Martin Place station has been named Australia's best train station in terms of infrastructure, but it still fell short when it was compared to other countries.
Of 27 train stations ranked globally Sydney's Central station was second last on the list, falling behind the international standard.
Train hubs have become much more than a place for travellers to sit and wait.
The study by global consultancy firm Arcadis looked at how Australia's transport hubs stack up to some of the world's best and Sydney's busiest train station appeared to be lagging behind on a global scale.
New York's Grand Central Terminal took out the top spot in the Mobility Oriented Development study, ahead of Washington's Union Station and Hong Kong's HKU Station, which ranked second and third respectively.
Sydney's Martin Place station was the top-ranked Australian terminal in 13th spot. While Sydney's central station came second last.
Melbourne's Southern Cross Station ranked 21st overall.
Arcadis Sydney City Executive, Stephen Taylor said the report's purpose is to see what each country can learn from one another's transport infrastructure.
The study looked at station usability, proximity to important locations and facilities, safety and security, and whether it gives surroundings areas an economic boost.
Mr Taylor said Australian terminals needed to improve on user experience.
"Australian stations, to reach their full potential, need to be thought about in the context of the environment in which they sit," he said.
"That is the opportunity that those stations have to generate and create prosperity, wealth and a better outcome for the city. It's about providing a place where people want to go to recreate to shop, to relax."
Alesha Printz, Victorian president of Engineers Australia, said Australia's stations needed to be continually updated to meet growing user expectations.
"We do need to make sure that this infrastructure continues to meet the needs of a growing population, and our infrastructure is also aging so that also needs to be addressed in that context," she said
Mr Taylor said there were hopes an upgrade to Sydney's Central Station would help bring the transport hub up to international standards.
"What the upgrade to Central does is brings the Metro to interface with the heavy rail, the light rail and the bus and creates great connectivity for Central Station."
