Finding the unexpected in the everyday.
A newly built railway station in central Portugal’s village (and present-day municipality) of Abrantes first went into service. Abrantes Station was opened by the now-defunct company originally known as Companhia dos Caminhos de Ferro Portugueses (Royal Company of Portuguese Railways), which had been established in 1860 and would serve for many years as the country’s... Continue Reading →
September 9, 1963 More than a century after it had first gone into service, Linley Hall station on the Severn Valley Railway line in England’s West Midlands region was permanently closed. This railway station was opened on February 1, 1862. It had been built at the behest of Thomas C. Whitmore (1807-1865), a prominent local... Continue Reading →
August 20, 1977 In the Keihanshin metropolitan region of Japan’s island of Honshu, a passenger railway station in the city of Sakai in Osaka Prefecture first went into service. This station was named after Kōmyōike (Kōmyō Pond), an artificial lake in the area. That lake, in turn, had been named in memory of Empress Kōmyō... Continue Reading →
April 22, 1857 A railway station was opened in the prefecture and commune of Carcassonne in southern France’s department of Aude. This station was built by the Railway Company du Midi. Carcassone railway station (Gare de Carcassonne) is now operated by the Société nationale des Chemins de fer francais (SNCF), the national state-owned railway company... Continue Reading →
March 27, 2016 In the Helsinki metropolitan area, a railway station in the municipality of Tuusula was closed after decades of service. This station was specifically located in the municipality’s Nuupulinna neighborhood. At the time of its shutdown, Nuupulinna railway station was part of the commuter rail system operated by Helsinski-Riihimäki railway in that region... Continue Reading →
March 13, 2023 A replacement bus station was inaugurated in northwestern England’s town of Ormskirk, which has achieved widespread renown as a producer of gingerbread and is located 13 miles (21 kilometers) north of Liverpool. This town is part of the ceremonial county of Lancashire. The public officials who took part in the Monday opening... Continue Reading →
February 21, 2007 In central Greece’s administrative region of Attica (an area that includes the capital city of Athens), a railway station in the town and municipality of Vrilissia was opened to the public. This station is located on Vrilissia’s main thoroughfare of Pentelis Avenue. Pentelis railway station was officially inaugurated by Michalis Liapis, who... Continue Reading →
October 19, 2006 The Celtic Gateway Bridge in Wales was opened for use. This stainless steel pedestrian and cycle bridge is located in Holyhead, the largest town and community within the Isle of Anglesey (a county off the northwestern coast of Wales). The Celtic Gateway Bridge was officially inaugurated by Andrew Davies (born in 1952),... Continue Reading →
February 28, 2015 A newly built railway station was opened in the city of Delft in the Netherlands’ province of South Holland. This city has played a huge role in Dutch history over the centuries and is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the Netherlands. Delft -- located between Rotterdam to the southeast... Continue Reading →
June 29, 2012 In western Switzerland’s canton (member state) of Vaud, a railway station was formally inaugurated in the municipality of Prilly. (This municipality is a western suburb of Lausanne, the capital of Vaud, and located near that city’s district of Malley.) It took three-and-a-half years for Switzerland’s national railway company Swiss Federal Railways (also... Continue Reading →
Transportation History 