Genève-Cornavin railway station

Geneva

Genève
Geneva; Genève
	The main (south) entrance to the station building in 2019
General information
Location	Geneva; Switzerland
Coordinates	46°12′36.781″N 6°8′32.809″E / 46.21021694°N 6.14244694°E
Elevation	392 m (1,286 ft)
Owned by	Swiss Federal Railways
Line(s)	CEVA line; Lausanne–Geneva line; Lyon–Geneva line;
Distance	60.3 km (37.5 mi) from Lausanne
Platforms	8 3 island platforms; 1 side platform; 1 bay platform;
Tracks	8
Train operators	SNCF; Swiss Federal Railways;
Connections	tpg
Tram	Tram lines
Trolleybus	trolleybus lines
Bus	bus lines
Construction
Parking	Yes
Bicycle facilities	480
Accessible	Platforms 1 to 6
Architect	Julien Flegenheimer [fr] (1931)
Other information
Station code	8501009 (GE)
IATA code	ZHT
Fare zone	10 (unireso)
History
Opened	1858
Rebuilt	1931; 2010-2014 (reconstruction);
Previous names	Geneva Cornavain
Passengers
2023	88'500 per weekday (SBB)
Rank	8 out of 1'159
Services
	Geneva Airport Terminus
Location
Location

Geneva railway station (French: Gare de Genève), also known as Geneva Cornavin railway station, is Geneva's main train station, located in the centre of the city. The immediate area surrounding it is known as Cornavin; both names can be used interchangeably.

The third largest train station in Switzerland by passenger numbers behind Zürich HB and Bern, with 156,000 users on average per working day in 2022,^[5] it sees over 720 train departures every day from its eight through-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 the tracks is the different electrical standards of the relevant railway system on either side. The French system uses 25 kV at 50 Hz AC, but the Swiss system uses 15 kV AC at 16.7 Hz.

The station connects to one Swiss mainline, the Lausanne–Geneva line, which links the city with the rest of Switzerland, to the east. Many long-distance trains from this line continue to and terminate at the airport, 6 minutes away. There is also significant traffic to France westwards along the Lyon-Geneva line, which, for the first few kilometres, 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 and regional trains to Lyon via Bellegarde. Cornavin is also the hub of the Léman Express network, with six routes in service. Many of these routes travel over the newly opened CEVA, which leads to Annemasse.^[1]

Facilities

The facilities at the station include a police station, a pharmacy, several supermarkets, coffee shops, bakeries, food stands, clothing shops and multiple other establishments.

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 is seen in The Adventures of Tintin comic The Calculus Affair (1956).

Planned extension of the railway station

The Swiss Federal Railways announced they would extend the railway station by constructing two new railway tracks. The station needs extending due to the planned increase in traffic over the coming years. The initial project cost 800 million Swiss francs and involved the demolition of 350 dwellings next to the station. A second project supported by residents of the neighborhood plans to build the two new tracks under the station with a total cost around 1.7 billion Swiss francs.^[6]

The Swiss Federal Rail plans for the new extension to be completed by 2025.^[7]

In April 2013, an initiative was launched to claim the extension under the station by the "Collectif 500", a neighborhood association.^[8]

Services

As of the December 2023 timetable change,^[update] the following services stop at Geneva:^[9]

TGV Lyria:
- service every two hours to Paris-Lyon.
- three trains per day to Lausanne.
- one daily round-trip between ‹See TfM›Marseille-Saint-Charles and Lausanne in the summer.
EuroCity: four trains per day to Milano Centrale, with one train continuing from Milano Centrale to Venezia Santa Lucia.
InterCity: half-hourly service between Geneva Airport and St. Gallen via Zürich Hauptbahnhof, with every other train continuing to Rorschach.
InterRegio: half-hourly service to Geneva Airport and Brig and hourly service to Lucerne.
TER: service to ‹See TfM›Valence-Ville, ‹See TfM›Lyon-Part-Dieu, ‹See TfM›Bellegarde, and ‹See TfM›Chambéry-Challes-les-Eaux.
RegioExpress: half-hourly service (hourly on weekends) between ‹See TfM›Annemasse and Vevey, and hourly service from Vevey to St-Maurice. On weekends, hourly service to Geneva Airport.
Léman Express:
- L1 / L2 / L3 / L4: service every fifteen minutes between Coppet and Annemasse; from Annemasse every hour to ‹See TfM›Annecy, half-hourly or hourly service or service every two hours to ‹See TfM›Évian-les-Bains and every two hours to ‹See TfM›Saint-Gervais-les-Bains-Le Fayet.
- L5: half-hourly service to La Plaine.
- L6: rush-hour service to Bellegarde.

