Basel Badischer Bahnhof

Basel Badischer Bahnhof (literally "Basel Baden Railway station", the name referring to the Grand Duchy of Baden State Railways, which built the station) is a railway station situated in the Swiss city of Basel. The station is situated on Swiss soil, but the station is operated by the German railway company Deutsche Bahn. A customs border is situated in the passenger tunnel between the tracks and the station hall. It is the only railway station that is operated as part of the German national rail network yet not located within Germany's state boundaries, and it is listed as a Swiss heritage site of national significance.[3] The station is served by three lines of the tri-national Regio S-Bahn Basel, and ICE and EC/IC lines to and from Freiburg, Karlsruhe, Mannheim, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Berlin and other cities in Germany.

Basel Bad Bf

Basel Badischer Bahnhof

Other namesBasel Badischer Bahnhof
LocationSchwarzwaldallee 200
CH-4016 Basel
Basel, Basel-Stadt
operation as if in Baden-Württemberg
Owned byDeutsche Bahn
Operated byDB Station&Service
Other information
Station code-
DS100 codeRB[1]
Fare zone
Opened19 February 1855 (1855-02-19)
Electrified13 September 1913 (1913-09-13) when the present edifice opened
Previous names1935-1948 Basel Deutsche Reichsbahn or Basel DRB
Preceding station   DB Fernverkehr   Following station
ICE 12
ICE 20
ICE 31
ICE 43
towards Cologne
IC/EC 30
towards Mannheim
towards Konstanz
IC/EC 35
towards Cologne
towards Karlsruhe
IC 60
towards Munich
Preceding station   DB Regio Baden-Württemberg   Following station
toward Offenburg
toward Ulm Hbf
toward Lauchringen
Preceding station   DB ZugBus Regionalverkehr Alb-Bodensee   Following station
toward Singen
Preceding station Basel trinational S-Bahn Following station
Basel SBB
RE/RB Weil am Rhein
towards Offenburg
S6 Riehen Niederholz
Terminus RB Grenzach
towards Lauchringen
Basel Bad Bf
Location within Switzerland

The station is the smaller of the two largest railway stations in Basel, the other being Basel SBB, which is operated by the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB CFF FFS).


In March 1838, the Grand Duchy of Baden State Railways started working on a railway line from Mannheim via Heidelberg, Karlsruhe and Freiburg im Breisgau. This line was called Badische Hauptbahn (Baden Main Line) or Rheintalbahn (Rhine Valley Line). A Swiss railway commission desired a continuation of the line into Basel and contacted the Grand Duchy of Baden in 1842.

In January 1851, the Rheintalbahn line reached the village of Haltingen, close to the Swiss border. Since the two governments had not agreed about how to build the station in Basel yet, the passengers were transported across the border with hackney carriages.

Finally, on July 27, 1852, a treaty became effective between the government of Baden and the Swiss Confederation. This treaty is still effective today. The start of construction was further delayed, however, by the Swiss insisting on a terminal station and the Badische Staatseisenbahnen insisting on a through station in favour of the planned extension of the line towards Waldshut.

The first Baden Railway station of Basel was built as a through station at nowaday's Messeplatz square about 800 meters west of today's one. The line from Haltingen to Basel was opened on February 19, 1855 with a temporary wooden station building. A further line to Konstanz in Baden was connected to the southern end of the station in 1856, and by April 10, 1859 Switzerland and Baden had finally agreed to build a permanent station, of which the construction started in May. The street entrances of the station building opened to nowaday's Riehenring street. In 1875, the communication railroad to Basel Swiss station was opened, leaving the Baden station together with the railway to Konstanz.

The increase of railway traffic in the beginning of 20th century afforded larger facilities. To get space for the urban development of Kleinbasel, the government of Basel insisted on a new station on a new site. It was chosen straight north northwest of the railway bridge across the Rhine. The station was moved to its current location between 1906 and 1913.

Special situation

The Badischer Bahnhof is located on Swiss territory, but due to the 1852 treaty between the Swiss Confederation and the state of Baden (one of the predecessors of today's Germany), the largest part of it (the platforms and the parts of the passenger tunnel that lead to the German/Swiss checkpoint) is treated as an inner-German station and is operated by the Deutsche Bahn. The shops in the station hall, however, are located in Switzerland, and the Swiss franc is used as the official currency there (although the euro is universally accepted).

The customs controls are located in a tunnel between the platforms and the station hall; international trains which continue to Basel SBB usually have on-board border controls. Passport controls were abolished when Switzerland joined the Schengen Area in 2008.


  1. Eisenbahnatlas Deutschland (German railway atlas) (2017 ed.). Schweers + Wall. 2017. ISBN 978-3-89494-146-8.
  3. Swiss inventory of cultural property of national and regional significance (1995), p. 78.

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