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The way I understand it, when two kanji are together without an okurigana in
middle the onyomi reading is used for them. So why is 前 in 駅前 not read as ぜん?
Is 前 an exception case?  
  
I'm sorry if this question seems rather simplistic, I'm just a beginner in
Japanese.
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2018-11-04T11:18:16.857
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readings
Why is 前 in 駅前 read まえ and not ぜん?
駅前 is an abbreviation of 駅の前. So the said rule doesn’t apply to 駅前’s 前.
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2018-11-04T11:29:25.100
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Actually, 駅前 is structurally not as "monolithic" a word as similar-looking
[門前](https://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/jn/220790/meaning/m0u/) or
[敵前](https://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/jn/151028/meaning/m0u/%E6%95%B5%E5%89%8D/).
It's a compound made of two elements: a word 駅 "station" and a very productive
"suffix" 前【まえ】.

This 前, even though dictionaries only give its noun definition "front", is
very widely used in the real world to roughly mean "at, but not inside of" /
"right outside the entrance of" a location or landmark. You'll see it very
often as typical bus and tram stop names.

>   * 第一小学校前
>   * 新宿駅前の道路 _a street in front of Shinjuku Station_
>   * ハチ公前で待ち合わせよう  
>  _Let's meet up at Hachikо̄ (a famous dog statue beside Shibuya Station)!_
>
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