The Consumer Choice Center (CCC) has released their rankings for the best train stations in Europe, and Germany comes out on top, with five German stations making into the top ten.

Criteria for ranking

The CCC looked at a variety of factors in order to assess railway station quality. Among these were accessible national and international destinations, degree of crowdedness of the rail platforms, number of strike days, connection with public transport, accessibility for wheelchair passengers, cleanliness, food, shopping opportunities, and many others.

Leipzig Hauptbahnhof comes out on top in Germany

Leipzig Central Station ranks third on the list, coming behind St. Pancras in London and the Zurich Central Station, making it Germany's top station. Despite the fact that Leipzig has excellent national connectivity, it only has one international destination, as compared to the 10 offered by London and Zürich.

However, this is compensated by the huge shopping centre located in the same building as the railway station, allowing for a large number of activities as well as pleasant spots for waiting.

Other German stations perform well

Other German cities that made it to the list are Munich, Hamburg, Berlin and Frankfurt. Munich’s central station, which made it to the top five and boasts 14 international destinations, only fell behind due to a lack of suitable shops in the station.

Despite these stations making it the top three, not all German stations meet the same quality standards. Essen, in North Rhine-Westphalia, was ranked as the dirtiest station in all of Europe.

Top 10 European railway stations

The top 10 railway stations in Europe are as follows:

1.  St. Pancras International, London (116 points)
2.  Zurich Central Station (111 points)
3.  Leipzig central station (110 points)
4.  Roma Termini, Rome (108 points)
5.  München Central Station, Munich (103 points)
6.  Hamburg Central Station (99 points)
7.  Berlin Central Station (99 points)
8.  Milano Centrale, Milan (96 points)
9.  Moscow Kazansky (94 points)
10.  Frankfurt Central Station (94 points)

You can find the full ranking, along with details about how the scores are calculated, on the CCC website.