Zürich Hauptbahnhof, often shortened toZürich HB or justHB, and known in English asZurich Main Station, is the largestrailway station inSwitzerland and one of the busiest inEurope. Located at the northern end ofZurich’sBahnhofstrasse, the station is a majorrailway hub, with services to and from across Switzerland and neighbouring countries such asGermany,Italy,Austria andFrance. The station was originally constructed as the terminus of theSpanisch Brötli Bahn, the first railway built completely within Switzerland. Serving up to 2,915 trains per day, Zürich HB is one of thebusiest railway stations in the world. It was ranked as the best European railway station in 2023 and 2024.[3][4]
Zürich HB is one of29 stations in Zurich that are located withinfare zone 110 of theZürcher Verkehrsverbund (ZVV).[5]. It is situated at the northern end of theAltstadt (lit. 'old town') and east of theEuropaallee in central Zurich, near theconfluence of the riversLimmat andSihl (the Sihl actually passes through the station in a tunnel with railway tracks both above and below). The station is on several levels, with platforms both at ground and below-ground level, tied together by underground passages and theShopVille shopping mall. It is also connected with theZurich HB SZU subsurface station ofSZU, but shares no tracks with the latter. Zürich HB'srailway yards extend about 4 km (2.5 mi) to the west.
The station is included in theSwiss Inventory of Cultural Property of National Significance.[6]
Zürich Hauptbahnhof is very centrally situated at the far northern end ofBahnhofstrasse, which is one of the city's main shopping streets and flanked by many hotels.[7]
The first Zurich railway station was built byGustav Albert Wegmann [de], on what were then the north-western outskirts of the city. It occupied a piece of land between the riversLimmat andSihl, and trains accessed it from the west via a bridge over the Sihl. At the eastern end of the station was aturntable, used for turning locomotives. This basic terminal station layout, with all trains arriving from the west, was to set the basic design of the station for the next 143 years.
The new station was initially the terminus of theSwiss Northern Railway, more often called theSpanisch-Brötli-Bahn, which opened on 9 August 1847 and linked Zurich withBaden. Initially the railway lines in the station were laid to a gauge of1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in), perhaps because the same gauge was used at the contemporaneous and nearbyGrand Duchy of Baden State Railway.[8]
From the opening of the station, the railways of northern Switzerland developed rapidly, and by 1853 the Swiss Northern Railway had been merged into theSwiss Northeastern Railway (Schweizerische Nordostbahn; NOB). Also in 1853, the tracks in the station were regauged to thestandard gauge (1,435 mm or4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) that is still used by all lines in the station. In 1856, the NOB completed its line from the station toWinterthur via theWipkingen Tunnel andOerlikon. In 1858, the NOB completed its line from Baden viaBrugg toAarau, where it connected with theSwiss Central Railway (Schweizerische Centralbahn; SCB), thus providing connections toBasel,Solothurn andLausanne.
With further railways planned, it became clear that the 1847 station was not large enough. A rebuild was started to meet Zurich's increased transport needs, albeit on the same site and using the same basic layout.
In 1871, the replacement station building opened, to a design by architectJakob Friedrich Wanner. Its main entrance is a triumphal arch facing the end of the then newly builtBahnhofstrasse. In front of the arch stands amonument to the railway pioneer Alfred Escher. The magnificentsandstone neo-Renaissance building features richly decorated lobbies and atriums, restaurants and halls. Originally housed inside it was the headquarters of theSchweizerische Nordostbahn (NOB). Thetrain shed, spanned by iron trusses, initially covered six tracks.
The station was namedZürich Hauptbahnhof in 1893, to reflect that year's incorporation of many of Zurich's suburbs into an enlarged municipality. In 1902, the year in which theSwiss Federal Railways (SBB) took over theSchweizerische Centralbahn and the NOB, the tracks inside the eastern end of the train shed were lifted, due to a lack of space. Since then, these tracks have terminated at a more central location, immediately to the north of the Bahnhofstrasse. Also in 1902, four more tracks and a north wing with a restaurant and railway mail service were added to the north of the train shed. In the vacant space left inside the train shed, new rooms were built for baggage handling.
On 18 February 1916, the SBB decided that electrification of its network would be by the high-tension single-phase alternating current system that is still used on all routes. On 5 February 1923, the electrified Zug–Zurich railway was put into operation, the first electrified line to Zurich. By 1927 all routes from Zürich Hauptbahnhof had been electrified.
In 1933, the station's simple concourse and the iron and glass train shed were created with seven and a half arches to cover 16 tracks. As part of that work, the main shed was shortened by two segments.
In the 1940s, the line between Zurich and Geneva served as a "parade route". The first lightweight steel express train had entered service on this route in 1937. By 11 June 1960, the SBB network was largely electrified. In the following year, the SBB introduced its first four-system electric trains under theTrans Europ Express banner, and thereby increased Zürich Hauptbahnhof's international importance.
