Stunning IMAGES of 30 rail stations around the world

Nothing makes a train or metro travel more memorable than a station that is swanky.

We take you on a tour across some of the world's most beautiful railway stations. . .

1. Grand Central Terminal, New York

Also known as Grand Central Station, this is a rail terminal station at 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City.

It is the largest train station in the world by number of platforms: 44, with 67 tracks.

The terminal covers an area of 48 acres.

According to the travel magazine Travel + Leisure's October 2011 survey, Grand Central Terminal is 'the world's number six most visited tourist attraction', bringing in approximately 21,600,000 visitors annually.

. . .

2. Metro Dubai

The Dubai Metro is a driverless, fully automated metro rail network in the United Arab Emirates city of Dubai.

The Red Line and Green Line are operational, with three further lines are planned.

These first two lines run underground in the city centre and on elevated viaducts elsewhere.

All trains and stations are air conditioned with platform edge doors to make this possible.

Guinness World Records has declared Dubai Metro as the world's longest fully automated metro network spanning at 75 km.

. . .

3. CTA blue line O'Hare

The Chicago Transit Authority runs a 24 hour train service -- the 'L' Blue Line -- between downtown Chicago and O'Hare Airport.

Blue Line stations downtown include La Salle, Jackson, Monroe, Washington and Clark/Lake.

The Orange Line to/from Midway Airport connects with the Blue Line at Clark/Lake station.

The O'Hare CTA station is located on the lower level concourse in the main terminal area.

Journey time between downtown Chicago and O'Hare Airport is around 45 minutes.

Trains run every 10 minutes during the day, more frequently during rush hours.

. . .

4. Lancaster Gate Tube, London

Lancaster Gate is a London Underground station located on the Central Line near Lancaster Gate on Bayswater Road in Bayswater (City of Westminster), to the north of Kensington Gardens.

It is between Queensway and Marble Arch on the Central line.

The station was closed from 3 July 2006 until 13 November 2006, so that the lifts and station could be refurbished.

. . .

5. Station Chatelet, Paris

Chatelet is a station on lines 1, 4, 7, 11 and 14 of the Paris Metro in the centre of medieval Paris and the 1st arrondissement.

The station is made up of two parts connected by a long corridor: lines 7 and 11 under the Place du Chatelet and the Quai de Gesvre (site of the original medieval river port of Paris), next to the Sei#8800 lines 1, 4 and 14 towards Rue Saint-Denis and the Rue de Rivoli.

Chatelet is connected by another long underground corridor to the southern end of the RER station Chatelet -- Les Halles, the northern end of which is again connected to the Metro station Les Halles.

. . .

6. Venezuela Station, Argentina

Venezuela is a station on Line H of the Buenos Aires Metro.

Line H of the Buenos Aires Metro is the first entirely new line built in Buenos Aires since the opening of Line E on 20 June 1944.

The first phase, between Plaza Once and Caseros, opened on October 18, 2007.

. . .

7. Metro Center Station, Washington DC.

Metro Center is the central hub station of the Washington Metro rapid transit system in Washington, DC.

Metro Center was one of the original Metro stations, and has been in service since March 27, 1976.

The station is located in downtown Washington, under an area roughly extending east-west from 11th to 13th Streets Northwest, and north-south from F to H Streets Northwest.

The station's only street elevator is on the west side of 12th Street north of G Street. It is the second busiest station in the Metrorail system after Union Station, averaging 35,000 passengers per weekday.

. . .

8. Forest Gate Railway Station, London

Forest Gate railway station is located in the London Borough of Newham, in east London.

The station, and all trains serving it, is operated by Greater Anglia.

The station is a short distance from Wanstead Park station on the Gospel Oak to Barking Line.

. . .

9. London Paddington Railway Station

Paddington railway station, also known as London Paddington, is a central London railway terminus and London Underground complex.

The complex has recently been modernised.

The station is the terminus for services from Bristol, Cheltenham Spa, Cardiff, Exeter via Reading, Penzance, Plymouth and Swansea.

. . .

10. Heizel/Heysel station, Brussels metro

The Heysel Metro Station is one of the metro stations on line 6 (formerly 1A) of the Brussels Metro.

It was opened on July 5 1985 and serves the Heysel area, famous for the 1958 Brussels World Fair, the King Baudouin Stadium (formerly known as the Heysel Stadium) and the Atomium.

The Bruparck entertainment park (with among others Mini-Europe, a movie theatre, a swimming-pool) and the Brussels Exhibition Hall are also located nearby.

. . .

11. Amagerbro Metro Station, Copenhagen

Amagerbro Station is a rapid transit station on the Copenhagen Metro, located in the Sundbyoster district of Copenhagen.

It opened in 2002.

It is located between the Christianshavn and Lergravsparken stations.

The station has bicycle parking facilities.

. . .

12. Aberdeen, Richmond, British Columbia

Aberdeen Station is a SkyTrain station on the Canada Line in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada, in the Metro Vancouver region.

It is named after the adjacent Aberdeen Centre, the largest of Richmond's Asian-themed malls.

The station is located in close proximity to numerous Asian-themed shopping centres along Richmond's Golden Village, including (from north to south) Yaohan Centre, President Plaza, Aberdeen Centre, and Parker Place.

