IT is however completely correct and the problem is caused by the fact that Britain’s railways never came up with an equivalent so there is no natural sounding translation. The “Hamburg” in front of Altona and Hamburg (or for that matter Bergedorf) is not saying “this is a principal station for Hamburg” (as UK practice would lead one to expect) but “this area is part of the City of Hamburg”. See all the suburban stations in the Rhein/Ruhr area - (almost) all prefixed with the name of the municipality they are part of.
It's correct as a literal, direct translation, but literal translations are rarely helpful - and the point I was making was that (from a translation industry perspective), there is no real reason to translate it alone, as you'd just keep it as a proper name, as with the examples I gave.*
Yes, it does show the municipality, but unlike many of those in the Rhein/Ruhr area, or the Flensburg example I gave, the situation with Hamburg (and Berlin, and possibly Munich) is rather different, in that there are multiple "sizeable" stations that may be the "main" (principal) one from your direction, in much the style as, say Manchester Piccadilly/Victoria. If coming from Westerland, for example, your Hamburg "main" (principal) station is Altona (which I think has 14 platforms... if that's not "main", what is?!). From the south, it may be Harburg (Bergedorf is reasonably small by comparison). Really, in Hamburg's case, or Berlin's, it's trying to differentiate between the "main main" station and the "other main" stations! It's very different to say, Kiel, where Kiel Hauptbahnhof is undoubtedly the main station in town, and Kiel-Hassee/Citti-Park or Kiel-Elmschenhagen are tiny unstaffed affairs.
Interestingly, the city of Hamburg's own website doesn't translate it either, merely using "main" as an adjective, translating it on first mention as "Central", which, in Hamburg terms, it is!
https://www.hamburg.com/visitors/getting-here
Hamburg Hauptbahnhof (central railway station) with its impressive hall, eateries and shops attracts travellers and diners alike.
With more than 550,000 travellers per day, Hamburg's main station is the most frequented passenger railway station in Germany, and second only to Paris-Nord, even the second most frequented passenger railway station is Europe. Every day, around 720 local and national
trains roll in and out of Hamburg's main traffic hub. Public transport in Hamburg cannot be imagined without the eight mainline railway lines, four urban railways (including the S1, a direct connection to the airport) and six underground platforms for local traffic that intersect here.
[...]
The city centre is within a short walk. However, Hauptbahnhof itself knows to cater to the needs of both, locals and travellers trying to bridge the time until their next connection. 75 shops and restaurants are open seven days a week.
or (
https://www.hamburg.com/visitors/getting-here/stations-22580)
Altona Station was opened in 1844 and is significantly older than Hamburg Central Station.
"Main Station" is up there with "Bahncard" as finest "Bahnglish"!
* How much, if any, of an address to translate is an industry debate. I've always sided with those who say if you read it on a map it to get there (e.g. street or station names) you leave it alone, but once you're there, you translate (so Office 1.01, 1st Floor, Bahnhofsempfangsgebäude Süd, Kielerstraße 225, 20000 Hamburg, is a legitimate rendering).
.
