Zürich Hauptbahnhof, often shortened to Zürich HB or just HB, and known in English as Zurich Main Station, is the largest railway station in Switzerland and one of the busiest in Europe. Located at the northern end of Zurich’s Bahnhofstrasse, the station is a major railway hub, with services to and from across Switzerland and neighbouring countries such as Germany, Italy, Austria and France. The station was originally constructed as the terminus of the Spanisch Brötli Bahn, the first railway built completely within Switzerland. Serving up to 2,915 trains per day, Zürich HB is one of the busiest railway stations in the world. It was ranked as the best European railway station in 2023 and 2024.
Zürich HB is one of 29 stations in Zurich that are located within fare zone 110 of the Zürcher Verkehrsverbund (ZVV).. It is situated at the northern end of the Altstadt (lit. 'old town') and east of the Europaallee in central Zurich, near the confluence of the rivers Limmat and Sihl (the Sihl actually passes through the station in a tunnel with railway tracks both above and below). The station is on several levels, with platforms both at ground and below-ground level, tied together by underground passages and the ShopVille shopping mall. It is also connected with the Zurich HB SZU subsurface station of SZU, but shares no tracks with the latter. Zürich HB's railway yards extend about 4 km (2.5 mi) to the west.