. . .

13. Titan Metro Station, Bucharest

Titan is a metro station in Bucharest located in the Titan district.

The station services the now rather obsolete shopping centre, the large Titan Park and the district's dense population.

. . .

14. Westend Station, Berlin

Westend is a station in the Charlottenburg district of Berlin. It is served by the S-Bahn lines S41, S42 and S46.

. . .

15. St. Pancras Station, London

St Pancras railway station, also known as London St Pancras is a central London railway terminus celebrated for its Victorian architecture.

The station is the terminus for East Midlands Trains services from London to Derby, Leicester, Nottingham, Sheffield, Lincoln and smaller towns in between, and for Eurostar's high-speed services to Paris, Brussels and Lille.

. . .

16. Guangzhou South Railway Station, China

This is a station in Shibi Village, Panyu, Guangzhou.

It is the largest metro station in Guangzhou.

It is one of the four largest railway passenger transportation hubs in China.

. . .

17. Pretoria Railway Station, South Africa

Pretoria railway station is the central station in Pretoria, the executive capital of South Africa.

It is located between Pretoria's central business district and Salvokop, in a 1910 building designed by Herbert Baker.

It is the terminus of various Metrorail commuter rail services in the northern part of Gauteng, and a stop on Shosholoza Meyl inter-city services from Johannesburg to Polokwane and Nelspruit.

. . .

18. Trianon-Masp Station, Sao Paulo

Trianon-Masp is a station on Line 2 (Green) of the Sao Paulo Metro.

The Sao Paulo Metro is the principal rapid-transit system in the city of Sao Paulo and the largest in Brazil.

It is also the second largest system in South America and the third largest in Latin America, behind Mexico City and Santiago.

. . .

19. Berri-UQAM Metro Station, Montreal

Berri-UQAM is the central station of the Montreal Metro rapid transit system operated by the Societe de transport de Montreal.

It is located in the Quartier Latin, in the borough of Ville-Marie, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Designed by Longpre and Marchand, the station serves three lines: the Green, Orange, and Yellow lines.

. . .

20. Lago Subway Station, Madrid

This is one of the most picturesque stations of Madrid Metro.

The Madrid Metro system is the sixth longest metro in the world.

Lago station in the old Line S is one of the few surface stations in the Madrid Metro network.

. . .

21. Pico station, Los Angeles

Pico Station aka Pico/Chick Hearn is an at-grade light rail station in the Los Angeles County Metro Rail system.

It is located in the South Park neighborhood of Downtown Los Angeles, on Flower Street just north of Pico Boulevard.

The station is served by the Blue Line, Expo Line and the Silver Line.

. . .

22. South Station, Boston

South Station is located at the intersection of Atlantic Avenue and Summer Street in Dewey Square, Boston, Massachusetts.

It is the largest train station and intercity bus terminal in Greater Boston.

The station has 7 platforms and 13 tracks.

. . .

23. Haydarpasa train station, Istanbul

The Haydarpaşa Terminal or Haydarpaşa Station is a major intercity rail station and transportation hub in Kadıkoy, Istanbul.

It is the busiest rail terminal in Turkey and West Asia and one of the busiest in Eastern Europe.

The tracks do not cross the Bosphorus, but there is a train ferry, that carries rail cars from Haydarpasa, on the Asian side, to Sirkeci, on the European side.

. . .

24. Metro Bellas Artes Station, Mexico

Metro Bellas Artes is a station along Line 2 and Line 8 of the Mexico City Metro system.

It is located in the Colonia Centro district of the Cuauhtemoc borough of Mexico City, on the junction of Avenida Juarez and Eje Central Lazaro Cardenas, on the eastern end of the Alameda Central, west of the city centre.

. . .

25. Namesti Republiky Metro Station, Prague

Namesti Republiky is a Prague Metro station on Line B in the Prague 1 district.

Its two exits serve the Republic Square area and the Masaryk suburban railway terminal respectively.

. . .

26. Taipei City Hall Metro Station

The Taipei Metro Taipei City Hall Station is located in the Xinyi District of Taipei, Taiwan.

It is a station on the Nangang Line (Blue Line).

The station is an underground structure with an island platform and four exits.

The size of the station is larger than most other stations on the Nangang Line.

. . .

27. Warsaw Metro station Wierzbno, Poland

It is named after Warsaw's Wierzbno neighbourhood, where the station is located.

Owned by ZTM, the station opened in 1995.

. . .

28. Yio Chu Kang MRT Station, Singapore

Yio Chu Kang MRT Station (NS15) is an above-ground Mass Rapid Transit station on the North South Line in Singapore.

This station serves students of neighbouring educational institutions, residents as well as workers at neighbouring industrial estates.

. . .

29. Golshahr Metro Station, Tehran

Golshahr Metro Station is the western end of Tehran Metro Line 5.

It is located in Mehrshahr in southwest of Karaj.

The next station is Mahdasht Metro Station.

. . .

30. Chyornaya Rechka Station, Saint Petersburg Subway.

Chyornaya Rechka station of the Saint Petersburg Metro opened on November 4, 1982.

The station is named in honour of the place of the last duel of Russian poet Alexander Pushkin.