page_title: Basel SBB railway station
section_title: Basel SBB station
hierarchical_section_title: Basel SBB railway station / History / Basel SBB station
caption_attribution_description: Bahnhof Basel SBB, Switzerland
context_page_description: Basel SBB railway station is the central railway station in the city of Basel, Switzerland. Opened in 1854, and completely rebuilt in 1900–1907, it is Europe's busiest international border station. As its name suggests, Basel SBB is owned by the Swiss Federal Railways. The other major railway station in Basel is Basel Badischer Bahnhof, which is on the north side of the Rhine from the city centre.
  Trains operated by SBB CFF FFS use Basel SBB to link Basel with destinations within Switzerland and Italy, as do Deutsche Bahn Intercity-Express trains to and from Germany, Zürich and Interlaken, most SNCF TGV trains to and from Paris, and some regional trains to and from Alsace. Additionally, the station is served by three lines of the Basel S-Bahn.
  The 1907 neo-baroque station building is a heritage site of national significance. It also contains Bâle SNCF, which is located through a border crossing and is used by other trains to and from France. Directly outside the station building is the Centralbahnplatz, which is a major hub of the Basel tramway network, and the Basel terminus of a direct bus service to the EuroAirport.
context_section_description: In 1902, the Schweizerische Centralbahn was absorbed by the newly formed Swiss Federal Railways (SBB CFF FFS). The new station, which from then onwards was referred to as Schweizer Bundesbahnhof or Basel SBB, was one of the new Federal Railways' first large building projects. Designed by Emil Faesch and Emmanuel La Roche, the new station was inaugurated on 24 June 1907.
  The Basel SBB station building is characterized by its extraordinary length: Basel SNCF, with its customs facility for the international transit traffic, is "attached" to its western side. The asymmetrical layout of the station creates an external appearance representative of the federal buildings of the time. The station building is aligned to the centre line of the Centralbahnplatz, and features a huge glazed tudor arch window between two clock towers under curved domes.
  Behind the facade, one might suspect a terminus, but that is not the case in Basel. Through the entrances in the clock towers, travellers reach the ticket hall under a timber-lined steel-arch structure. Like the rest of the interior, the ticket hall is broad and high. Large murals dating from the 1920s advertise tourist destinations in Switzerland. The ticket and currency exchange offices are embedded in the side wall. The baggage check-in and hand luggage storage facilities were formerly also located here, but today they are in the basement, and accessed by means of an escalator and stairs.
  In the eastern part of the station, the baggage claim was formerly to be found where the travel centre is now located. The first/second class restaurants (now Migros) and the third class facility (now a brasserie/kiosk) were in the north west wing. The station was previously known for its station buffets, but these were gradually closed down in the 1990s. The high rooms, their walls decorated with murals, now house other commercial uses together with the sole remaining specialty restaurant.
  A separate entrance, on the Centralbahnstrasse west of the Centralbahnplatz, leads to the Alsace-bound trains at Basel SNCF. 
  Initially, the platform allocation at Basel SBB corresponded to the private railway age, because the platforms were separated according to the direction of travel. The station originally had 10 tracks, of which the three bay platforms 1 to 3 were previously reserved for local traffic. Tracks 1 to 10 are spanned by a five aisle train shed, which was created in 1905 by Albert Buss & Cie. of Pratteln in Basel. The train shed is 93 m (305 ft) wide, and has a length of 120 m (390 ft) (tracks 1/2), 230 m (750 ft) (tracks 3/4) and 200 m (660 ft) (tracks 5-10). Track 4 goes through to Basel SNCF, where it becomes track 30 and the catenary can be switched from the Swiss operating current of 15 kV 16.7 Hz AC to its French equivalent, 25 kV 50 Hz AC.
  On the southern side of the station, a double track line, located at a lower level, connects the Basel and Muttenz marshalling yards with the line to France, and is devoted mainly to through freight trains.
  Due to the lowering of the tracks at the time of rebuilding, it was difficult to extend the station with additional tracks. On the South side, the platform system has nevertheless been augmented several times: tracks 11 and 12 have been added, the pedestrian underpass has been extended to Gundeldingen, and, in 2003, the new Passerelle was constructed to the new tracks 14 and 15. These changes, together with the introduction of a clock-face timetable in 1982 and the Rail 2000 project, achieved an increase in the station's capacity. Finally, in June 2008, the new tracks 16 and 17 went into operation.
  The Passerelle is an element of the new SBB CFF FFS commercial concept known as RailCity. Designed by architects Cruz and Ortiz, it runs over the tracks from the ticket hall at the western end of the train shed to the district of Gundeldingen, and links the platforms with each other. A walkway with shopping opportunities, it is 185 m (607 ft) long, 30 m (98 ft) wide, and replaced the pedestrian underpass. Today, the former underpass is used for operational 
caption: The station building viewed from Centralbahnhofplatz, June 2008.
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