Main Railway Station
Kraków Monuments
Kraków Główny railway station, one of the most important in Poland, serving local and long-distance, domestic and international traffic. The new underground station building beneath the platforms was opened in February 2014 and, together with the bus station and city transport stops, forms the Kraków Communication Centre. Passenger services had earlier been housed in the building of the old Main Station, dating from 1847, which stands south of the platforms and is one of the sites on the Kraków Technology Trail, established on 6 April 2006.
History
Kraków Główny is one of the most important railway stations in Poland, serving local and long-distance, domestic and international routes. Today passengers use an underground building beneath the platforms, but the station's history goes back much further.
Its location was decided by the city's strategic and commercial needs. Łobzów and the area at the end of Długa Street were considered, but in the end a site inside the customs boundary was chosen, between the Strzelecki Garden, Lubicz Street and Pawia Street. The estate was bought in mid-1844 from the rector of the Jagiellonian University, Professor Józef Brodowicz, for 200,000 Polish złoty. The foundation stone of the station was blessed on 12 October 1844. The building was designed by the Wrocław architect Peter Rosenbaum, and the investor was the Senate of the Free City of Kraków. The station and the line from Kraków to Mysłowice were formally opened on 13 October 1847; it was the terminus of the Kraków-Upper Silesia Railway. It was considered one of the most modern stations in the Austrian monarchy: the platform hall had an iron structure and a glass roof.
When the station was connected to the eastern line in 1855, it began to handle through traffic as well. In 1869-1871 and 1892-1894 the station was extended, and its Neo-Renaissance form took on eclectic features. Infrastructure also grew up around the station, including the viaduct over Lubicz Street from 1898, designed by Teodor Talowski, and a housing estate for railway workers. In the 1930s, with the building of the lines to Kielce and Warsaw, the track layout was completely rebuilt.
The new underground station building, built directly beneath the platforms, opened on 14 February 2014, and passengers have been using it since the following day. Together with the bus station and city transport stops, it forms the Kraków Transport Centre. The old station of 1847 stands south of the platforms. It is listed in the register of historic monuments, and since 6 April 2006 it has been one of the stops on the Kraków Technology Trail.
Did you know?
Between the wars the "Luxtorpeda" trains, which set records for journey times, were based at this station. During the German occupation there was also a plan to move the main station to the area of today's Mogilskie Roundabout, which was never carried out.