I recently came across this article and stunning series of photos on The Daily Mail’s website. The article got me wondering how our infrastructure, in modern and ancient places alike all over the world, has come to this. How did all of these beautiful public-transit stations fall into such states of disrepair? Why did we let it happen? And how are we going to fix it?
Here is an excerpt from the article. It would be great to hear from people below in the comments as to how this happened and what we can realistically do about it.
———–
Once bustling transport hubs sending countless commuters in all directions, scores of spectacular railway stations now stand empty, having been left to fall to pieces as train travel in America, and around the world, declined.
These breath-taking photographs capture the ruins of the former railroad culture scattered across the United States, and further afield.
But despite the buildings’ gutted interiors, smashed windows and crumbling features, the beautiful often century-old architecture can still be appreciated.
Michigan Central Depot has been empty since 1988
The installation of train tracks across America was a momentous occasion that made commercial trade and passenger travel possible from one coast to another.
But railroads have fallen from their previous glory days as other forms of transportation such as air travel have come to the fore.
One of the most stunning casualties of this cultural shift is the ghost town-like Michigan Central Train Station in Detroit.
Michigan Central Depot is bare and unkempt inside
The impressive structure, built almost 100 years ago in 1913, has been abandoned since 1988. It is now excessively vandalized and patrolled.
Another sad victim of the dwindling use of railroads is the Union Station in Gary, Indiana, which was built in 1910, just four years after the city was founded. It sits unoccupied and is slowly falling into greater ruin.
But it is not just in the U.S. that train travel was waned. Abandoned train tracks, tunnels and entire stations can be found around the globe, with these photographs capturing beautiful architecture in Spain and Germany left to fall apart.
The abandoned station in Redlands, Santa Fe, was built in 1910, but is still in fairly good condition
This former railway station in Galacia, Spain, has been left to fall to pieces
The small Spanish town of Cantranc Estacion is known for its decrepit train station
Anhalter Bahnhof Station in Berlin was opened in 1841
The interesting West Oakland 16th Street Station sits empty
The Union Station in Gary, Indiana, was built in 1910, just four years after the city was founded but now sits unoccupied
Please go to The Daily Mail’s site to see all the photos.
