Kraków Główny railway station
Encyclopedia
The Kraków Central station is the largest and the most centrally located railway station in Kraków
Kraków
Kraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...

.
The building, constructed between 1844 and 1847 (architect: P.Rosenbaum), is parallel to the tracks. The design was chosen to allow for future line expansion. The station was initially a terminus of the KrakówUpper Silesia Railway (Kolej Krakowsko-Górnośląska). Trains entered the trainshed via an archway in a brick wall at the northern end of the station which was almost doubled in size in 1871.

History and early connections

The station opened on 13 October 1847, with the first train leaving for Mysłowice (the point where the Austrian
Austrian Empire
The Austrian Empire was a modern era successor empire, which was centered on what is today's Austria and which officially lasted from 1804 to 1867. It was followed by the Empire of Austria-Hungary, whose proclamation was a diplomatic move that elevated Hungary's status within the Austrian Empire...

, German
German Empire
The German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German...

 and Russian
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...

 Empires adjoined during their military partitions of Poland
Partitions of Poland
The Partitions of Poland or Partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth took place in the second half of the 18th century and ended the existence of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, resulting in the elimination of sovereign Poland for 123 years...

).

The railway line got extended eastwards in 1856, when the first section to Dębica
Debica
Dębica is a town in southeastern Poland with 46,693 inhabitants, as of 2 June 2009. It is the capital of Dębica County. Since 1999 it has been situated in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship; it had previously been in the Tarnów Voivodeship .-Area:...

 (then Dembitz in the Habsburg Empire) was built by the k.k. priv. galizische Carl Ludwig-Bahn connecting Kraków with Lwów in Galicja. The increasing traffic resulted in the station's having been modernised and enlarged in stages between 1869 and 1894. The next substantial expansion took place in the 1930s in the reborn Polish Republic
Second Polish Republic
The Second Polish Republic, Second Commonwealth of Poland or interwar Poland refers to Poland between the two world wars; a period in Polish history in which Poland was restored as an independent state. Officially known as the Republic of Poland or the Commonwealth of Poland , the Polish state was...

. At that time the northern brick wall and trainshed were demolished, the latter replaced by individual platform roofs.

Amenities

Recently, a new transport interchange was developed which include a coach station and an express tram line. A new urban shopping centre Galeria Krakowska
Galeria Krakowska
Galeria Krakowska is a shopping centre in Kraków, Poland, located adjacent to the Kraków's main Railway Station.-Development :Galeria Krakowska has 270 specialty shops, cafés, and restaurants on three floors in two roof-covered shopping malls and three plazas...

 (Kraków Gallery) opened in September 2006 with the adjacent parking for 1,400 cars. The construction of the Galeria Krakowska and remodelling of the area in front of the main station building meant that taxis are no longer able to drive up to the station, or to collect passengers directly from the main entrance; however, the free overhead parking and pick-up right above the tracks is even closer now, with a convenient one-flight elevator.

Underground expansion and revitalisation

The station is currently undergoing a multimillion Polish złoty refurbishment to improve passengers' experience. This project includes the construction of a new underground ticket hall, complete with waiting rooms, travel centres and other amenities. The new underground passage will be located to the north of the current platform underpass and will be connected to the platform level via escalators, it will also provide two new direct exits/entrances to the station complex, one from the lower level of Galeria Krakowska
Galeria Krakowska
Galeria Krakowska is a shopping centre in Kraków, Poland, located adjacent to the Kraków's main Railway Station.-Development :Galeria Krakowska has 270 specialty shops, cafés, and restaurants on three floors in two roof-covered shopping malls and three plazas...

 and another from the Regional Bus Station located to the east of the railway station. After completion of the new ticket hall, the current platform underpass is planned undergo refurbishment. As part of this large investment all the platforms and tracks at the station are being torn up and replaced.

Destinations

  • Kraków Balice – served by the "Balice Ekspres" for passengers departing from/arriving to John Paul II International Airport Kraków-Balice
    John Paul II International Airport Kraków-Balice
    -Traffic:Figures in MillionsThe busiest international routes are to London and Dublin.-Getting there:In addition to road access by private car or taxi, other options are:-By train:...


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     – served by 'Papal train'
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     – served by 'Papal train'
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