GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – If you haven’t visited the Cornavin train station in Geneva recently you are in for a big surprise. Most of the renovation – better put, overhaul – of the station has now been completed. Wednesday 14 May the CFF/SBB inaugurated the station’s new Business Point centre and first class lounge, just days after unveiling the core of the new station to the public.
What a metamorphosis! If you visit the station today you’ll be handed discounts for several shops and a map to the “new” station’s shops and services. Look for the new branding large red suitcase symbols, which will be used by Switzerland’s five largest stations to show they are full-service travel and commercial centres: people with matching shirts are handing out goodies.
Passengers will need to get used to new foot traffic patterns through the station but first impressions are very positive. The station is now light and airy, access to trains is easy and makes sense (thank you for the elevators and escalators, in addition to stairs), the station seems less crowded than before even though figures show it is actually busier.
The new Business Point far exceeds my expectations, based on earlier information and visits while the work was underway.
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The space is a mix of open work areas, cubbyholes, well-equipped small offices that can be rented by the hour, half-day or day, and larger modular meeting spaces. Prices: CHF20 for an hour of open space use to CH1,200 for a room for 48 for the day.
Regus, a British company that specializes in creating office spaces, worked with the CFF to design the centre, and it shows. It’s comfortable, the coffee is good, the light is excellent, acoustics are as well – and you never forget you’re in a train station, which is very fun. Windows the length of the centre look down on the in-station foot traffic and shops, and straight out at the railway tracks, in continual motion, without being disruptive.
I’m now tempted to use the Business Point in Bern when I travel through there and have a spare hour or two, with a lot of work to get done. This is a major improvement over sitting and working in a noisy Starbucks or similar solutions that I’ve tried.
Useful detail: wifi and all other services are included in the prices, a plus over the competition offered by nearby hotels.
The first class lounge had me running to check the price of a GA (general) first class travelcard because for anyone who travels in Switzerland regularly and works, this is a great asset, like a business or first class airport lounge.
What I like at the new Cornavin
- the station in general: it’s light and airy, sound is good, traffic patterns make sense
- ticket counters with separate spaces for people catching trains soon, tickets for later and the travel agency – with helpful people at the entrance
- good all-purpose information desk in the middle of the main hall
- great new shops and restaurants in general, with a reassuring selection of Swiss wines and beers (and good foreign ones – Canadians will love it) at Drinks of the World on the top floor, east end; Payot’s wonderful airy centrall upstairs space made me want to buy books
- Business Point: an excellent place to work, well-planned, good spaces for a variety of needs, pricing seems right for this best of city-centre locations
- First class lounge: a wonderful place to spend some time relaxing and catching up on email between trains
What I don’t like
Signposting could be improved for the Business Point. The entrance is by the main station east entrance, with a small door whose sign you have to hunt for. They’re aware of this and negotiating with people whose idea of a train station is mainly, well, trains.
This is a silly one: where are the giant CFF clocks we’ve learned to love, when you glance up in the central hallway? I’m hoping this is an oversight or they are on their way!