Dubulti train station at Jürmala, Latvia: Part 1. Growing up in Europe, traveling by train was part of my childhood memories. Especially in Switzerland where I lived, trains served to connect major cities, towns, and villages seamlessly linking urban and rural landscapes.

All of these experiences, which led me to study the history of train stations, let me better appreciate the train station in Jürmala. But arriving there took a certain route.

Although Switzerland is small in size compared to its four neighbors, trains crisscross the entire country and create a dense umbilical network, working along with postal buses, lake steamer boats, funiculars, and cable cars which serve hamlets far up in the mountains; places often so remote and isolated that they seem to be located at the end of the world. This web of transport—along with spectacular tunnels, bridges, and reconstituted landscapes—says much about Switzerland and its people as the center of Europe. This connectivity is particularly true when transferring from one to another mode of transportation. Swiss precision is key here and is as seamless as can be. Always on time!

Wherever there are trains, you will encounter train stations on your journey. As the Industrial Revolution spread in the second half of the 19^th century, at first all over Europe, railways became essential, allowing people to travel between countries. The need for train stations was integral to the railway network, and many stations were located in metropolises and were designed as majestic rail terminals.

Termini train stations

Historically, termini served as gateways to a new system that expressed a democratic way of transporting passengers from nearby towns or neighboring countries. Train stations were often located strategically at the edge of historic city centers where previously fortifications stood. These gateways (the termini) were built at a monumental scale compared to the nearby medieval domestic buildings – granted there were a few exceptions of scale, for example, the medieval cathedrals. The use of innovative structural systems and materials for the sheds of the termini stations allowed the new “iron horses” to spill out steam and smoke which would then escape through movable skylit roofs.

The birth of train stations was also a moment where civil engineering was in its infancy and emerged as a discipline in its own right. This was because one could now precisely calculate the static forces to anticipate how these future structures would behave, rather than relying on past experience through trial and error and guild techniques. This allowed engineers to take a leading role at the turn of the century. Sadly, this was accompanied by pastiche architectural styles for the frontage of most train stations. Engineers rather than architects became the avant-garde in building.

Architects and engineers were at odds. Architects were relegated—faithful to their Beaux-Arts training—to act more as decorators by pasting styles on the buildings of train stations to fit their client’s taste. Looking back at 19^th century train stations, the dichotomy between the revolutionary structures of the train sheds (Images 1 and 2 left) and the front facades is evident.

Architects did not understand, or simply denied, the potential to create a new building type. The world had to wait for Le Corbusier to proclaim a call to order between architects and engineers for this to happen. (Image 1, far right)

At the turn of the 19^th century, these termini were designed as type-temples to serve as entrances to world metropolises. The influx of day workers to the city and the need to accommodate an emerging tourist industry requiring easy and comfortable access to meccas of commerce was key to the design. It goes without saying that rail stations also provided visitors who were enamored with the grandeur and ingenuity of these building the opportunity to see themselves as part of a nation’s growing economic and political power.

The symbolic power of these termini rail-stations have survived to this day, as many of them have been adapted to the high-speed train networks (Eurostar in Great Britain, ICE in Germany, Italo in Italy, Renfe in Spain, and TGV in France) that crisscross Europe connecting capital cities. Over the last two decades, renovation and underground expansions have also transformed many termini into shopping malls that serve consumer needs deep into the night.

Smaller train stations

Beyond the cities, one could find train stations of more modest scale. When I was nine years old, I remember stepping down at the remote train station in Gruyères, Switzerland, contemplating the nearby boarding school with the fear of a nine year old, wondering about my upcoming life. From the train station, I was looking up the hill to my new home, far away from my parents. Modest in size at that time (at least to my child’s eyes), Gruyères’ train station symbolized the last stage of my travel from Vienna to Switzerland. A gateway to a new life, new friends, new language, and new culture; a communal way of life that was far from what I was used to at home.

A passion for train stations

Fast forward. Over decades, train stations became a passion of mine and ended up being the pretext for a visit during any city excursion. In London, Milan, and Paris, I discovered engineering marvels that supported glass vaults offering spans never seen before. I came to learn that these city gateways were depicted by many French impressionist painters, setting at center stage early steam locomotives within this new building type.

Beyond serving passengers as a gateway to the city, and those who served far and foreign countries such as the Orient Express between Paris and Istanbul, many train stations hosted prestigious restaurants. For example, at the Gare de Lyon in Paris, the station buffet offered extensive gourmet menus, later in the 1960s the same space became the famous Le Train Bleu. I remember in Switzerland that many Sunday meals were booked at the 1^st class train station restaurant; the Buffet de la Gare as it was called, where renowned chefs showcased the country’s staple dishes.

This lifelong fascination with train stations led me to a place my father and grandfather would have known, although certainly with an earlier version of the station I visited. The modernist train station in Jürmala along the Baltic Sea in Latvia.