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A border station, also known as a border station or, in the old days, a change station, is a station where the services necessary for the crossing of railway traffic across a national border are carried out, in particular customs supervision.

They are often equipped with facilities for changing locomotives, especially when it comes to electrified railway lines that belong to different power systems (system separation points). At some stations like Aachen Hbf, the power system can be switched on the platform tracks. Multi-system trains like ICE International or Thalys can then continue after a short stop without having to change locomotives. If necessary, the timetable may also change at border stations, for example at Basel SBB or Roosendaal. Since different countries sometimes have different railway gauges, some border stations have mixed-gauge tracks and/or gauge-change facilities. Examples of these are Brest-Central in Belarus, Chop in Ukraine, and Portbou in Spain. Border stations usually also have customs and border control facilities. Some border stations are also shunting yards, like Chiasso on the border between Switzerland and Italy. As early as 1843, the oldest European border station was opened, Herbesthal station at the then border between the Kingdom of Belgium and the Kingdom of Prussia. A special feature is Bayerisch Eisenstein station, whose facilities are located half in each country. The border between Germany and the Czech Republic runs right through the middle of the main building. The former shunting yard Basel Badischer Bahnhof in Weil am Rhein is located partly on Swiss soil. However, the customs borders in the station do not follow the national border but run along the different track areas adapted to operations. This made it possible for a freight train heading towards Lörrach and the bypass curve to technically never leave Germany in terms of customs and thus remain within the Customs Territory of the European Community for the entire journey. The station has through the The train station lost its importance due to the construction of the Basel-Muttenz marshalling yard. Examples of border stations at German borders include: Aachen Hbf, Aachen-West, Bad Bentheim, Bad Schandau, Flensburg, Frankfurt (Oder) Pbf, Görlitz, Horka Gbf, Kehl, Konstanz, Lindau-Reutin, Passau Hbf, Puttgarden, and Saarbrücken Hbf. The Salzburg main station also had the role of a border station between Austria and Germany for a long time. The border station Thörl-Maglern in Arnoldstein was important for Italy. Brenner station was also among these. Stations that were significant at the former inner-German and Berlin borders included Berlin-Friedrichstraße, Griebnitzsee, Schwanheide, Helmstedt, Marienborn, Gerstungen, Probstzella, and Gutenfürst. Even the Seddin Süd part of Seddin station, although located in the middle of the GDR, became typical of a GDR border station with concrete walls for fast transit traffic with the Trans-Europ-Express-Marchandises (TEEM) even though it was right in the middle of the GDR, turning it into a typical GDR border station with concrete walls, metal fences, guard towers, and floodlights. Until 2020, Lindau main station was also a border station, but it was then replaced by Lindau-Reutin. In EU Schengen countries, border stations have become less important in terms of customs.