Abandoned Railway Station - Dereliction and Alternative Uses

Dereliction and Alternative Uses

Railway stations and lines which fall into disuse may become overgrown. Some former railway lines are repurposed as managed nature reserves, trails or other tourist attractions - for example Hellfire Pass, the route of the former "Death Railway" in Thailand. Many former railways are converted into long-distance cycleways, such as large sections of the National Cycle Network in the United Kingdom. In rural areas, former railway station buildings are often converted into private residences. Examples include many of the stations on the closed Didcot, Newbury and Southampton Railway in England.

Architecturally and historically notable station buildings may present a problem if they are protected under building preservation laws but fall into disuse. Such buildings are often simply demolished (such as Broad Street railway station (London); a similar fate threatens Michigan Central Station), or they may be preserved as part of a heritage railway. Often, in order to be retained as commercially viable structures within an urban environment, or as part of an urban regeneration project, they may be repurposed for alternative activities. Prominent examples include the ornate Gare d'Orsay in Paris, France, which was converted into the Musée d'Orsay art gallery; and Manchester Central railway station which was put to new use first as a car park, and later refurbished as the Manchester Central Conference Centre.

Many abandoned railway stations and line are now being brought back into operational service, notably in the UK where environmental policy is driving the reversal of some of the Beeching closures of the 1960s. In London the Docklands Light Railway made use of disused railway infrastructure for much of its construction; in Manchester it is proposed to expand the Metrolink light rail system by re-opening abandoned rail lines; and in Scotland, the Scottish Government has plans to bring the Waverley Line back into passenger service.