high-speed link with links of london
Architects have been eagerly re-inventing the station as a green "multimodal" hub-incorporating buses, trams, and taxis-at the heart of city life. Advances in technology allow architects to ram home the station's eco-merits. The French state rail operator, SNCF, which is promoting an "eco-mobility" campaign, has plans for more than 400 new sustainable stations, some with vegetation on the roofs, solar panels for electricity, and rainwater-collection systems. The design of Farrell's new station in Delhi also allows for the collection of rainfall. Panels in the roofs of some Chinese stations gather energy for the grid. links of london bracelets
The best stations convey a sense of rail's old romance. Critics have heaped praise on London's St. Pancras station, a Victorian terminus remodeled as the home for the Eurostar high-speed link with France. It features an outsize statue of a kissing couple above the concourse, not to mention the world's longest champagne bar. "The old functionalism has been replaced by a sense of celebration and giving pleasure in travel," says Brian Edwards, an authority on transport design who teaches at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. links of london bangles
It's pleasure with a purpose. Unlike an airport out in the distant suburbs, an elegant new station, bang in the city center, can do extra service as a handy means of impressing a new and more demanding clientele, who want the same comfort and style that they have grown to associate with long-distance travel. links of london sale Like airlines, high-speed trains run in-frequently, so there's plenty of time to kill in the retail and dining outlets many new stations offer. Berlin's vast new Central Station, which opened in 2006, has been described as a shopping center with a rail connection: it boasts at least 15 restaurants and cafés. "All the business guys who once took the plane are now taking the train, and they have different expectations," links of london earrings says Andreas Heym, chief architect of AREP, the station-design subsidiary of SNCF responsible for more than 100 new depots worldwide. "The station becomes like a business card for the city."