knowledge Overview
Hamburg Hauptbahnhof was opened on 6 December 1906 and replaced several earlier terminus stations. As a through station with 12 platform tracks it is the most important railway hub in northern Germany and belongs to Preisklasse 1 of DB Station & Service. In 2018 around 550,000 travellers were counted daily — making it the second-largest station in Europe after Paris Gare du Nord.
Services
- Long-distance rail: ICE 11, ICE 18, ICE 25, ICE 28, ICE 42; plus IC/EC lines, ÖBB Nightjet and FlixTrain
- S-Bahn: All lines of the Hamburg S-Bahn (S1, S11, S2, S21, S3, S31) on four tracks
- U-Bahn: Hauptbahnhof Süd (opened 1912) with U1 and U3; Hauptbahnhof Nord (opened 1968) with U2 and U4
- Regional rail: Numerous RE, RB and IRE lines to Schleswig-Holstein, Lower Saxony and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
Station layout
The station has 12 platform tracks: eight long-distance and regional tracks running east–west plus four S-Bahn tracks (two of them in a tunnel section east of the hall). The two U-Bahn stations Süd and Nord together have six U-Bahn tracks. The central bus station (ZOB) Hamburg lies on the south-eastern forecourt.