A central station designates the principal passenger railway station of cities which have multiple stations. The central station functions as the main transport hub for rail transport, normally with interchange with other modes of public transport. Certain services, such as intercity of high-speed routes make their only stop in the city at the central station, while commuter services may serve all stations in the city. A central station may be a terminal station, with all services ending at the station, or may permit through services.

Foreign language names for central station include Hauptbahnhof (abbreviated Hbf or HB) in German, hlavní nádraží (abbreviated hl. n.) in Czech, Centraal Station (abbreviated formerly as CS and currently as Centraal) in Dutch, Główny in Polish, Főpályaudvar (abbreviated főpu.) in Hungarian, sentralstasjon in Norwegian, centralstation in Swedish, and hovedbanegård in Danish.

Central stations in Malaysia is called Sentral, the Malay spelling for the English word central, in Hong Kong 中環 (from the Chinese name of the district Central).

A union station is a central station which serves more than one railway company. This is most commonly used for naming of North American stations, where several private railway companies serve the same cities, but the term was also used prior to the nationalization of railway companies in Europe.

• Acton Central railway station
• Belfast Central railway station
• Birkenhead Central railway station
• Burnley Central railway station
• Cardiff Central railway station
• Coatbridge Central railway station
• Dumbarton Central railway station
• Exeter Central railway station
• Finchley Central tube station
• Folkestone Central railway station
• Gainsborough Central railway station
• Glasgow Central railway station
• Greenock Central railway station
• Hackney Central railway station
• Hamilton Central railway station
• Helensburgh Central railway station
• Hendon Central tube station
• Hounslow Central tube station
• Hyde Central railway station
• Leicester Central railway station
• Lincoln Central railway station
• Liverpool Central railway station
• Manchester Central (Conference Centre)
• Milton Keynes Central railway station
• New Mills Central railway station
• Newcastle Central railway station
• Central Station Metro station on the Tyne and Wear Metro
• Redcar Central railway station
• Rotherham Central railway station
• St Helens Central railway station
• Southend Central railway station
• Southampton Central railway station
• Telford Central railway station
• Walthamstow Central station
• Warrington Central railway station
• Wembley Central station
• Windsor and Eton Central railway station
• Wrexham Central railway station

• Amsterdam Centraal
• Den Haag Centraal
• Leiden Centraal
• Rotterdam Centraal
• Utrecht Centraal
• Antwerpen-Centraal railway station
• Bruxelles-Central / Brussel-Centraal railway station

In German-speaking countries, the general term for a central station is "Hauptbahnhof", literally meaning "Main Station" but also translated as "Central Station"

• Aachen Hauptbahnhof
• Arnstadt Hauptbahnhof
• Aschaffenburg Hauptbahnhof
• Augsburg Hauptbahnhof
• Bayreuth Hauptbahnhof
• Berchtesgaden Hauptbahnhof
• Berlin Hauptbahnhof
• Bielefeld Hauptbahnhof
• Bingen (Rhein) Hauptbahnhof
• Bochum Hauptbahnhof
• Boppard Hauptbahnhof
• Bottrop Hauptbahnhof
• Brandenburg Hauptbahnhof
• Brunswick Hauptbahnhof
• Bremen Hauptbahnhof
• Bremerhaven Hauptbahnhof
• Chemnitz Hauptbahnhof
• Cologne Hauptbahnhof
• Dortmund Hauptbahnhof
• Dresden Hauptbahnhof
• Duisburg Hauptbahnhof
• Düsseldorf Hauptbahnhof
• Essen Hauptbahnhof
• Frankfurt (Main) Hauptbahnhof
• Hamburg Hauptbahnhof
• Hanover Hauptbahnhof
• Leipzig Hauptbahnhof
• Munich Hauptbahnhof
• Nuremberg Hauptbahnhof
• Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof
• Ulm Hauptbahnhof
• Vienna Hauptbahnhof - the new central station for Vienna, currently under construction.
• Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof
• Würzburg Hauptbahnhof

• Central railway station, Brisbane, in Brisbane, Australia
• Buffalo Central Terminal, in New York, United States
• Chennai Central railway station, in India
• Central Station (Chicago), in Chicago, United States
• Central Station (Chicago terminal), in Chicago, Illinois, United States
• Grand Central Station (Chicago), in Chicago, Illinois, United States
• Central (ETS), a light rail station in Edmonton, Canada
• Central (CTA Purple Line), in Evanston, Illinois, United States
• Gothenburg Central Station, in Sweden
• Helsinki Central railway station, in Finland
• Central Station (MTR), on the Hong Kong MTR metro system
• Malmö Central Station, in Sweden
• Central Station (Memphis), in Memphis, Tennessee, United States
• Milan Central railway station, in Milan, Italy
• Central Station (Montreal), in Canada
• Grand Central Terminal, in New York City
• Oslo Central Station, in Oslo, Norway.
• Central Station (Rio de Janeiro), in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
• Roma Termini railway station, the central station of Rome, Italy
• Stockholm Central Station, in Sweden
• Central railway station, Sydney, in Sydney, Australia
• Trondheim Central Station, in Trondheim, Norway
• Warszawa Centralna station, in Warsaw, Poland
• Porta Nuova, the central station of Turin, Italy