According to the latest study “European Railway Station Index”, conducted by the American consumer organization Consumer Choice Center, which operates globally, the worst railway stations in Europe this year were stations in Germany. The good news is that not all German train stations are bad.
The bottom places in the ranking were occupied by three metropolitan stations: the Ostkreuz station (Berlin Ostkreuz), the Gesundbrunnen station (Berlin Gesundbrunnen), the Zoological Garden station (Berlin Zoologischer Garten). Each of them scored only 54 points. The station in the Bavarian capital “München-Pasing” (München-Pasing) received an even lower score – 52 points. The least points at the central station of Bremen – only 39. Last year, the Santa Maria Novella railway station in Florence, Italy and the Haussmann-Saint-Lazare underground station in Paris were the last ones.
Old merit is not enough
For several decades, the Bremen railway station was considered the station of the highest category. This most important railway junction in the north-east of Germany appeared in the middle of the 19th century, and today all trains passing through the city, as well as international ones, stop here – an average of 80 long-distance and 450 short-range trains.
Externally, the Neo-Renaissance building is decorated with four tall red brick towers with coats of arms of German cities, while inside there are magnificent sculptures and an imperial eagle in the center. There are 9 platforms under a glass roof, and annually about 150 thousand passengers use its services. However, only these advantages at the modern pace of life are no longer enough to maintain competition. This year, the Bremen railway station was the worst of the fifty in Europe.
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