Arnhem Centraal Railway Station

Arnhem Centraal railway station is worth a look in its own right as an example of contemporary Dutch public architecture. The current building was redesigned by UNStudio and completed in 2015, with a dramatic swooping white canopy roof that covers the main hall and the bus interchange below. The station handles both domestic trains and international services toward Germany.

The design manages an extremely complex interchange — trains, buses, trams, taxis, cyclists, and pedestrians all converge here — with a spatial clarity that makes navigation intuitive despite the scale. The main hall has good light and a handful of cafes. As a starting point for exploring Arnhem, the station also places you immediately within a five-minute walk of the city centre and Sonsbeek Park.

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Arnhem's station was largely rebuilt after war damage, but the current building is the result of a renovation and extension completed in 2015 by the architectural firm UNStudio. The swooping white roof structure is one of the most photographed pieces of contemporary architecture in the Netherlands — UNStudio's principal, Ben van Berkel, has described it as an attempt to create a station that works as a "movement machine" optimising passenger flow through the space.

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