Lucerne railway station

Lucerne railway station is a major hub of the Swiss rail network. It is a terminal station serving domestic and international traffic on several rail lines. The lines from the east (Zürich–Lucerne and the Gotthard lines) pass to the north of Lucerne and then join the lines from the north (Olten–Lucerne line) and the west (Bern–Wolhusen–Lucerne line) and pass to the west of Lucerne before turning to approach the station from the south. The metre-gauge Brünig railway from the south and Interlaken also terminates at the station.

History

The first station was opened on edge of Lake Lucerne in 1856 at the end of the Schweizerische Centralbahn main line from Olten and Basle where it connected with the French and German railways. The route of the railway—now the course of Pilatusstrasse (Pilatus Street)—was still undeveloped. The terminal station led directly to the pier for boat services on the lake and to the gates of the city of Lucerne. As a result, the area at the lake shore developed into an important railway junction. In the 19th century it rapidly developed into a hub with the introduction of steam navigation on the lake and the construction of several railway lines: the Gotthard railway, the line to Bern via Wolhusen, the line to Zug and Zürich and the metre-gauge Brünig railway. The first station was made of wood.

A new station was opened in 1896 with a large new building with a distinctive cupola. It was turned at almost 90° to the original station with its end to the north towards the bridge to central Lucerne, requiring a significantly changed approach line. The new approach had no level crossings of streets unlike the original route, but instead ran on embankments or in cuttings. The Brünig railway was also integrated into the new station. The tracks were electrified in 1922 along with the line from Olten. By 1910 the new station was nearing its capacity limits and an expansion plan was developed. However, the start of World War I prevented any work being carried out.

On 5 February 1971 the station was almost completely destroyed by fire, although no one was killed. The service was restored with temporary buildings allowing operations to be recommenced. In 1980 a partnership of the Swiss Federal Railways, Swiss Post, the city and canton of Lucerne launched an architecture competition for a comprehensive redevelopment of the station. This also considered the future development of the rail approaches to Lucerne. However a through station with a tunnel under Lake Lucerne was ruled out.

The new railway station was designed by Santiago Calatrava. Its platforms are longer than those of the old station and the underground shopping arcade is much larger.

In 1998 an underground connection to the neighboring Culture and Convention Center was opened. In 1999, the entrance was rebuilt to allow new double decker rolling stock to operate.

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