A station code is a brief, standardised abbreviation, or

alphanumeric code Alphanumericals or alphanumeric characters are any collection of number characters and letters in a certain language. Sometimes such characters may be mistaken one for the other. Merriam-Webster suggests that the term "alphanumeric" may often ...

, used by

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

s to identify a

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

uniquely (within a country or region). Codes are mostly used internally but can be seen on railway traffic signs and on some timetables. In most countries, station codes are purely alphabetic, usually compromising a few capital letters for ease of identification, in some countries one capital and one or some lowercase letters.

Americas

United States

Amtrak encodes a few stations in Canada which it serves.

Asia

Hong Kong

A three-letter code system is in use in the MTR to identify stations. For example, Whampoa station of the

MTR The Mass Transit Railway system, known locally by the initialism MTR, is a rapid transit system in Hong Kong and the territory's principal mode of Rail transport in Hong Kong, railway transportation. Operated by the MTR Corporation (MTRCL), ...

has the code of WHA.

India

Indian Railways Indian Railways is a state-owned enterprise that is organised as a departmental undertaking of the Ministry of Railways (India), Ministry of Railways of the Government of India and operates India's national railway system. , it manages the fou ...

uses one- to four-letter codes. Most stations of the Indian Railways are assigned three letter codes, for example, the station code for Mumbai Central station is MMCT and for

Guwahati Guwahati () the largest city of the Indian state of Assam, and also the largest metropolis in northeastern India. Dispur, the capital of Assam, is in the circuit city region located within Guwahati and is the seat of the Government of Assam. Th ...

is GHY. One-letter station codes of the Indian Railways * G: Gondia Junction railway station * J:

Jalna railway station Jalna railway station is a train station in the city of Jalna in the Indian state of Maharashtra. Jalna station lies on the Secunderabad–Manmad line of South Central Railway zone. Jalna is an important station in the Marathwada region with s ...

* R:

Raipur Junction railway station Raipur Junction is the main railway station serving the city of Raipur. It is only few of the railway stations in India which has been given the grade 'A-1' by the Indian Railways and is one of the highest-revenue-earning railway stations in Ind ...

* S: Shrirangapattana railway station * Y: Yeliyur railway station * Unallocated one-letter station codes of the Indian Railways include A, B, C, D, E, F, I, H, K, L, M, N, P, Q, T, U, V, W, X and Z.

Japan

In Japan, alphabetic station codes are not used. Japanese railways use station numbering, a

sign system A sign system is a key concept in semiotics and is used to refer to any system of signs and relations between signs. The term ''language'' is frequently used as a synonym for a sign-system. However, the term ''sign-system'' is considered preferab ...

which assigns station codes consisting of a few letters and numbers to train stations.

South Korea

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

, station codes are purely numeric, to reduce the problem of

language Language is a structured system of communication that consists of grammar and vocabulary. It is the primary means by which humans convey meaning, both in spoken and signed language, signed forms, and may also be conveyed through writing syste ...

and

writing system A writing system comprises a set of symbols, called a ''script'', as well as the rules by which the script represents a particular language. The earliest writing appeared during the late 4th millennium BC. Throughout history, each independen ...

barriers. For example,

Seoul Metropolitan Subway The Seoul Metropolitan Subway () is a urban rail transit, metropolitan railway system consisting of 23 rapid transit, Medium-capacity rail transport system, light metro, commuter rail and people mover lines located in northwest South Korea. T ...

Singeumho station Singeumho Station is a station on Seoul Subway Line 5, Seoul, South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Ko ...

has the code of 538.

Europe

Denmark and Sweden

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

and

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

, railway stations are assigned a capital letter followed by a sequence of lowercase letters that represent the station's name. For example,

Stockholm commuter rail Stockholm commuter rail () is the commuter rail system in Stockholm County, Sweden. The system is an important part of the public transport in Stockholm, and is controlled by Storstockholms Lokaltrafik. The tracks are state-owned and administere ...

's Stockholm City Station has the station code Sci.Aktuella trafikplatsnamn på järnväg, uppdaterad 2021-03-01
/ref> In Sweden the code is in a few cases a single capital letter, such as M for

Malmö Central Station Malmö Central Station (; abbreviated ''Malmö C'') is the main railway station serving the city of Malmö, Sweden. It is located in central Malmö, situated between the historic city centre and the Port of Malmö. Opened on the Southern Mai ...

Germany

Deutsche Bahn (, ; abbreviated as DB or DB AG ) is the national railway company of Germany, and a state-owned enterprise under the control of the German government. Headquartered in the Bahntower in Berlin, it is a joint-stock company ( AG). DB was fou ...

in Germany uses an alphabetic station code system called the ''DS 100 code'', for example, Luckenwalde station in

Brandenburg Brandenburg, officially the State of Brandenburg, is a States of Germany, state in northeastern Germany. Brandenburg borders Poland and the states of Berlin, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony. It is the List of Ger ...

has the station code BLD.

Norway

Stations normally have a code of three capital letters, sometimes two letters. They are called "stedskoder" (location codes). Examples: OSL=

Oslo Central Station Oslo Central Station (, abbreviated ) is the main railway station in Oslo, and the largest railway station within the entire Norwegian railway system. It connects with Jernbanetorget station, which is served by trams and the Oslo Metro. It's ...

, GAR= Oslo Airport Station, TND= Trondheim Central Station and BO= Bodø Station.1. Generell del (1.1 - 1.4)
/ref>

UK

List of National Rail Station codes
Three-letter alpha codes (formerly called CRS codes - ''Computer Reservation System'') are issued by

National Rail National Rail (NR) is the trading name licensed for use by the Rail Delivery Group, a group representing passenger train operating companies (TOCs) of England, Scotland, and Wales. The TOCs run the passenger services previously provided by ...

which is responsible for railways in

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

. Station codes are not used by Northern Ireland Railways for stations in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

. In England, Scotland and Wales of the UK, railway stations are assigned three-letter codes and are issued by National Rail and are called the Computer Reservation System (CRS).

References

{{Reflist Railway stations