Elevation 385 m (1,263 ft) Opened 1858 | Operated by SBB CFF FFS
SNCF Phone +41 900 300 300 | |
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Other names Gare de Genève-Cornavin (not used anymore by CFF) Location Place de Cornavin
CH-1201 Geneva, GE
Switzerland Owned by SBB CFF FFS (Swiss Federal Railways) Line(s) Olten – Genève-Aéroport
Genève-Cornavin – Lyon (F) Address Pl de Cornavin, 1203 Genève 2, Switzerland Similar Jet d'Eau, St Pierre Cathedral, L'horloge fleurie, Bains des Pâquis, International Red Cross and Red | ||
Genève (preliminary also known as French: Gare de Genève-Cornavin) 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.
Contents
- Facilities
- Nearby area features
- In popular culture
- Planned extension of the railway station
- Train services
- References
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.
In popular culture
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.
The Swiss Federal Rail plan that the new extension will be finished by 2025.
In April 2013, an initiative was launched to claim the extension under the station by the "Collectif 500" a neighborhood association.
Train services
The station is served by the following services: