page_title: Metro station
section_title: Facilities
hierarchical_section_title: Metro station / Facilities
caption_attribution_description: English: Various signage at the SkyTrain station
context_page_description: A metro station or subway station is a railway station for a rapid transit system, which as a whole is usually called a "metro" or "subway". A station provides a means for passengers to purchase tickets, board trains, and evacuate the system in the case of an emergency. In the United Kingdom, they are known as underground stations, most commonly used in reference to the London Underground.
context_section_description: At street level the logo of the metro company marks the entrances/exits of the station. Usually, signage shows the name of the station and describes the facilities of the station and the system it serves. Often there are several entrances for one station, saving pedestrians from needing to cross a street and reducing crowding.
  A metro station typically provides ticket vending and ticket validating systems. The station is divided into an unpaid zone connected to the street, and a paid zone connected to the train platforms. The ticket barrier allows passengers with valid tickets to pass between these zones. The barrier may operated by staff or more typically with automated turnstiles or gates that open when a transit pass is scanned or detected. Some small metro systems dispense with paid zones and validate tickets with staff in the train carriages.
  Access from the street to ticketing and the train platform is provided by stairs, concourses, escalators, elevators and tunnels. The station will be designed to minimise overcrowding and improve flow, sometimes by designating tunnels as one way. Permanent or temporary barriers may be used to manage crowds. Some metro stations have direct connections to important nearby buildings (see underground city).
  Most jurisdictions mandate that people with disabilities must have unassisted use of the station. This is resolved with elevators, taking a number of people from street level to the unpaid ticketing area, and then from the paid area to the platform. In addition, there will be stringent requirements for emergencies, with backup lighting, emergency exits and alarm systems installed and maintained. Stations are a critical part of the evacuation route for passengers escaping from a disabled or troubled train.
  A subway station may provide additional facilities, such as toilets, kiosks and amenities for staff and security services, such as Transit police.
caption: Signage directing passengers to the exit of a station on Vancouver's Canada Line. Both a pictographic 'running man' exit sign and the written 'Way Out' signage point the way.
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