November 11, 2025, 5:27 am | Read time: 3 minutes

When thinking of records in Germany, a certain place probably doesn’t come to mind first (or at all): the Essen main train station. With an area of 11,000 square meters, it is the second-largest station in North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, but it doesn’t rank at the top nationwide. In terms of daily passenger numbers, it also falls short, with just 150,000 passengers–not even a third of the number in Hamburg, the leader. The 14 tracks are far from a superlative, as Munich’s main station boasts 32. But Essen holds a record that no one has yet challenged: it has the longest platform in Germany.

Walking along it can leave you quite out of breath, especially if you’re trying to catch a train. The platform between tracks 4 and 6 at Essen’s main station measures an impressive 667 meters, according to the Deutsche Bahn website. For comparison, that’s almost twice as long as Germany’s tallest building, the Berlin TV Tower, which stands at 368 meters. Yet, it seems the Essen main station holds a record that almost no one locally knows about.

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When TRAVELBOOK inquired with the Essen city marketing press office, they were completely surprised by the superlative. Several contacts on the phone were utterly baffled, having never heard of the longest platform in Germany at Essen’s main station. Sure, the main station is an important hub from which you can reach international destinations such as Paris. However, it plays no role in city marketing.

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“The Essen main station is purely functional for the city,” they said on the phone. “It plays absolutely no role in our tourist marketing.” And then, quite disarmingly honest: “No tourist comes to see the longest platform in Germany.” Is there any local pride or joy in this unique record holder? Not at all. The same lack of awareness is found at Deutsche Bahn. A spokesperson, lacking a better answer, even referred to figures from a Wikipedia article when asked by TRAVELBOOK. Indeed, while the Essen main station might boast the title “Longest Platform in Germany,” internationally, it doesn’t stand a chance.

The world record holder, a platform in Huballi, India, according to the “Westfälische Allgemeine,” measures more than one and a half kilometers. Also in India, the Kharagpur station’s longest platform still exceeds one kilometer. The largest train station in the world, however, is Grand Central Station in New York, USA. It covers an area of 19 hectares and boasts an incredible 44 platforms and 67 tracks. More than 750,000 travelers use it daily. The main hall has been a filming location for countless movies and TV shows.