The Antwerp Central Station is one of the world’s most impressive railway stations. The monumental main building was designed by the Bruges architect L. Delacenserie. It has a huge dome and 8 smaller towers of which 6 were demolished during the 1950s, but these were reconstructed in 2009 together with several ornaments including large lion statues. The colorful interior is lavishly decorated with more than 20 different kinds of marble and stone. The main hall and the railway cafeteria can match the interiors of many palaces. The National Belgian Railway Company, SNCB-Holding, took up the challenge to transform the 1905 station into one meeting 2010 technological requirements and social needs, while still respecting its cultural heritage. The monumental architecture of the station has been painstakingly restored and integrated within a new structure by the architects, creating a dynamic blend of old and new, of stone, and brick and concrete. The 3.8km tunnel drilled under the existing station allowing high speed trains to travel between Amsterdam and Brussels, took eleven years of work, yet did not interrupt traffic.

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The Atocha Train station is the largest railway station in Spain. It includes a botanical garden spread over an area of 4,000 square meter under the arched skylight. A garden was designed to keep tropical species, plants and fauna. Over 7,000 plants live inside the station, and many of them are palm trees. This indoor tropical jungle was inaugurated in 1992.

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