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Redeveloped Oerlikon station opens to commuters – and shoppers

The Local
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Redeveloped Oerlikon station opens to commuters – and shoppers
The new Oerlikon station doesn't have escalators. Photo: SBB

Switzerland’s sixth-biggest railway station has officially opened to the public after seven years of redevelopment work.

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In addition to two new tracks and widened and covered platforms, the new-look station includes 28 new shops covering 2,000 square metres, 20 Minuten reported.

The underpasses include a Coop with extended opening hours (6am to 10pm daily), a pharmacy, hairdresser and florist and various food takeaway outlets.

The new station was ceremonially opened on Wednesday.

It offers better connections, with 12 regional S-Bahn services stopping at Oerikon instead of the previous seven.

A further improvement is the provision of covered places for 800 bikes.

But despite being one of the most modern stations in the country, it does not have any escalators, with passengers having to use stairs to ascend and descend.

Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) invested 525 million francs in the project, with the city of Zurich contributing 150 million francs towards the redevelopment and in improved transport connections. 

The SBB expects the extended railway to attract on average 110,000 customers a day, up from 84,500 in 2014.

During the redevelopment work commuters and tourists had complained about long detours and a lack of signposting, the paper said.

Two years ago the diameter underground line opened as part of the biggest urban construction project in Switzerland, connecting Oerlikon with Zurich main station.

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