Abstract One characteristic of railway stations in China is that the entrance hall, ticket office, integrated waiting hall and auxiliary space are all concentrated in a large span of space, forming a unified whole space. However, the multi-function fusion in such a large space results in a series of acoustic problems, such as long reverberation time, high environmental noise and poor language articulation. Therefore, it is necessary to study the acoustic environment of railway stations in China. In this study, the sound field characteristics of the typical railway station are studied to reveal its law of sound propagation. Next, subjective evaluation and objective experiments are carried out to study the acoustic environment and comfort in the waiting hall. Finally, based on the comparative analysis of various influential factors, such as sound source and sound field, this paper advances some suggestions for the acoustical design of high-speed railway stations.