In 1963, about 500 metres before the concourse, an imposing six-storey concrete cube arose in the station yard. It was designed by SBB architectMax Vogt [de], and it has been the home of theZentralstellwerk Zürich (centralsignalling control) since 1966. The then state-of-the-art relay-controlled interlocking system replaced the decentralised mechanical and electro-mechanical signal boxes in the station throat, including theStellwerk «Seufzerbrücke» ("Bridge of Sighs" signal box), which had spanned the entire station throat just east of theLangstrasse.
The signalling control system was modernised to coincide with the commissioning of theZurich S-Bahn. It is equipped with a computerised controller that performs the standard operations. Apart from the tracks and points (switches) of the "Sihlpost station" (which are controlled by an electronic control system), the entire control of the points and signals in the Langstrasse–Concourse section is still largely under relay control, in some cases with the original relay sets installed in 1966.
The immense station yard, with its platform tracks andstation building, is a bottleneck for the city of Zurich. The Limmat and the Sihl were further bottlenecks, and the combination of the three led to gridlock in the 1950s and 1960s. In parallel, there were plans for a subway system. Although the people voted against it in 1962, the city's Civil Engineering Department had already started to convert theBahnhofplatz for the purpose of a possible underground line.
On 1 October 1970, construction of theBahnhofplatz, as well as the pedestrian and shopping arcade ShopVille was completed. Upon its opening, the Bahnhofplatz became a pedestrian-free zone, and the underground ShopVille the only access to the station. Contrary to expectations, ShopVille did not capture the support of the people, who, in 1973, voted even more emphatically to reject a subway system.
In the 1980s, ShopVille became a drug-dealing hub, due to its proximity to theAutonomes Jugendzentrum Zürich ("Autonomous Youth Center Zurich"). Its low point was reached at the end of the decade, when travellers avoided all parts of it other than the concourse and the tram stop. Consequently, there were several night-time closures by mesh fences. However, the solution to this problem was foreseeable, as the people had agreed on 29 November 1981 to the construction of the Zurich S-Bahn and the extension of theSihltal Zürich Uetliberg Bahn to the Hauptbahnhof.
The 2.1 km (1.3 mi) longHirschengraben Tunnel was built for the S-Bahn from the Hauptbahnhof toZurich Stadelhofen. This new line continued through theZürichberg Tunnel toStettbach, with connections to the existing lines toDietlikon andDübendorf.[9] In the Hauptbahnhof, two underground stations were constructed. For the S-Bahn, a four-track station with the working titleMuseumstrasse was built, and the Sihltal Zürich Uetliberg Bahn was extended to theZurich HB SZU station, which had once been intended for the never-realized U-Bahn.
The opening of the S-Bahn was on 27 May 1990, and since then, the ShopVille arcades have connected the two underground stations with the main hall. Black and white striped marble walls and granite floors are the main design features of what is one of the largest shopping centres in Switzerland. In 1996, the main hall was cleared of its temporary installations. In 1997, the train shed was fitted on both sides with pitched roofs on sloping concrete supports, designed by local architects Marcel Meili and Markus Peter.
The planning of the S-Bahn and theRail 2000 long-haul project raised the idea of building theWeinberg Tunnel, a through route from Zürich Hauptbahnhof toOerlikon. That proposal was initially postponed, but the great success of the S-Bahn led to an expansion of services and, consequently, to capacity constraints. Plans were made to expand existing rail lines within Zurich leading to the north, but this encountered resistance from the population living near those rail lines. As an alternative the construction of the Weinberg tunnel and four additional underground tracks in the railway station was suggested and confirmed by a referendum.
In 2002, an architectural competition was held for the newLöwenstrasse transit station, won by the architectJean-Pierre Dürig [de]. On 22 December 2006, theFederal Office of Transport approved the building of the tunnel and a third underground four-track Löwenstrasse station. In September 2007, construction began on the project, nicknamedDurchmesserlinie (cross-city link). On 14 June 2014, the new platforms and tunnels were opened.
The new line runs from theAltstetten railway station, crosses the Zürich HB station throat on a bridge, and leads into the underground Löwenstrasse station. From there, it goes through the new, approximately 5 km (3.1 mi) long Weinberg Tunnel in a long left-hand curve under the existing Zürich HB–Stadelhofen line. It then ends at the level of the portals of the existingWipkinger Tunnels in Oerlikon, where it connects with the northbound lines, including the line toZurich Airport andWinterthur.[10]
In 2007, the SBB andDeutsche Bahn entered into a station partnership between the Zürich HB and theBerlin Hauptbahnhof to promote knowledge sharing between operators of similarly sized stations.[11]
As of the mid-2020s, Zürich Hauptbahnhof was the busiest railway station in Switzerland. For five consecutive years to 2025, theConsumer Choice Center ranked it as Europe's best performing rail hub.[7]
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The station is aligned approximately east to west, at the northern edge of the city centre and the northern end ofBahnhofstrasse, the city's main shopping street, andBahnhofplatz. North of the station are thePlatzspitz park, theSwiss National Museum (Landesmuseum) and aterminal forintercity buses. East of the station is the riverLimmat with two bridges, theWalchebrücke and theBahnhofbrücke.