PRODES EA 2035

As part of the strategic development program for rail infrastructure (PRODES), the Confederation and SBB are focusing on customer orientation and economical management of resources.

By 2040, nearly two million people will travel by rail every day, 50% more than today. In rail freight, the Confederation also expects traffic to increase by around 45%. The Swiss rail network will have to continue to meet customer needs: interesting connections, punctual trains, affordable tickets. SBB is committed to the sustainable development of public transport and takes on this responsibility vis-à-vis Switzerland.

Predicted Services

The following services will stop from 2035 at Geneva:

TGV Lyria:
- Service every two hours to Paris-Lyon.
  - Three trains per day starting at Lausanne.
- One daily round-trip to Marseille-Saint-Charles in the summer.
EuroCity: Eight trains per day to Milano Centrale, with two trains continuing from Milano Centrale to Venezia Santa Lucia.
InterCity:
- IC1: Hourly service between Geneva Airport and Romanshorn
  - IC11 (Sister Line): Hourly Service between Geneva Airport and Lucerne
- IC5: Half-hourly service between Geneva Airport and St. Gallen, with every other train continuing to St. Margrethen.
  - IC51 (Sister Line): Hourly service between Geneva Airport and Basel SBB
- IC9: Half-hourly service between Geneva Airport and Brig
InterRegio:
- IR18: Hourly service between Annemasse and Bern
- IR95: Half-Hourly between Geneva Airport and St-Maurice
- IR98: Hourly service between Annemasse and Aigle
TER: Service to ‹See TfM›Valence-Ville, ‹See TfM›Lyon-Part-Dieu, ‹See TfM›Bellegarde, and ‹See TfM›Chambéry-Challes-les-Eaux.
Léman Express:
- L1/L2/L3/L4: service every fifteen minutes between Coppet and Annemasse; from Annemasse every hour to Annecy, and every two hours to Évian-les-Bains and Saint-Gervais-les-Bains-Le Fayet.
- L5: service to La Plaine.
- L6: service to Bellegarde.

Gallery

Tracks 6 and 7

Notes

References

^ ^a ^b Eisenbahnatlas Schweiz. Cologne: Schweers + Wall. 2012. p. 68. ISBN 978-3-89494-130-7.
^ "Plan de réseau TG" (PDF) (in French). Geneva Public Transport. 10 December 2023. Retrieved 20 October 2024.
^ "Plan tarifaire" (in French). unireso. Retrieved 19 October 2024.
^ "Passagierfrequenz (2023)". Geneva, Switzerland: SBB CFF FFS. 2023. Retrieved 19 October 2024 – via data.sbb.ch – SBB DATA PORTAL.
^ "Gares".
^ "Extension de Cornavin: Genève veut des chiffres". Tribune de Genève – via www.tdg.ch.
^ "La gare de Cornavin agrandie sera mise en service en 2025" (in French). Archived from the original on 2014-06-09. Retrieved 2022-05-15.
^ "Une initiative est lancée pour agrandir Cornavin en souterrain". Tribune de Genève – via www.tdg.ch.
^ "Départ: Gare de Genève" (PDF) (in French). Swiss Federal Railways. 17 June 2024. Retrieved 19 October 2024.

External links

[saw-1] Eisenbahnatlas Schweiz. Cologne: Schweers + Wall. 2012. p. 68. ISBN 978-3-89494-130-7.

[2] "Plan de réseau TG" (PDF) (in French). Geneva Public Transport. 10 December 2023. Retrieved 20 October 2024.

[3] "Plan tarifaire" (in French). unireso. Retrieved 19 October 2024.

[SBB-4] "Passagierfrequenz (2023)". Geneva, Switzerland: SBB CFF FFS. 2023. Retrieved 19 October 2024 – via data.sbb.ch – SBB DATA PORTAL.

[5] "Gares".

[6] "Extension de Cornavin: Genève veut des chiffres". Tribune de Genève – via www.tdg.ch.

[7] "La gare de Cornavin agrandie sera mise en service en 2025" (in French). Archived from the original on 2014-06-09. Retrieved 2022-05-15.

[8] "Une initiative est lancée pour agrandir Cornavin en souterrain". Tribune de Genève – via www.tdg.ch.

[départ-9] "Départ: Gare de Genève" (PDF) (in French). Swiss Federal Railways. 17 June 2024. Retrieved 19 October 2024.

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