GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Three more days before the grand re-opening of Gare Cornavin, the main train station in Geneva, when its renovated frescos are again on display, new shopping areas and shops will open and most if not all of the new access areas for pedestrians will go into operation.
The major renovation of the station that began in 2010 will be completed gradually during 2014 and the station will be returned to travelers by the workmen, says the CFF rail company.
It is spending more than CHF110 million for the overhaul of one of Switzerland’s busiest stations, which currently has 115,000 passengers a day.
Two priorities for the project have been improving passenger traffic flows and restoring the heritage aspect of the building – its architecture, design elements and frescoes, for example.
The new version of the old station will have a huge CFF sales centre in spring 2014, with ticket sales, a travel agency, information centre and foreign exchange/Western Union office. Above it will be 21 meeting and conference rooms available to clients of Businesspoint CFF.
Cornavin renovation work in early 2013: the new main hallA second Swiss first class lounge will be opened; the other one is at the Zurich main station.
A baggage check area will be part of the new CFF centre.
Some of the new shops will open by the end of this year, with others to follow. Migros will be on the ground floor, in the east wing of the building.
Cornavin shops in 2014
Other shops that will open, in addition to the group already in the station:
- Cafes, restaurants: A’Mo, Prêt à Manger, Ritazza, Starbucks Coffee
- Take-away: Boulangerie A. Pougnier, BretzelKönig, Drinks of the World, Fabrizio Panini, Fruit’n Go, Greens, La Maison du Gâteau, Seggafredo, Subway, Tekoe, Uppercrust
- Shops: Chicorée, Dosenbach, Zebra
- Foodstores: Aperto, Migros
- Health and wellbeing: Amavita, The Body Shop
- Other: Edelweiss Shop, Fleuriot fleurs, Gidor, kiosques Relay, Lolipop, Orange Center, Payot Librairie, TPG Transports Publics Genevois, 5 à Sec.
A large number of the upstairs office spaces have already been rented, the CFF notes.