Central station is a common element in the names of railway stations. Stations which are called Central (or the local-language equivalent) are often centrally located within the place served, but this is not always the case and the name can exist for other reasons. The Central station may not be the main station in a particular settlement, as the main station may be elsewhere (for example Exeter Central railway station).

Non-English language names for central station:

• Centraal Station (abbreviated formerly as CS and currently as Centraal) in Dutch
• centralstation (abbreviated central or C) in Swedish
• Estación Central in Spanish
• Gare centrale in French
• sentralstasjon in Norwegian
• Stazione Centrale in Italian
• Централна гара (tsentralna gara) in Bulgarian

A local-language version of "main" rather than "central" station is common in many countries:

• Dworzec Główny main station in Polish
• Glavni kolodvor (abbreviated Gl. kol.) main station in Croatian
• Hauptbahnhof (abbreviated Hbf or HB) main station in German
• hlavná stanica (abbreviated hl. st.) main station in Slovak
• hlavní nádraží (abbreviated hl. n.) main station in Czech
• hovedbanegård main station in Danish
• "Centrum" main station or Shopping Center station in Dutch.

Railway stations in Britain using the suffix 'Central' often^{[citation needed]} do not refer to a centrally located station, and many of these cannot be said to be 'principal' stations, and are merely called Central to distinguish them from other stations called North, South, East or West, or for reasons of prestige. In some cases, a station that was originally owned by the Great Central Railway in locations served by more than one station were called 'Central'. 'Town' is also a suffix used, as for example Edenbridge Town, used to distinguish it from Edenbridge station.

One of the few 'principal' stations in the UK that is called 'Central' and truly is in the centre of the city it serves is Glasgow Central station; although Glasgow was once served by four 'principal' terminus stations, all within the city centre, only one was called 'Central'. With a few exceptions such as the Argyle line, Central serves all stations south of the city while Glasgow Queen Street serves as the principal station for all services North of the city. Likewise, Cardiff Central is located in the city centre and is the mainline hub of South Wales' rail network which includes 19 other stations in Cardiff itself, one of which is another principal city centre station, Cardiff Queen Street.

1. Acton Central railway station
2. Belfast Central railway station
3. Birkenhead Central railway station
4. Burnley Central railway station
5. Cardiff Central railway station
6. Coatbridge Central railway station
7. Croydon Central railway station
8. Dumbarton Central railway station
9. Exeter Central railway station
10. Finchley Central tube station
11. Folkestone Central railway station
12. Gainsborough Central railway station
13. Glasgow Central railway station
14. Greenock Central railway station
15. Hackney Central railway station
16. Hamilton Central railway station
17. Helensburgh Central railway station
18. Hendon Central tube station
19. Hounslow Central tube station
20. Hyde Central railway station
21. Leicester Central railway station, part of the Great Central Railway's London Extension
22. Lincoln Central railway station
23. Liverpool Central railway station
24. Manchester Central (Conference Centre)
25. Milton Keynes Central railway station
26. New Mills Central railway station
27. Newcastle Central railway station and the associated Central Station Metro station on the Tyne and Wear Metro
28. Redcar Central railway station
29. Rotherham Central railway station
30. St Helens Central railway station
31. St Helens Central (GCR) railway station
32. Southend Central railway station
33. Southampton Central railway station
34. Telford Central railway station
35. Walthamstow Central station
36. Warrington Central railway station
37. Wembley Central station
38. Windsor and Eton Central railway station
39. Wrexham Central railway station

1. Brest Central Station (Brest-Centralny, Брест-Центральный)

There are only three stations called "central"

1. Antwerpen-Centraal railway station
2. Bruxelles-Central / Brussel-Centraal railway station
3. Station Verviers-Central

1. Central Railway Station, Sofia (Централна гара София)
2. Central Railway Station, Plovdiv (Централна гара Пловдив)

There are two stations with central in their names:

1. Helsinki Central railway station (Helsingin päärautatieasema)
2. Turku Central railway station (Turun päärautatieasema)

1. Gare d'Avignon-Centre the physically central station in Avignon

In Germany 'Bahnhof' means 'station' and 'Hauptbahnhof' means 'main station.'^[1]

