Through a Window of the Orient Express

The railway stations serving the Orient Express testify to the influence of travel nexuses on the cities they inhabit. Not only are they central in their cities, but they are central elements in determining the character of those cities. Indeed, there is a history of shaping a city around its railway station, as if the latter were an armature for the civic sculptor's clay. In central Europe the Germans' awareness of industrial design as a commercial product, from the Secessionists' of Olbrich and later Wagner, inspired them to create a fusion of the industrial sector and the "softer" activities of the noncommercial social matrix, resulting in stations that are both industrial forms and important public spaces serving more htan just the traveller. This curious liaison has been a universal effect upon urban quality in and around the railway. In Paris, the Gare du Nord and the Gare du L'Est pay homage to the "greatness" of engineering as a spectacle whilst providing functional train terminals. The Zoo Bahnhof in Berlin also shares such an urban character both with its location and scale.

Such grand tradition is by its nature difficult to sustain. The revived Orient Express has by name attempted such a transformation yet remains a nostalgic symbol of days gone by. The act of travel as perceived, or perhaps, defined, by explorers was changed by the Age of Enlightenment and more specifically the Industrial Revolution, when "adventure" became a domestic entertainment and tourism began to evolve. This parlor adventurism is clearly illustrated by the interiors of the Orient Express, which provide all the "drawing room" comforts. Contrast this with the ambience of heavy freight and bulk materials transport trains hauling coal and steel betewen industrial zones. Such diverse use of similar machinery had only been seen previously in the age of flesh-and-blood horsepower. The train, however, brought about a new style of architecture and engendered large urban developments such as Dusseldorf, Turin and Coventry.

Zagreb is part of this process as both a station on the route of the Orient Express and a place of commercial transaction. Buildings such as the Esplanade would have never been constructed had it not been for the railway. More importantly, though, the structure of city would not have been the same either physically or culturally. In the late nineteenth century the railway line cut off urban growth south of it, creating a problem that the city still struggles with. Some would argue that this was fortunate as it created a line of safety against the river which in the 1964 floods devastated Trnje.

Now, if we consider Zagreb as a city in Europe both now and in the eighteenth century, it is clear that emphasis of orientation and culture has shifted. With the establishment of peaceful and profitable links to the east (Istanbul and Athens), it was without doubt a key to the move away from the traditional north-south economy as the relationship with Austria and Hungary began to wane in the shadow of this powerful economic influence from the East. Today, of course, the situation has been punctuated by a new war in the east, once again shifting the trade links towards a North-South orientation; the Budapest-Rijeka route is being upgraded to accommodate the increase in traffic in this direction. It is however anticipated that a route to the East and beyond will be inevitable, and hence Zagreb could be viewed as a crossroads in the future of rail travel in this region. Obviously air transport changes perceptions of the value of immediacy and speed, yet airports will, until vertical takeoff engineering is perfected, remain on the peripheries of cities. There are of course a very few exceptions to this, one being Hong Kong , but that is a specific place with overweening political and territorial control.

The down turn of support for the railway in Britain has been manipulated from both ideological and economic motives, leaving the system a social marker, i.e. If you travel by rail you are a second class citizen. Such political manoeuvring to achieve a financial result from a state subsidised organisation has been damming to both system and society. The massive development of the goods yard in Kings Cross, London, created much anxiety and failed simply because of this preoccupation with financial return as a sole justification for large urban development. Having borne witness to such manipulation, one understands that the future of Zagreb's railway must be both collaborative and sustainable. The connection with Novi Zagreb is a parament social and urban matter as the question of "centre" arises. If the main station is to be central in both transport and social terms, then it is important to tailor events to support it. It shares a character with many European stations as a place of ever-evolving daily exchanges and actions, which is simply the urban experience and nothing specific. This ambience is the character of Glavni Kolodvor and should be examined accordingly. It might also be part of the character of other stations, and I would agree that the sprit of commuter transport must be carefully introduced. However this is dependent on whether we accept Suburbia as characteristic of Zagreb. It is a western European and more appropriately American expression for not just the type of building but the style of living. Cities are a place of metropolitan life which have in one way been bastardised by commerce and a need to respond quickly and move unimpeded.

Developments in Lille, in northern France, and Copenhagen serve well as examples of cities which have incorporated travel and transport systems as primary elements in future urban events. It will hence be an issue which will shape the future of Zagreb.

Andrew Yeoman is a Senior lecturer at the University of Greenwich, London, involved in research and scientific work in urbanism.