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The Zürich Hauptbahnhof (Zürich Hauptbahnhof), the largest railway station in Switzerland, has 26 stations (platforms) and is located in the heart of Zurich. The station is located at the northern end of the old town, in the heart of Zurich, close to the junction of the Limmat and Sihl rivers. The station is located on multiple levels, with the platform on the ground and underground and connected to the ShopVille shopping centre via an underground passage.

The station is roughly east-west, located on the northern edge of the city centre and at the northern end of the city's main shopping street, Bahnhofstrasse. It is divided into three main levels, with sixteen terminal platform tracks and the main hall of the station on the ground floor. Below this level is a series of walkways, the ShopVille shopping centre. At the lowest level, parallel to the ground terminal platform, there are 10 underground platform tracks. There are many shopping malls (RailCity) under the underground station in Zurich, and because they are located in the federal government area, they can operate legally on Saturday night and Sunday. The high-end waiting area of Zurich Station is limited to the first class of international trains and the first-class ticket holders.

International trains such as the French TGV, Italy's Cisalpino, Germany's ICE and other important high-speed trains as well as international sleeper trains stop at Zurich.

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Zürich or Zurich ( ZEWR-ik; see below for other names) is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. The municipality has approximately 409,000 inhabitants, the urban agglomeration 1.315 million and the Zürich metropolitan area 1.83 million. Zürich is a hub for railways, roads, and air traffic. Both Zurich Airport and railway station are the largest and busiest in the country. Permanently settled for over 2,000 years, Zürich was founded by the Romans, who, in 15 BC, called it Turicum. However, early settlements have been found dating back more than 6,400 years ago. During the Middle Ages, Zürich gained the independent and privileged status of imperial immediacy and, in 1519, became a primary centre of the Protestant Reformation in Europe under the leadership of Huldrych Zwingli.The official language of Zürich is German, but the main spoken language is the local variant of the Alemannic Swiss German dialect, Zürich German. Many museums and art galleries can be found in the city, including the Swiss National Museum, the Kunsthaus and newer Theater 11 in Oerlikon. Schauspielhaus Zürich is one of the most important theatres in the German-speaking world.Zürich is a leading global city and among the world's largest financial centres despite having a relatively small population. The city is home to many financial institutions and banking companies. Many of Switzerland's research and development centres are concentrated in the Greater Zürich area and the low tax rates and canton funding subsidies attract overseas companies to set up their headquarters or finance treasury services in the city.Monocle's 2012 "Quality of Life Survey" ranked Zürich first on a list of the top 25 cities in the world "to make a base within". According to several surveys from 2006 to 2008, Zürich was named the city with the best quality of life in the world as well as the wealthiest city in Europe in terms of GDP per capita.

Cologne (English: kə-LOHN; German: Köln [kœln] ; Ripuarian: Kölle [ˈkœlə] ) is the largest city of Germany's most populous federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the fourth most populous city in Germany after Berlin, Hamburg, and Munich. With slightly over a million inhabitants (1.08 million) within its city boundaries, Cologne is the largest city on the Rhine and also the most populous city both of the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Region, which is Germany's largest and one of Europe's major metropolitan areas, and of the Rhineland. Centered on the left bank of the Rhine, Cologne is about 45 kilometres (28 mi) southeast of North Rhine-Westphalia's capital of Düsseldorf and 25 kilometres (16 mi) northwest of Bonn. It is the largest city in the Central Franconian and Ripuarian dialect areas. The city's Cologne Cathedral (Kölner Dom) is the seat of the Catholic Archbishop of Cologne. There are many institutions of higher education in the city, most notably the University of Cologne (Universität zu Köln), one of Europe's oldest and largest universities, the Technical University of Cologne (Technische Hochschule Köln), Germany's largest university of applied sciences, and the German Sport University Cologne (Deutsche Sporthochschule Köln), Germany's only sport university. Cologne Bonn Airport (Flughafen Köln/Bonn) is Germany's seventh-largest airport and lies in the southeast of the city. The main airport for the Rhine-Ruhr region is Düsseldorf Airport. Cologne was founded and established in Ubii territory in the 1st century AD as the Roman Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium, the first word of which is the origin of its name. An alternative Latin name of the settlement is Augusta Ubiorum, after the Ubii. "Cologne", the French version of the city's name, has become standard in English as well. Cologne functioned as the capital of the Roman province of Germania Inferior and as the headquarters of the Roman military in the region until occupied by the Franks in 462. During the Middle Ages the city flourished as being located on one of the most important major trade routes between east and west in Europe. Cologne was one of the leading members of the Hanseatic League and one of the largest cities north of the Alps in medieval and Renaissance times. Prior to World War II the city had undergone several occupations by the French and also by the British (1918–1926). Cologne was one of the most heavily bombed cities in Germany during World War II, with the Royal Air Force (RAF) dropping 34,711 long tons (35,268 tonnes) of bombs on the city. The bombing reduced the population by 95%, mainly due to evacuation, and destroyed almost the entire city. With the intention of restoring as many historic buildings as possible, the successful postwar rebuilding has resulted in a very mixed and unique cityscape. Cologne is a major cultural centre for the Rhineland; it hosts more than 30 museums and hundreds of galleries. Exhibitions range from local ancient Roman archeological sites to contemporary graphics and sculpture. The Cologne Trade Fair hosts a number of trade shows such as Art Cologne, imm Cologne, Gamescom, and the Photokina.