Zurich: Oerlikon station officially opened
After around seven years of construction, the new Zurich Oerlikon station has been officially opened with new underpasses, a neighborhood connection and 20 new stores.
The Mitte pedestrian underpass houses the new SBB travel center as well as various stores and take-aways. At the same time, the city of Zurich built a neighborhood connection that brings Neu-Oerlikon and the center of Oerlikon closer together. Both underpasses are directly connected to each other. The pedestrian underpass to the east offers additional retail and services and is the gateway to Seebach and Leutschenbach. Thanks to lifts and ramps, access to all trains is barrier-free.
With the renovated Bahnhofplatz Süd, the easily accessible streetcar and bus stops, the new Max-Frisch-Platz, a Mobility station and two bicycle parking facilities with around 800 parking spaces, Zurich Oerlikon station has become an "intermodal mobility hub", writes SBB in a press release.
The station building is still being renovated. A store and a restaurant are expected to open on the first floor at the end of 2017. The upper floors will be used by the tenants of the stores in the station as staff and office space for their employees.
SBB Real Estate invested around CHF 45 million and the City of Zurich around CHF 150 million in the expansion and modernization work at Zurich Oerlikon station. The upgrades as part of the cross-city link cost around CHF 490 million.
Around 110,000 travelers use Zurich Oerlikon station every day, making it an important and busy station in Switzerland. (ah)
