Basel SBB railway station (, or in earlier times Centralbahnhof or Schweizer Bahnhof) is the central railway station in the city of Basel, Switzerland. Opened in 1854 but rebuilt in 1907, it is Europe's busiest international border station: owned by Swiss Federal Railways (SBB CFF FFS) and partly operated by France's SNCF. The city's other large station, Basel Badischer Bahnhof is operated by the German Railway Company Deutsche Bahn and is on the right bank of the Rhine 2 km away.
Trains operated by SBB CFF FFS use Basel SBB to link Basel with destinations within Switzerland and Italy, as do Deutsche Bahn Intercity-Express (ICE) 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.Swiss inventory of cultural property of national and regional significance (1995), p. 79. It also contains Bâle SNCF (shown in SBB CFF FFS online timetables as Basel SBB Gl. 30–35, and in other online timetables as Basel 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.
Location The station area is situated at the southern side of the city centre, in an elongated area between the Zoological Garden to the west and the to the east.
The borders of four of Basel's districts come together at the station area. However, the area is, according to the Statistical Office, divided between only two districts: the station itself is located in , while most of the tracks on the eastern side of the station (including the goods station), along with the Centralbahnplatz in front of the station (including the BIS Tower), are attributed to the .
The Elisabethenanlage in front of the Centralbahnplatz belongs to , while the opposite Basel SNCF is part of the district.
History
Beginnings
The first railway to reach Basel, the (StB; Strasbourg Basel Railway), arrived there in 1844. The following year, 1845, the Elsässerbahn (Alsatian Railway) built the first station in the Basel metropolitan area, within the city walls. Basel thereby became the first Swiss city to be connected to the new means of transport.
After the arrival of the railway, there was a passionate debate in Basel about the pros and cons of the railway and its possible continuation towards Lucerne and from there through the Gotthard towards Italy.
Meanwhile, the Rheintalbahn from Mannheim and Karlsruhe also approached Basel from the north; in 1851 it reached Haltingen (a district of Weil am Rhein), on the Swiss border.
In 1853, the Schweizerische Centralbahn railway company (SCB) was founded in Basel. Its purpose was the establishment of a link between the city of Basel and the economic centres of the Mittelland cantons, and perhaps even also the expansion of the transport corridor from Lucerne to the Gotthard.
The Viaduktstrasse in Basel – including the , which is adjacent to the Zoo Basel parking lot – was also the formation of the Elsässerbahn until 1902. Today, the viaduct serves tram lines 1 and 8, as well as motor vehicle traffic, and a plaque on the bridge railing recalls its earlier role as a rail bridge.
Provisional station In 1854, construction on the future Hauenstein railway line began. Right up until the opening of the first section of the route from Basel to Liestal, the controversial question of the site and design of the Basel railway station remained unresolved.
However, to accommodate the commencement of railway operations on 19 December 1854, the Centralbahn built a simple temporary timber structure, according to plans developed by chief architect Ludwig Maring. By the opening day, all of the temporary station buildings had been completed, including a timber train shed.
This modest provisional station, equipped with makeshift facilities, was made up of individual detached buildings and was used only for just under six years. The station site consisted of the station building, a goods shed, a carriage and locomotive shed and a turntable at the railhead. As the station building stood on the northeastern side of the station, alongside the station yard, the station was not configured as a terminus.
The provisional station served only as the starting point of the SCB lines, and had no connection with either the French station or the Badischer Bahnhof, which was opened in 1855 as the terminus of the Rheintalbahn.
Centralbahnhof On 29 June 1857, the Grand Council of Basel-Stadt agreed to the construction of a link between the French line and the Centralbahn and the erection of a through station in the field in front of the Elisabethen-Bollwerk. The city bore the cost of the land purchase.
At the start of 1859, the SCB began construction work on the site of the new station, to a design by Maring. In addition to a passenger station, the new station yard featured a goods station relocated to the Gundeldingen district, and two new locomotive sheds, one of them for the SCB, and the other for the Chemins de fer de l'Est, which had taken over the StB in 1854.
On 4 June 1860, railway operations began at the new Basel Centralbahnhof. However, it was not until May 1861 that all the new facilities were completed.
The Centralbahnhof was a joint station, with the northern facade of its station building facing the newly created Centralbahnplatz. On each side of the station building were the boarding halls, each with two tracks – on the eastern side for the Swiss trains and on the western side and for the French trains. To the south of the station building were the goods shed and two large warehouses, with an access road from the Güterstrasse.
In subsequent years, modifications were made to the Centralbahnhof to enable it to deal with its substantially increasing traffic, including trains entering and leaving Basel along a number of new lines:
The connecting line between Basel Badischer Bahnhof and the Centralbahnhof, which was handed over to traffic on 3 November 1873. The Bözberg railway line, which was opened on 2 August 1875; built by the Bötzberg Railway, a joint venture of the SCB and the Schweizerische Nordostbahn, it linked Basel with Zürich via Pratteln and Rheinfelden. The Jura Railway, which, from 25 September 1875, formed a connection from Basel into western Switzerland and the Franche Comté, via its junction at Delémont and branches to Biel/Bienne and Delle, respectively.
However, the Centralbahnhof eventually ran out of capacity to handle any further additional traffic.
In 1875, as a first measure of relief, the marshalling of freight trains was relocated to a makeshift yard to the east of the station, on an open field known as "auf dem Wolf". At around that time, discussions began with the aim of lowering the tracks and replacing the troublesome urban level crossings on the Elsässerbahn and at the Centralbahnhof. In 1874, provisional timber pedestrian bridges had already been built at Margarethenstrasse und Heumattstrasse; they were later replaced by iron structures. From 1879, the Pfeffingerstrasse passed underneath the station in a tunnel near the present location of the Peter Merian Bridge.
Finally, in 1898, following the referendum on the nationalisation of Switzerland's railways, the Swiss Federal Council decided to go ahead with the following:
construction of a new Centralbahnhof on the existing site; lowering of the whole station area by ; relocation of the Elsässerbahn to a cutting, in a wide arc around the city; relocation of the entire freight and warehouse facility to the provisional marshalling yard at "auf den Wolf".
Provisional new Centralbahnhof The definitive project for a new Centralbahnhof in Basel was developed in 1899. On 16 March 1900, the Federal Council gave approval to the plans.
The lowering of the whole station area and the access lines required careful planning. The first step was the relocation of goods traffic to the Wolf station, and on 12 May 1901 the Alsace line was reopened in its new lower position and wide arc.
On the vacated, lowered, area south of the original Centralbahnhof, the provisional station was built, and on 2 June 1902 it went into operation.
Access to the provisional station was also from the south, via Güterstrasse. To facilitate access, various streets were extended, as were two tram lines. The provisional station remained in operation until 24 June 1907. The provisional facilities and access roads were then dismantled and the two tram lines laid into Güterstrasse. A station underpass to Gundeldingen was built roughly in the location of the provisional access road.
In 1902–1903, the old station was torn down.
Basel SBB station 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 of Pratteln in Basel. The train shed is wide, and has a length of (tracks 1/2), (tracks 3/4) and (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.