Motorway service areas in the United Kingdom and Ireland, also known as services or service stations, are rest areas where drivers can leave a motorway to refuel/recharge, rest, eat and drink, shop or stay in an on-site overnight hotel. The vast majority of motorway services in the UK are owned by one of three companies: Moto, Welcome Break and Roadchef. Smaller operators include Extra, Westmorland and EG Group.
Norton Canes services on the M6 Toll motorway, operated by Roadchef
Keele services on the M6 run by Welcome Break in 1996
De Lucht Rest Area on the Dutch A2. Many British MSAs at an on-line site have a layout similar to this one though on a larger scale.
A rest area is a public facility located next to a large thoroughfare such as a motorway, expressway, or highway, at which drivers and passengers can rest, eat, or refuel without exiting onto secondary roads. Other names include motorway service area (UK), services (UK), travel plaza, rest stop, oasis (US), service area, rest and service area (RSA), resto, service plaza, lay-by, and service centre (Canada). Facilities may include park-like areas, fuel stations, public toilets, water fountains, restaurants, and dump and fill stations for caravans / motorhomes.
Fuel dispensers at an autohof near a German autobahn in Lower Saxony. Autohöfe, just like rest areas, provide travellers a place to refuel, as well as eat, and rest.
Honshū-Shikoku contact bridge, a rest station at Great Naruto Bridge in Japan
Service Area on Motorway 7
Raststätte Bad Fischau at the Süd Autobahn in Austria