Located on the southern side of Lake Lucerne, this railway station is a major transport hub in the city of Lucerne, Switzerland. It serves both domestic and international destinations across numerous rail lines and connects with local bus and passenger boat services.
Known locally as Bahnhof Luzern, the railway station has services east to Zürich and Gotthard, to Olten in the north, and west towards Wolhusen and Bern, as well as a metre-gauge railway which passes from Interlaken through the Brünig Pass to the south. Beneath the station is a shopping mall with a supermarket and numerous fast food chains, while the elegant Hotel Waldstaetterhof lies just to the west. On its eastern edge is the Lucerne Culture and Congress Centre, home to a concert hall, art museum, restaurants and convention centre, as well as a campus of the University of Lucerne and the waterfront parklands of Inseli.
The Lucerne Railway Station is situated just to the east of the city centre and easily accessible on foot from many of the city’s sights and hotels. On the lakeside of the station lies Bahnhofplatz where local buses connect with destinations across the city, while passenger ships also depart from here across the lake, operated by Schifffahrtsgesellschaft des Vierwaldstättersees (SGV).
It was in 1856 that the first railway station was opened on the edge of Lake Lucerne, leading directly to the pier for boat services and towards the city gates of Lucerne. In 1895 a new terminal building was opened with an instantly recognisable cupola, but after a fire led to its collapse in 1971, the entire station was redeveloped by architectural firm Ammann and Baumann and reopened in 1991.