Poprad-Tatry railway station is a break-of-gauge

Break-of-gauge

With railways, a break-of-gauge occurs where a line of one gauge meets a line of a different gauge. Trains and rolling stock cannot run through without some form of conversion between gauges, and freight and passengers must otherwise be transloaded...

 junction station

Junction (rail)

A junction, in the context of rail transport, is a place at which two or more rail routes converge or diverge.This implies a physical connection between the tracks of the two routes , 'points' and signalling.one or two tracks each meet at a junction, a fairly simple layout of tracks suffices to...

 serving the city of Poprad

Poprad

Poprad is a city in northern Slovakia at the foot of the High Tatra Mountains famous for its picturesque historic centre and as a holiday resort. It is the biggest town of the Spiš region and the tenth largest city in Slovakia with a population of approximately 55,000.The Poprad-Tatry Airport is...

, in the Prešov Region

Prešov Region

The Prešov Region is one of the eight Slovak administrative regions. It consists of 13 districts.-Geography:It is located in north-eastern Slovakia and has an area of 8,975 km². The region has diverse types of landscapes occurring in Slovakia, but mostly highlands and hilly lands dominate the...

, northeastern Slovakia

Slovakia

The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...

.

Opened in 1871, the station forms part of the standard gauge

Standard gauge

The standard gauge is a widely-used track gauge . Approximately 60% of the world's existing railway lines are built to this gauge...

 Košice–Bohumín Railway, and is the junction between that line and the Poprad-Tatry–Plaveč railway, a standard gauge branch line. Poprad-Tatry is also the southern terminus of the metre gauge

Metre gauge

Metre gauge refers to narrow gauge railways and tramways with a track gauge of . In some African, American and Asian countries it is the main gauge. In Europe it has been used for local railways in France, Germany, and Belgium, most of which were closed down in mid 20th century. Only in Switzerland...

 Tatra Electric Railway

Tatra Electric Railway

The Tatra Electric Railway , colloquially Tatra Railway, is an electrified single track narrow gauge railway in the Slovak part of the Tatra mountains...

, and, as such, is a gateway to the Vysoké Tatry

Vysoké Tatry

Vysoké Tatry can be:*the Slovak name of the High Tatras mountains*the name of a town in these mountains, see Vysoké Tatry...

 mountain range, a popular tourist destination.

The station is currently owned by Železnice Slovenskej republiky (ŽSR); train services are operated by Železničná spoločnosť Slovensko

Železnicná spolocnost Slovensko

Železničná spoločnosť Slovensko a.s. is Slovak state-owned passenger trains operated company, based in Bratislava.In 2002 a company Železničná spoločnosť was established as a successor of personal and cargo transport part of the Železnice Slovenskej republiky. In 2005 this new company was further...

 (ZSSK).

Location

Poprad-Tatry railway station is situated at Jiřího Wolkera, at the north western edge of the town centre.

History

The station was opened on 8 December 1871, upon the inauguration of the Žilina

Žilina railway station

Žilina railway station serves the city and municipality of Žilina, seat of the Žilina Region, northern Slovakia. Opened in 1871, the station is an important railway junction between the Bratislava–Žilina railway and the Košice–Žilina railway, both of which form part of Slovakia's main east-west...

–Poprad section of the Košice–Bohumín Railway.

Train services

Poprad-Tatry railway station is the junction of the following Slovakian railway lines:

• 180 Košice–Žilina (part of the Košice–Bohumín Railway)
• 183 Poprad-Tatry–Starý Smokovec–Štrbské Pleso (part of the Tatra Electric Railway)
• 185 Poprad-Tatry–Plaveč

Line 180 forms part of Pan-European Corridor Va, which runs from Venice

Venice

Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...

 in Italy to Kiev

Kiev

Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....

 in Ukraine, via Bratislava

Bratislava

Bratislava is the capital of Slovakia and, with a population of about 431,000, also the country's largest city. Bratislava is in southwestern Slovakia on both banks of the Danube River. Bordering Austria and Hungary, it is the only national capital that borders two independent countries.Bratislava...

, Žilina

Žilina

Žilina is a city in north-western Slovakia, around from the capital Bratislava, close to both the Czech and Polish borders. It is the fourth largest city of Slovakia with a population of approximately 85,000, an important industrial center, the largest city on the Váh river, and the seat of a...

, Košice and Uzhhorod

Uzhhorod

Uzhhorod or Uzhgorod is a city located in western Ukraine, at the border with Slovakia and near the border with Hungary. It is the administrative center of the Zakarpattia Oblast , as well as the administrative center of the surrounding Uzhhorodskyi Raion within the oblast...

.

See also

• History of rail transport in Slovakia
  History of rail transport in Slovakia
  The history of rail transport in Slovakia began in November 1836, at the founding meeting of the participating companies for the construction of a horse railway from Bratislava to Trnava...
  
  
• Rail transport in Slovakia
  Rail transport in Slovakia
  Rail transport in Slovakia began on 21 September 1840, with the opening of the first line from Bratislava to Svätý Jur and on 20 August 1848 ....
  
  

External links

• Poprad-Tatry railway station on vlaky.net