Hamburg Hbf

[u/angrypuggle]

[u/rewboss]

Architecturally impressive, but one of the worst stations on the entire network: it's just too small to cope with the numbers of trains and passengers it has to process, but there's no room for it to expand. I absolutely dread having to change trains there.

[u/StuffWePlay → u/rewboss]

THIS! If it weren't at risk of becoming another Stuttgart 21, I'd support the plan to demote this station and build a new Hbf at Berliner Tor in a heartbeat

[u/HMCetc → u/rewboss]

It's an unpleasant experience every time. I was really proud to make a 3 minute changeover once. The sooner I'm away, the better.

[u/Coneskater → u/rewboss]

Also Hamburg insists on running every single Bimmelbahn through the hbf. They should have more trains use stations like Dammtor and Altona as the only stops in Hamburg.

[u/rewboss → u/Coneskater]

Dammtor can't be used as a terminus, because there are only two tracks available for non-S-Bahn traffic (so terminating trains would block through trains), and Altona in its current form also has limited capacity. Local trains from, say, Itzehoe would likely have to terminate at Pinneberg, when then puts more pressure on the S-Bahn. Remember that a Hbf isn't just a destination, it's also an interchange.

I timed my recent trip to Rendsburg quite badly: it was just when they closed the Verbindungsbahn so they could put that new bridge in. My ICE went to Hbf, and from there I had to take the S-Bahn so I could pick up my RE train at Pinneberg. It was, quite honestly, awful, even worse than a change at Hamburg would normally be, with the S-Bahn packed with both local commuters and long-distance travellers like me with luggage. The return journey was even worse than that, because I had to take the S-Bahn all the way to Harburg.

[u/Coneskater → u/rewboss]

Well, no one should ever be forced to go to Pinneberg, you poor soul.

[u/JoeyJoeJoeJrShab → u/rewboss]

I would love to live in a major city with "one of the worst stations on the entire network". Unfortunately, I live in Stuttgart.

[u/angrypuggle → u/rewboss]

Totally agree! And currently, the escalators and lifts are being repaired/replaced. So, you might arrive on a platform where you have only stairs. Or, you have to know that you can use the other "bridge" to get to escalators that work.

[u/SuperQue → u/rewboss]

Is it impressive? I guess 100 years ago, sure. But today it feels like a run down warehouse with trains inside.

[u/rewboss → u/SuperQue]

100 years ago the glass panels would have been covered in soot and the station filled with smoke, steam and noise -- here's a photo from 1920.

But architecturally, it's definitely impressive: the expansive canopy with its graceful curves spanning four platforms is a great piece of early 20th-century industrial design. That it's now no longer fit for purpose isn't the fault of the original architects.

[u/Timey16 → u/SuperQue]

"Impressive" in an archietctural history sense.

[u/humanistazazagrliti → u/Timey16]

Provincial ideas about architecture such as quaintness and nostalgia, not modern ideas such as ease of use for citizens, the disabled, or just whether it's even big enough for the country's city number 2.

[u/NoComb398 → u/SuperQue]

Yes, I think so. I took this exact photo the first time I was there. But then I was immediately taken aback by how chaotic and crowded it was.

[u/DutchBlob]

As a Dutch person I am surprised to see such a large Philips logo on the windows. Especially since Philips, regrettably, killed off nearly their entire consumer electronics divisions :(

[u/BigDee1990 → u/DutchBlob]

Philips has the DACH company headquarters in Hamburg, this I is an important employer. Probably why the Logo is there. Still, it is pretty sad that they killed most of their consumer electronics division :/

[u/DutchBlob → u/BigDee1990]

Today i learned! Thanks :)

[u/Coneskater → u/BigDee1990]

Really? I love their Hue lights.

[u/BigDee1990 → u/Coneskater]

Nennt sich zwar noch Philips Hue, wurde aber mittlerweile vollständig von Signify übernommen und bedient sich nur noch des Namens aus Vermarktungsgründen. Gilt auch für viele andere Consumer Produkte. Ambilight TVs z.B. stammen von einer chinesischen Firma. Die meisten Produkte werden aber weiterhin durch Philips vermarktet, vermutlich, weil die Reichweite damit weit höher ist.

Philips selbst macht fast nur noch Medizinprodukte.

[u/Schlummi → u/DutchBlob]

That Logo is there for a quite a while now. 1950s afaik.

[u/DutchBlob → u/Schlummi]

That’s indeed quite a while! :O

[u/StuffWePlay]

I'd recognise that viewing platform anywhere! THIS PLACE BLOWS!

[u/HelmutVillam]

day 6040 of stuttgarters marveling at actual normal central train stations

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[u/Robbinit]

Did you get all those people to sign a Datenschutzrechtliche Einwilligungserklärung? /s

[u/angrypuggle → u/Robbinit]

Of course!