The station is split over three principal levels, with the ground level housing sixteen terminalplatform tracks, flanked by theZollbrücke [de] andPostbrücke, and the station's main concourse. Below this level are a series of pedestrian passageways, the ShopVille shopping centre, and the course of theSihl river. At the lowest level, and parallel to the terminal platforms at ground level, are ten underground platform tracks, of which two areterminal (Gleis 21–22) and eight are through (Gleis 31–34, 41–44).[12]
The station's main concourse itself comprises two sections. To the east is theHaupthalle (lit. 'Main Hall'), which was the train hall of the 1871 station but is now a pedestrian circulation space, sometimes also used for events and exhibits. TheHaupthalle is surrounded on three sides by station buildings, whilst to the west it opens onto theQuerhalle (lit. 'Cross Hall'), which stretches across the head of the ground level terminal platforms. These platforms, comprising twoside platforms and sevenisland platforms, are sheltered by the 1933-built train shed and are served by tracks (German:Gleis) numbered 3 to 18.[12]
At the subterranean middle level, the station site is crossed north to south by four pedestrian passageways (Passage). The eastern three of these, thePassage Bahnhofstrasse, thePassage Löwenstrasse and thePassage Gessnerallee, form an interconnected complex with the ShopVille shopping complex and give direct access to all the station's platforms as well as to the surrounding streets. An intermediate underground level, immediately below theHaupthalle, connects these passageways with the concourse. The westernmost passage, thePassage Sihlquai, lies to the west of the Sihl, which passes under the station from north to south at the same level as the passageways. Because of the presence of the river channel, the Sihlquai passage has no direct connection to the other passageways, but it connects to streets to the north and south of the station, and to all platforms except that serving tracks 21 and 22.[12]
At the lowest level, there are three groups of underground platforms. The most southerly are terminal tracks 21 and 22 of theZurich HB SZU station, with a single island platform, and accessible only to trains on theSZU'sSihltal (S4) andUetliberg (S10) lines. To the north of these are two island platforms serving tracks 31 to 34, known as theLöwenstrasse station, which link to the station'swestern andsouthern rail approaches, and to an eastern approach via theWeinberg tunnel fromOerlikon station. Some distance to the north of these are two further island platforms serving tracks 41 to 44, known as theMuseumstrasse station, which also link to the station's western andnorthern approaches, and to an eastern approach via theHirschengraben Tunnel fromStadelhofen station.[12]
Underneath the Bahnhofplatz and the station is the large underground shopping centre called "ShopVille" of over 200 shops or other businesses. It benefits from the Swiss employment law rule that while generally labour on Sundays is not allowed, it is allowed in "centres of public transport". The huge underground "Rail City" is, therefore, usually bustling on Sundays even while the streets of Zurich are largely empty.[13]
The westernunderpass (between Sihlpost and Sihlquai) also contains shops andtake aways. Between 2018 and 2023, the south wing of the station building, facingBahnhofplatz, was renovated. It features shops, restaurants and ticket offices.[14]
As of the mid-2020s, the food outlets inside the station included the flashy Brasserie Süd near the Bahnhofstrasse entrance, the grander Brasserie Federal, and, opposite the latter, the more casual Café Oscar.[7]
Events take place regularly in theHaupthalle, including "open air" cinema; vegetable, flea and Christmas markets; and events such asskating,beach volleyball and the "warm up" for theStreet Parade.
The station also has its own chapel, jointly run by theEvangelical Reformed and theRoman Catholic churches, but open to travellers of all denominations or religions. The chapel is located on the intermediate underground level, immediately below theHaupthalle.[15]
From 8 June 2009, Zürich HB was the site of the firstSBB Lounge. This waiting room was exclusively for holders of a first-class general subscription or a valid international first-class ticket or forfrequent traveller program members of theRailteam partner railways.[16] However, it was closed in 2016.
Between 2009 and 2020, theEuropaallee building complex was constructed on the formerrail yard of the Sihlpost, located west of the Zürich HB station building. The site features several shops, restaurants and offices.[17] The Europaallee is connected with the area north of the railway tracks via theNegrellisteg (lit. 'Negrelli pedestrian bridge'), which opened in 2021, and with the station's platforms via the western underpass.
