earliest station that survives is the Manchester terminus of the Liverpool & Manchester Railway, the first major passenger railway, which opened in 1830. The architect is unknown. Its simple architectural detail is less remarkable than its form, which derives from the difference of levels between running line and street: the ground floor has segregated first- and second-class entrances with separate booking offices, and there are waiting rooms alongside the platforms above. Such split-level stations are especially common in cities, where the high cost of land required that the railway be carried on viaducts and bridges rather than embankments of earth. Since 1983 the building has formed part of the Manchester Museum of Science and Industry.

RomanGlossary Term [1] triumphal archGlossary Term [2]. This use of an ancient style may at first seem strange for such a revolutionary enterprise, but it shows the pride and sense of purpose of the new company. It is also significant that Philip Hardwick, one of the leading architects of the time, was employed to design it. By the late 19th century, however, most railway companies commissioned designs from their own architects or engineers instead.