Any feature on a railway where an operation can take place
The railways in Germany use several abbreviations to differentiate between various types of stations, stops, railway facilities and other places of rail service.[1]
Places with a set of points
Bf – Bahnhof (
railway station), defined as a place where trains may start, terminate, stop, overtake, meet or change directions, and that has at least one set of
points. It can be additionally named after its purpose:
Hbf – Hauptbahnhof, the main or
central station of a town or city. Also the only abbreviation commonly found on station timetables and signs.
Pbf – Personenbahnhof (passenger station), usually used to differentiate in places that have several types of stations, but only one passenger station.
Anst – Anschlussstelle (
industrial siding outside station limits), trains using the Anschlussstelle must not be passed by trains running on the main line.
Awanst – Ausweichanschlussstelle (
refuge siding), an industrial siding outside station limits where trains can run on the main line while another train is shunting at the Ausweichanschlussstelle, in contrast to an Anschlussstelle.
Hst – Haltestelle, the term for a Haltepunkt (see below) at the same location as an Abzweigstelle, Überleitstelle or Anschlussstelle/Ausweichanschlussstelle.
Ldst – Ladestelle, a simplified freight station used to transship goods, nowadays mostly part of a station or categorized as Awanst.
Places without a set of points
Hp – Haltepunkt (
halt), a passenger stop that does not fit the requirements to be a Bahnhof. Defined as a place where trains can stop, start or terminate, but which has no sets of points in the vicinity.
Bk – Blockstelle (
block post), a signal box outside station limits, where there is a long distance between stations and/or junctions/crossovers, with just one signal in each direction, to allow more trains following each other (only called Bk if it is staffed, otherwise it is called Sbk – selbsttätige Blockstelle (automatic block post)).
Dkst – Deckungsstelle, a signal box outside station limits which protects rail operation at danger spots like
moveable bridges with its signals.