If you enjoy street, urban or architectural photography, railway stations offer a huge range of photographic possibilities. This is particularly so for big mainline stations like the London ones, but also for tube stations in the London underground.
The Rules for Photography in UK Railway Stations
As long as you follow the rules and don’t get in the way you should be OK.
You can find out exactly what’s required by looking on the relevant websites. TfL for the underground and Network Rail for a lot of the big stations. Smaller stations belong to the Train Companies.
Network Rail say that they encourage photography. Yes, you read that correctly! It’s in big bold letters at the top of the relevant web page. But read the rules. And you may still be challenged by over-zealous staff, but at least you know where you stand. Here is a link to theNetwork Rail policy. Have the page loaded and ready to show any staff who have forgotten.
Contrast the above with the London Underground policy where it’s not quite so clear. The bit we are interested in is right at the bottom of a long page of policy text that is written to deal with commercial work. But suffice it to say that anyone can take photos when they are on the way from A to B and just “passing through”; but don’t hang around in one place for too long – 15 minutes is considered the limit. Here is a link to the TfL web page on the subject.
For all UK stations there are some rules that are the same wherever you are – no flash, no tripod, and cause no obstruction.
I often use a platypod which provides a firm adjustable base for the camera – essentially it’s a good ball head on a plate with three legs about 1cm long. Great for low level shots, and it looks like part of the camera.
Photography in liege and mons, belgium
Another interesting contrast is between the UK and Belgium. For the two stations in Belgium mentioned below, tripods seem to be perfectly acceptable. The stations are iconic modern structures designed by a world renowned architect, Santiago Calatrava. The Belgian Railway and the local cities are very proud of these stations; and so they should be. They are quite different from anything you can see in the UK.
THE POSSIBILITIES for Photography in Railway Stations
The possibilities are endless. I did a whole project on the Victoria Line that you can see here. And another project on the station in Liège, Belgium, see here. The first was essentially street photography, and the Liege project was all about abstraction and architecture. And there are infinite possibilities for everything in between. My stations gallery is here.
Here are a few examples from my favourite locations: Kings Cross, St Pancras, Liverpool Street, Liège Guillemins, Mons, Berlin, and of course the London Underground.
Other articles with stations as a central theme:
- Photography in London visiting Charing Cross Underground Station
- Mons Station in Belgium
- The stations of the Elizabeth Line including inks to principal architects’ videos
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