1. Koblenz Stadtmitte station (freely translated as "Koblenz City Centre station")

1. Agrigento Centrale railway station
2. Bari Centrale railway station
3. Barletta Centrale railway station (FNB)
4. Bologna Centrale railway station
5. Caltanissetta Centrale railway station
6. Gorizia Centrale railway station
7. La Spezia Centrale railway station
8. Lamezia Terme Centrale railway station
9. Livorno Centrale railway station
10. Messina Centrale railway station
11. Milano Centrale railway station
12. Napoli Centrale railway station
13. Palermo Centrale railway station
14. Pescara Centrale railway station
15. Pisa Centrale railway station
16. Prato Centrale railway station
17. Reggio Calabria Centrale railway station
18. Tarvisio Centrale railway station - now closed
19. Torre Annunziata Centrale railway station
20. Trieste Centrale railway station
21. Treviglio railway station, also known as Treviglio Centrale
22. Treviso Centrale railway station
23. Trieste Centrale railway station

There are five stations called "Centraal" in the Netherlands.

1. Amsterdam Centraal
2. Den Haag Centraal
3. Leiden Centraal
4. Rotterdam Centraal
5. Utrecht Centraal
6. Breda Centraal (after renovating)
7. Arnhem Centraal (after renovating)

There are also Centrum stations:

1. Almere Centrum
2. Barneveld Centrum
3. Ede Centrum
4. Kerkrade Centrum
5. Lelystad Centrum
6. Veenendaal Centrum

1. Oslo Central Station(Oslo Sentralstasjon)
2. Trondheim Central Station(Trondheim Sentralstasjon)

1. Warszawa Centralna

In Sweden, the suffix "Central" is used even if referring to the only station in town.

1. Arlanda Central Station (Stockholm Arlanda Airport)
2. Gothenburg Central Station
3. Halmstad Central Station
4. Hässleholm Central Station
5. Jönköping Central Station
6. Malmö Central Station
7. *Norrköping Central Station
8. Nässjö Central Station
9. Stockholm Central Station
10. Uppsala Central Station
11. Västerås Central Station
12. Lund Central Station
13. Kalmar Central Station
14. Karlskrona Central Station
15. Kristianstad Central Station
16. Linköping Central Station
17. Helsingborg Central Station
18. Södertälje Central Station
19. Örebro Central Station

A union station is a central station that in the past served more than one railway company. This is most commonly used in North America, where in some cities a single station would serve several private railway companies. This is no longer the case, as the government-funded Amtrak took over the operation of all intercity passenger rail in the 1970s and 1980s. The term was also used in Europe prior to the nationalization of railway companies.^{[citation needed]}

• Buffalo Central Terminal, in Buffalo, New York, United States
• Central Station (Chicago), in Chicago, Illinois, United States
• Central Station (Chicago terminal), in Chicago, Illinois, United States
• Grand Central Station (Chicago), in Chicago, Illinois, United States
• Central (CTA Purple Line), in Evanston, Illinois, United States
• Central (CTA Green Line), in Chicago, Illinois, United States
• Central Station (Memphis), in Memphis, Tennessee, United States
• Miami Central Station, in Miami, Florida, United States
• Grand Central Terminal, in New York City, United States

• Central (ETS), a light rail station in Edmonton, Canada
• Guelph Central Station, an intermodal (rail/bus) station in Guelph, Canada
• Central Station (Montreal), in Montreal, Canada

• Central Railway Station, Havana, commuter and national rail station in Havana, Cuba

• Central Station (Rio de Janeiro), in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
• Santiago Estación Central in Santiago, Chile

Central stations in Malaysia are called Sentral, which is the Malay spelling for the English word central.

• Central Station (MTR), on the MTR metro system in Hong Kong, People's Republic of China
• Kuala Lumpur Sentral railway station, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

• Chennai Central (MAS), in Chennai, Tamil Nadu
• Kanpur Central (CNB), in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh
• Mumbai Central (BCT), in Mumbai, Maharastra
• Trivandrum Central (TVC), in Trivandrum, Kerala
• Mangalore Central (MAQ), in Mangalore, Karnataka

• Be'er Sheva Central Railway Station, in Be'er Sheva
• Haifa Central Railway Station, in Haifa
• Jerusalem Central Railway Station (Under construction), In Jerusalem
• Tel Aviv Central Railway Station, Tel Aviv

• Central Station -- This is an interchange station in the Mass Transit Railway (MTR) system, which links together the Tsuen Wan Line, the Island Line, the Tung Chung Line and the Airport Express. The station is named after the Central District on Hong Kong Island, where it is located, and is not served by intercity trains.

• Central railway station, Brisbane, in Brisbane, Australia
• Melbourne Central Station; not the main central railway station in Melbourne, being named after Melbourne Central shopping centre.
• Central railway station, Sydney also known as Sydney Terminal.