Bern, Switzerland
Posted by: fi67
N 46° 56.907 E 007° 26.403
32T E 381290 N 5200616
The main station of Bern, the capital of Switzerland
Waymark Code: WMC409
Location: Bern, Switzerland
Date Posted: 07/22/2011
Views: 24
The main station of Bern opened in 1860. There was a temporary station from 1858 outside the city until a bridge over the river Aare was finished. Already in 1864 the first modification plans were discussed. In 1870 new westbound lines were added. In 1897 the main building was completely destroyed in a fire but rebuilt in the original style.
Since 1914 there were different plans for a new main station. In a plebiscite in 1956 it was decided to build a new station at the same location. The work started in 1957 and was completed in 1974. It was a typical uninspired concrete building of the 1960s and 1970s. Since the late 1980s there have been a lot of steps to correct some of the errors of the past. The main entrance was made accessible for pedestrians in the 1990, the face of the building was changed in 2003 and lot of shops opened in the building since then. In 2004 some additional entrances to the rails were installed and in 2007 the place in front of the main entry was covered with a glass roof.
Currently there are 150,000 passengers using this station every day. This is close to the limit of the infrastructure, so a lot of new planes are discussed.
Is the station/depot currently used for railroad purposes?: Yes
Is the station/depot open to the public?: Yes
If the station/depot is not being used for railroad purposes, what is it currently used for?: This is Berne's main railway station and it is in heavy use. In fact, it is the railway station in Switzerland with the second highest number of people passing through every day (with Zurich being the one with most passengers)
What rail lines does/did the station/depot serve?: SBB, RBS, BLS
Station/Depot Web Site: [Web Link]
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