There was a time when I used to travel a lot in Asia. Singapore airport is a key travel hub in the region, and it was there where I understood what a difference a pleasant airport makes for travelers. Singapore Changi has been ranked multiple times as the best airport in the world. Now, however, I like trains better. Travelers rarely spend long periods at train stations, but enough time to appreciate services available, cleanliness and perhaps design (in Europe, train stations can be almost 200 years old). Fine, but where are the best train stations in Europe?
The Consumer Choice Center – an independent consumer advocacy organization – has recently published its fourth ranking for the best train stations in Europe. In this context, best means convenience, services at the station, transport connections, communication facilities, accessibility, and availability of ticket sales. Altogether, 16 individual factors were analysed for discovering the best stations. Only large stations were taken into account using passenger volume through stations as the criteria. 50 largest stations in Europe were selected to the study.
20 best train stations in Europe in 2023 are the following (Hbf means Hauptbahnhof, a city’s main train station)
1 Zurich Hbf, Switzerland 102 points
2 Wien Hbf, Austria 94
3 Berlin Hbf, Germany 90
3 Bern, Switzerland 90
5 Utrecht Centraal, Netherlands 89.5
6 Frankfurt HBf, Germany 87
7 Napoli Centrale, Italy 86
8 Amsterdam Centraal, Netherlands 84.5
9 Gare du Lyon, Paris, France 82
10 Oslo central station, Norway 81
10 Vienna Meidling, Austria 81
12 Madrid Puerta de Sol, Spain 80.5
13 Gare du Nord, Paris, France 80
13 Leipzig Hbf, Germany 80
15 Gare Saint-Lazare, Paris, France 79
16 London Bridge, UK 78
16 Roma Termini, Italy 78
18 Koln Hbf, Germany 77
18 Gare Montparnasse, Paris, France 77
18 Berlin Alexanderplatz, Germany 77
Top 20 index indicates that train stations in Central European cities have done something right because most of the best stations are in the region. Paris gets a big bonus because four stations in the French capital made it to the top 20.
And the worst large train stations in Europe? German stations did well with five stations in the top 20, but also five worst stations are in Germany. The reason for this according to the Consumer Choice Center was the government supported 9 euro travel ticket in 2022. The ticket was an overwhelming success. Train stations simply couldn’t manage the amount of travelers which led to trains being late and other problems. Understandably, travelers were not always happy about the railway service.
You can view the entire index of 50 stations here.
Express reported.