Basel's main station: Location map

Basel SBB is the main station in Basel, the third-largest city in Switzerland after Zurich & Geneva.  It's a major hub for Swiss domestic trains and you'll often find yourself changing trains here.  The SBB simply refers to Swiss Federal Railways, to distinguish it from Basel's other mainline station, Basel Bad Bf.  You'll sometimes also see references to Basel SNCF, this is in effect the same station as Basel SBB, it simply refers to platforms 31-35 used by trains to/from France.

small bullet point  Overview

small bullet point  Which platform for your train?

small bullet point  Luggage lockers, ticket office, ATMs, WiFi  

small bullet point  Cafes, bars, restaurants & supermarkets

small bullet point  Hotels near the station

small bullet point  Taxis, U-bahn, trams

 

small bullet point  Basel's other station: Basel Bad Bf.

On other pages

small bullet point  Trains from Basel to other European cities

small bullet point  Trains from other European cities to Basel

small bullet point  General information for European train travel

Station overview

A station first opened on this spot in 1854, but the current station building dates from 1900-1907.  It's a through station (not a terminus) with a historic station building and booking hall on the northeast side of the tracks and a large modern footbridge (the Passerelle)  lined with retail units spanning the tracks, with escalators down to each platform.  See a 3D plan of Basel SBB station at plans.trafimage.ch/basel-sbb (please let me know if this link stops working).

Basel SBB exterior

Basel SBB's main station building is on the northeast side of the tracks, it dates from 1900-1907.  The two main station entrances are directly beneath the clock towers.

Basel SBB main hall

Main hall, after walking in through the right-hand entrance.  Ahead of you are the archway onto platform 4 and escalators up to the overbridge (passerelle) to platforms 5-17.  The arrow marks the entrance to the SBB-CFF-FFS ticket officeFor platforms 31-35, turn right.

Basel SBB main hall

Main hall, taken from the top of the escalators up to the overbridge (passerelle) across the tracks, looking towards the front of the station.  The two main station entrance/exits are visible on either side.  The escalators in the centre lead down to a lower level with left luggage office & lockers.  The original wood-panelled ticket windows are now closed, there's now a walk-in SBB ticket office in the corner of the hall, just out of shot to the right.

Basel SBB, entrance to new SBB ticket office

Entrance to the new SBB ticket office, in the main hall.

Basel SBB's overbridge or 'passerelle'

Overbridge or passerelle across tracks 4-17, a modern structure lined with shops & food outlets.  There are steps & escalators down to each platform.  Courtesy of Stefan Moser.

Which platform for your train?

Platforms 4-17 - the main platforms

Basel SBB platforms

A TGV-Lyria to Paris on platform 6.  In the background is the Passerelle (footbridge) linking platforms 4-17.

Basel SBB platforms 4-17 from the overbridge

View over platforms 4-7 from the Passerelle, with the same double-deck TGV-Lyria visible on platform 6.

Platforms 31-35 = Basel SNCF

Platforms 31-35 make up Basel SNCF, although they're an integral part of Basel SBB.  TER trains to Mulhouse, Colmar, Strasbourg leave from these platforms.  As Switzerland & France are in Schengen, there's normally free access to these platforms with no border control.

Basel SBB corridor   Basel SBB hall

To reach platforms 31-35,walk into the main hall from the street and turn immediately right, into the corridor pictured above left with a Drinks of the World drinks shop and various Migrolino mini-markets.  The corridor leads to the western hall.

You enter the western hall (pictured above right), with the Lora cafe-restaurant on the far side.  Walk diagonally across this hall and out of the doorway in the far left corner onto platforms 31-35. 

Incidentally, the western hall used to be the SNCF booking hall for trains to France.  In the far right corner of the hall you can see the entrance to the former passport & customs passageway that passengers for France had to use before Schengen, now occupied by the Lora restaurant - compare it now with this old photo!

Basel SNCF platforms 31-35 border kiosks

Swiss & French border control kiosks in front of platforms 31-35.  These are normally not in use, you can walk freely past them on either side to reach these platforms without any border controls.  However, gates can be drawn across if they want to do spot checks for any reason.

Basel SNCF platforms 31-35

Platforms 31-35, French TER regional trains to Mulhouse, Colmar, Strasbourg leave from these platforms.

Left luggage, ticket office, ATMs, WiFi

Somewhere to eat & drink

Restaurant Lora at Basel SBB

Restaurant Lora (www.lorabasel.ch) inside Basel SBB station, for a coffee, beer or meal.

Supermarkets & shops

Hotels near Basel SBB

Local transportWalking, taxis, trams

More information

Basel Badischer Bahnhof

Basel Badischer Bahnhof, usually abbreviated to Basel Bad Bf., is a secondary station in the north of the city.  Trains between Germany & Switzerland call here before or after using Basel SBB.  The name refers to the Duchy of Baden State Railways whose station this once was, and although it's located in Switzerland, most of the station is run by Deutsche Bahn (DB, German Railways).  There used to be border control here, but as Germany & Switzerland are both part of the Schengen area, the old customs controls are no longer in use. 

If you're connecting for other destinations in Switzerland, you should use Basel SBB station.  However, feel free to use Basel Bad Bf if you're heading for northern Basel.  Basel Bad Bahnhof has a pleasant bar, a minimarket, ticket office, taxi rank.

Basel Bad Bahnhof exterior   Basel Bad Bahnhof booking hall
Basel Bad Bahnhof platforms

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