Genève-Cornavin railway station

"Geneva station" redirects here. For the station in Illinois, see Geneva station (Illinois).
Genève-Cornavin

The entrance to the station building
Location Place de Cornavin, 1201 Geneva, Geneva
Switzerland
Coordinates 46°12′37″N 6°08′33″E / 46.21028°N 6.14250°E / 46.21028; 6.14250Coordinates: 46°12′37″N 6°08′33″E / 46.21028°N 6.14250°E / 46.21028; 6.14250
Elevation 385 m (1,263 ft)
Owned by SBB-CFF-FFS
Operated by
Line(s)
Platforms 8
Connections
Construction
Architect Julien Flegenheimer
History
Opened 1858 (1858)
Rebuilt 1931 (1931)
Location
Genève-Cornavin
Genève-Cornavin
Genève-Cornavin (Switzerland)

Genève-Cornavin (also known as Gare de Cornavin and signed simply as Genève) is Geneva's main railway station, located in the centre of the city. The immediate area surrounding it is known as Cornavin; both names can be used interchangeably to refer to each other.

The station has over 230 train arrivals and departures every day, 4 ticket counters and 6 ticket machines. The number of ticket counters and ticket machines has changed after the renovations in 2011, as well as a customs office for international trains to France and beyond. There are only 8 platforms which makes it relatively small compared, for example, to Zurich's 26 platforms.

Platforms 7 and 8 have French and Swiss border controls. Long distance and regional express trains leave for France without making any stops in Switzerland. Another reason to separate these tracks are the different electrical standards of the relevant railway system on either side: The French system uses 25 kV at 50 Hz AC whereas Swiss system uses 15 kV AC at 16.7 Hz.

The station connects to one Swiss main line, known as the Jura foot railway line (Olten - Genève-Aéroport), which links the city with the rest of Switzerland to the east. Many long distance trains from this line continue to and terminate at Geneva Airport railway station, 6 minutes ride away. There is also significant traffic to France, westwards along the Lyon-Geneva line, which for the first few km runs as a single track line alongside the double track line to the airport. Traffic to France includes long distance TGVs to Paris and Southern France, regional trains to Lyon via Bellegarde. Cornavin is also the hub of a growing RER network, with two routes in service, Bellegarde/La Plaine to Cornavin and Coppet to Lancy - Pont-Rouge. The CEVA plans to connect the spur leading to Lancy - Pont-Rouge to the Eaux-Vives station and thus create a line from Cornavin to Annemasse.

Facilities

Amongst the facilities of the station are a police station, cash machines, cafés, bars, food stands, a bakery, a supermarket (Aperto), newsagents, a media shop (CityDisc), a cybercafe, kiosks, underground car park, an underground shopping arcade, toilets and showers, and luggage lockers.

Nearby area features

Located directly outside the station are bus and tram stops for Transports Publics Genevois services to all over Geneva city, its canton and nearby French locales, a taxi rank, banks, cash machines, post offices, hotels, cinemas, jewellers, book shops, money exchange services, restaurants, bars, and fast food restaurants.

The station entrance and a platform was seen in The Adventures of Tintin comic The Calculus Affair.

Planned extension of the railway station

The Swiss Federal Railways announced they would extend the railway station by constructing two new railway tracks. The need of the extension comes from the increase of traffic in the incoming years. The initial project had a total cost of 800 million Swiss francs and the destruction of nearby 350 accommodations next to the station. A second project supported by residents of the neighborhood plan to build the two new tracks under the station with a total cost around 1.7 billion Swiss francs.[1]

The Swiss Federal Rail plan that the new extension will be finished by 2025.[2]

In April 2013, an initiative was launched to claim the extension under the station by the "Collectif 500" a neighborhood association.[3]

Train services

The station is served by the following services:

Preceding station   SBB-CFF-FFS   Following station
Terminus
SBB-CFF-FFS
Yverdon-les-Bains
toward Basel SBB
Terminus
SBB-CFF-FFS
Yverdon-les-Bains
toward St. Gallen
Terminus
SBB-CFF-FFS
Nyon
toward Brig
TerminusSBB-CFF-FFS
toward Luzern
TerminusSBB-CFF-FFS
Coppet
toward Vevey
TerminusSBB-CFF-FFS
Romont
toward Vevey
TerminusSBB-CFF-FFS
Geneve-Secheron
toward Coppet
Vernier
toward La Plaine
SBB-CFF-FFSTerminus
Preceding station   SNCF   Following station
toward Paris-Lyon
TGVTerminus
toward Nice-Ville
TGVTerminus
TGVTerminus
TerminusTER Rhône-Alpes 2
TER Rhône-Alpes 3Terminus
Cointrin
toward Bellegarde
TER Rhône-Alpes 34Terminus
TerminusTER Rhône-Alpes 51
toward Chambéry

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://www.tdg.ch/geneve/actu-genevoise/extension-cornavin-geneve-veut-chiffres/story/29517730?track
  2. ↑ http://www.tdg.ch/geneve/actu-genevoise/expertise-trancher-deux-variantes-extension-cornavin/story/26655924?track
  3. ↑ http://www.tdg.ch/geneve/actu-genevoise/initiative-lancee-agrandir-cornavin-souterrain/story/21814118?track
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