Hannover Messe/Laatzen station

Hannover Messe/Laatzen station is a Category 4 station in the German town of Laatzen near the Hanover fairground (Messegelände Hannover). It is normally served only by the Hanover S-Bahn. During major events such as CeBIT and Hanover Messe all passing regional and long distance stop at the station. The station opened in 2000, replacing the old Messe station, which was located on a spur line in the fairgrounds.HistoryThe station was built for Expo 2000. It replaced Messe station at Laatzen, which was built in 1977 during the construction of the Hanover–Würzburg high-speed line, which had in turn replaced the former suburban railway station of Hannover-Wülfel on the Hanoverian Southern Railway.The Hannover-Messe station was a terminal station on the fairground site that it served until 1998, having been expanded again in 1988. The new station was designed following a competition for planning ideas advertised throughout Europe. It was officially open on 22 March 2000. The first of two stages went into operation in the spring of 1998, following the start of construction in 1996. A total of € 200 million was invested in the project, which included the installation of 30 new sets of points and 61 additional signals. As part of Expo 2000 133,000 passengers per day were expected to travel to and from the site in 300 long distance and regional trains and 250 S-Bahn trains.A 60 m long and 36 m wide concrete bridge spans across the tracks, which is covered by a roof supported by curved steel trusses. This gives access to the platforms via covered fingers, which serve as roofs to the platform and have several exits to it.