There are station bells above the rear exit of the large hall. In the 1847 station, bells rang before each departure of theSpanisch-Brötli-Bahn. Thesignal order prescribed as follows:"10 minutes before the departure of a train, one [bell]; 5 minutes before the same, two [bells]; and immediately prior to departure, three bells". For the 1871 renovations, the architect Jakob Friedrich Wanner gave the station clock the place of honour in the portal above the main entrance, and the bells were placed in a small tower in the east facade.
On 12 September 2006, to commemorate the station's 150th anniversary, theETH Zurich installed theNOVA, a three-dimensional, bivalent display, which consists of 25,000 individually addressable light balls. It represents a play of light of several colours, but can also represent cinematic sequences. It is expected to remain hanging in the station until further notice.[18]
 | This section needs to beupdated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(August 2019) |
Zürich HB is served by more than 2,900 trains daily.[19] In 2023, it had an average of 419,600 passengers each working day.[20] The station is busy at all times, with trains running from 05:00 until 01:00 during the week. From Friday night to Sunday morning, trains run also all night as part of theZVV Nachtnetz (nighttime network).[21]
The station has four distinct groups of tracks (Gleis), giving a total of 26 tracks:
The following international trains call at Zürich Hauptbahnhof:[22]
The following long-distance services call at Zürich Hauptbahnhof:[22]
Since the commissioning of theZurich S-Bahn in May 1990, the Hauptbahnhof has been the central node of the Zurich S-BahnStammnetz (core network). As such, it is the nodal point where S-Bahn linesS2,S3,S5,S6,S7,S8,S9,S12,S14,S15,S16,S19,S20,S21,S24 andS25, theSihltal Zürich Uetliberg Bahn (S4 andS10) andZurich trams interconnect.
–Oerlikon–Zürich HB–Thalwil–Pfäffikon SZ–Ziegelbrücke–Hardbrücke–Zürich HB–Herrliberg-Feldmeilen (–Meilen)–Wipkingen–Zürich HB–Thalwil–ZugDuring weekends, there are eightnighttime S-Bahn services (SN1, SN4, SN5, SN6, SN7, SN8, SN9, SN11) calling at the Hauptbahnhof, offered byZVV:[23]
Around the station, thetrams andtrolleybuses of theVerkehrsbetriebe Zürich (VBZ) providelocal public transport services. TheHauptbahnhof (HB) is one of the most important nodes of theZurich tramway network.
The main station is accessible from five tram and bus stops:
Two additional tram/bus stops,Central and Löwenplatz, are within walking distance. Near the entrance ofPlatzspitz park, next to theSwiss National Museum, northeast of HB, there is apier for theLimmat cruise boats.
Due to its central location in Switzerland and in Europe, the station was quickly able to establish itself as an important railway junction. Most trains running through several European countries operated through Switzerland. In addition, a majority of Swiss mainline trains travelled to or from Zurich. For theclock-face timetable introduced to Switzerland in 1982, Zurich is the "pacemaker". Delays and other disruptions at Zürich Hauptbahnhof sometimes affect the whole of Switzerland.
Long-distance trains meet in Zurich on the hour and half-hour, and thus connect with each other. In cases of delays, connecting trains wait a maximum of 3 minutes beyond the scheduled departure time, except for some international trains and the late night trains. S-Bahn services do not wait for late connecting trains, but the long-distance trains - contrary to popular opinion - usually wait for delayed S-Bahn trains (also for a maximum of 3 minutes).
Taxi stands are located onBahnhofplatz,Postbrücke and along Museumstrasse along the northern side of the station building. An additional taxi stand is situated atCentral.
Zurich main station is, for customs purposes, a border station for passengers arriving from Germany. As such, customs checks may be performed in the station by Swiss customs officials.[24][25][26] Systematic passport controls were abolished, however, when Switzerland joined theSchengen Area in 2008.[27][28]
TheSihl (and theSchanzengraben outflow from Lake Zurich) passes through the station in a tunnel, with platforms above and below the river, and public circulation areas to either side. The tunnel comprises 5 culverts with a length of 190 metres (623 ft) and a clear opening of 12 metres (39 ft) by 3 metres (10 ft) each. This limits the river's flow capacity, raising concerns about the capacity of the tunnel to deal with extreme flood events. Additionally, during the building of the new Löwenstrasse platforms, it was necessary to temporarily close part of this tunnel, thus reducing the capacity even further.[29][30]
Some 50 kilometres (31 mi) upstream of the station lies theSihlsee, Switzerland's largest artificial lake, which is impounded by a 33-metre (108 ft) high dam. Studies showed that a failure of this dam could lead to an 8-metre (26 ft) high flood wave reaching the Hauptbahnhof within 2 hours. This threat has led the City of Zurich to develop, publish and test evacuation plans for the affected areas of the city, and especially the station area.[31]
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