Luxembourg railway station

Luxembourg railway station ( _lb. Gare Lëtzebuerg, _fr. Gare de Luxembourg, _de. Bahnhof Luxemburg) is the main railway station serving Luxembourg City, in southern Luxembourg. It is operated by Chemins de Fer Luxembourgeois, the state-owned railway company.

It is the central hub of Luxembourg's domestic railway newtork, serving as a terminus for all but one of Luxembourg's railway lines (the exception being Line 80, which only stops at one station in Luxembourg). It also functions as the country's international railway station, with services into each of the surrounding countries: Belgium, France, and Germany. Since June 2007, the LGV Est has connected the station to the French TGV network.

The station is located 2 kilometres (1.2 miles) south of the city centre (Ville Haute), to the south of the River Pétrusse. The station gives its name to Gare, one of the Quarters of Luxembourg City.

The station has some voltage-switchable tracks for Line 50 to Arlon, which is electrified with the Belgian voltage of 3kV DC.

History

The original train station was built entirely from timber, and was opened in 1859. The position of the new station on the south bank of the Pétrusse, away from the original built-up area of the city, was on account of Luxembourg's role as a German Confederation fortress. The first connection to the city proper came in 1861, with the construction of the Passerelle viaduct.cite web |url=http://www.lcto.lu/pdf/circuit_gare_en.pdf |title=Architectural tour of the railway station district |accessdate=2006-11-19 |date= |year= |month= |format=PDF |publisher=Luxembourg City Tourism Office ] After the 1867 Treaty of London, the fortifications were demolished, leading to the expansion of the city around the station.

The old wooden station was replaced by the modern building between 1907 and 1913, at the height of an economic boom, fuelled by iron from the Red Lands. The new station was designed by a trio of German architects (Rüdell, Jüsgen, and Scheuffel) in the Moselle neo-baroque style that dominates Luxembourg's major public buildings. The station lies at the end of the Avenue de la Liberté, one of the city's major thoroughfares, and its imposing clock tower can be seen from a considerable distance.

Footnotes

External links

* [http://www.cfl.lu/CFLInternet/Espaces/01EspaceVoyageurs/02InfosGare/Luxembourg/GaredeLuxembourg.htm CFL Gare de Luxembourg official webpage]
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* [http://www.rail.lu/gareluxembourg.html Rail.lu page on Luxembourg station]