Page 128 - 360.revista de Alta Velocidad - Nº 6
P. 128
Ayrault Pérez, Juan
8.4 More than just a station – Beyond efficiency, technology and engineering
The importance of stations on passenger experience was mentioned at the beginning of this paper
and takes part of its final conclusions. It is a fact that, beyond functionality and technology, the
place where the travel starts and ends has an effect than leans more on psychology than on pure
‘rational’ concepts. It is certain that passengers appreciate the efficiency of a HS service, value the
time spared, compare the fares with other transport modes, take advantage of services offered...
But their experiences do not end there. Feelings driven by colours and smells, images seen or
remembered, memories of other places visited, of sad farewells, of friendly encounters... A
station is a complex space where people meet and divert, where many things could happen
and, more than everything, where the adventure of travel starts or finishes. Do not forget that
the train itself is a strange transport mode where human relations can happen, more than in
any other one. In fact, trains are moving spaces where the comedy of life continues at stage
and, surprisingly, moves. I consciously avoid to mention how many stories have been written
about events happened on a train and a station. This is another story...
Figure 62: Stazione Termini – Vittorio de Sica. Source: Pinterest .
A travel to and from Atocha cannot be understood without the passenger impression on his or
her arrival/departure: journey, way in, waiting time, arrangements, shopping, departure...
From Atocha windows, strange artefacts can be seen: a columned building crowned with winged
horses, a neoclassic temple on top of a hill, an odd campanile escaped from Tuscany emerging
behind a row of French‐like buildings with slate roofs and Parisian mansards, aligned like a
train, an endless horizon of working class blocks...
Inside the buildings, walls of smooth orange‐red bricks bring echoes from Amsterdam or London;
a huge iron vault shelters an unexpected tropical garden surrounded by a thin mist, strange
creature grown in a dry and continental city with harsh winters.
126 360.revista de alta velocidad
