摘要：
历时10年、斥资100亿欧元修建的德国柏林中央火车站日前竣工，落成典礼将于5月26日举行。
Germany will take the wraps off its newest attraction on Friday when Berlin's five-storey steel and glass central rail station is finally opened after 10 years and around 10 billion euros -- just in time for the World Cup.
| 历时10年、斥资100亿欧元修建的德国柏林中央火车站日前竣工，落成典礼将于5月26日举行。
据路透社5月23日报道，新近竣工的柏林中央火车站为钢架玻璃结构，建筑主体为高46米的双塔，这一高度要比附近的议会大厦高出10米左右，从而也将成为柏林市区新的最醒目的路标。投入运营后该火车站列车日通过量将达到1100列，日客流量将达30万人，成为欧洲名副其实的最大的火车站，从而结束了此前柏林没有中央火车站的历史。
作为一个统一的柏林和现代化德国的标志性建筑，新建成的柏林中央火车站将在世界杯期间成为展示德国在技术、工程、基建、效率和建筑等领域取得巨大成就的一个舞台。有关方面将这座建筑称之为“下世纪的建筑”以及“世界上最漂亮的火车站”。这座软硬件设施类似机场的新火车站共设有80个商店，均匀分布于车站的5个层面上。在这座现代化的中央火车站，东西连接莫斯科和巴黎以及南北连接雅典和哥本哈根的铁轨以路上和地下立体交叉的方式交汇通过。其中东西线铁轨位于车站上方，高出路面12米，而南北线路则位于地下15米。
由于造价高、工期长，该火车站的建设长期以来饱受批评，但不可否认的是，这座建筑必将以其出色的设计和施工，成为柏林市“最吸引眼球”的建筑之一。一位看过新火车站的人士这样描述它：“远远看去，它就像一个巨大的来自外星的玻璃飞船突然降临柏林。”“它一定会让所有来到柏林的人耳目一新。”
报道说，在26日的落成典礼上，德国总理默克尔将乘坐从莱比锡开出并抵达这里的首列列车为典礼剪彩。预计将有超过50万人来此参加盛大焰火晚会。 |
Germany will take the wraps off its newest attraction on Friday when Berlin's five-storey steel and glass central rail station is finally opened after 10 years and around 10 billion euros -- just in time for the World Cup.
An imposing $13 billion landmark of superlatives that dwarfs the nearby Reichstag and Chancellery, the "Hauptbahnhof" that Berlin always wanted will be Europe's biggest station.
More than 1,100 trains will pass through each day and 300,000 passengers are expected to get on or off at Europe's biggest rail crossing hub, just a few metres west of the no man's land where the Berlin Wall once stood.
Destined to become a symbol of reunited Berlin and modern Germany, the massive station will also showcase the country's best in technology, engineering, infrastructure, efficiency and architecture during the soccer World Cup.
"It's a building for the next century," Deutsche Bahn chief executive Hartmut Mehdorn told journalists recently at the railways' headquarters in a tower 2 km (1.2 miles) south of the new station.
"It's the most beautiful station in the world," he said, pointing to a breathtaking view of the glass-covered hub. "We're delighted and proud. It's built for a growing Berlin, a city on the move."
The station's translucent tubular roof, made up of 9,117 glass panels, rises above the rest of the government quarter and its 46 metre-high (151 ft) twin towers are about 10 metres higher than the Reichstag parliament and Chancellery.
The station, which feels like an airport terminal, has 80 shops on five levels between east-west lines connecting Paris to Moscow, 12 metres above street level, and north-south lines linking Copenhagen to Athens, 15 metres under ground.
"From a distance, it looks like a giant glass spaceship that landed in the middle of Berlin," wrote the Stuttgarter Nachrichten. "But you can tell it will soon give that part of the city a completely new look, a new elegance."
Some 500,000 people are expected to attend a party and fireworks to dedicate the station at a celebratory grand opening on May 26, which will start when Chancellor Angela Merkel rides in on the first train from Leipzig.
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