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Train shed

Roofed railway tracks and platforms

Wikipedia contributorsAdapted for Fathomly · View authors
4 min read
Source updated April 4, 2026
Image credit is listed at the end of this article.

A train shed is a building adjacent to a station building where the tracks and platforms of a railway station are covered by a roof. It is also known as an overall roof. It should not be confused with a carriage shed, whose primary purpose is to store and protect from the elements train cars not in use.

The first train shed was built in 1830 at Liverpool's Crown Street station.

The biggest train sheds were often built as an arch of glass and iron, while the smaller were built as normal pitched roofs.

The train shed with the biggest single span ever built was that at the second Philadelphia Broad Street station, built in 1891.

01Types of train shed

Early wooden train sheds

The earliest train sheds were wooden structures, often with unglazed openings to allow smoke and steam to escape. The oldest part of Bristol Temple Meads is a particularly fine, and large, example, designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel with mock-hammerbeam roof.

Surviving examples include:

Classic metal and glass

The middle of the nineteenth century saw many large stations covered by iron, steel and glass train sheds, inspired by The Crystal Palace at The Great Exhibition in 1851. The best have been described as "like cathedrals" and feature curved roofs; other structures have pitched roofs.

Surviving examples of curved roof train sheds include:

Surviving examples of pitched roof train sheds include:

Surviving examples of Bush-type, developed by American civil engineer Lincoln Bush, and related train sheds include:

Surviving examples of other train sheds include:

Concrete

The middle of the twentieth century saw concrete used as a structural material.

Surviving examples include:

Modern steel and glass

After many years with few, if any, significant new train sheds, recent years have seen some major stations given graceful train sheds by using modern technology. Examples include:

In the United States, the Walt Disney World Monorail System has some train sheds along its route, including the entrance-gate station and the main hall (or Grand Canyon Concourse) of the Contemporary Resort.

Open-air canopy

Ashburton railway station, in Devon, England (now closed)
Ashburton railway station, in Devon, England (now closed)
Frankfurt, Germany
Frankfurt, Germany
Bangkok, Thailand
Bangkok, Thailand
Ballarat, in Victoria, Australia
Ballarat, in Victoria, Australia

02Car barn

In North America, tram cars are called streetcars or trolleys and are sometimes stored in structures called car barns or car houses. These buildings are usually enclosed and provide cover for trams from the elements.

List of car barns (all are in Canada or the United States):

Newcastle, Tyne & Wear, England
Newcastle, Tyne & Wear, England
Beverley, East Riding of Yorkshire, England
Beverley, East Riding of Yorkshire, England
Glasgow Central, Scotland
Glasgow Central, Scotland
Watch videos about Train shedExplainers and documentaries on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Train shed”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

Images, from Wikimedia Commons:

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Related topics

Bus station

A bus station, bus depot, bus interchange or bus exchange is a structure where city buses or intercity buses stop to pick up and drop off passengers. A bus station is larger than a bus stop, which is usually simply a place on the roadside, where buses can stop.