Warszawa Centralna, in English known as Warsaw Central, is the primary railway station in Warsaw, Poland. Opened in 1975, the station is located on the Warsaw Cross-City Line and features four underground island platforms with eight tracks in total. It is served by the long-distance domestic and international trains of PKP Intercity and Polregio as well as some of the regional trains operated by Masovian Railways. Adjacent to the north side of the building is a bus station that serves as the central hub for night bus lines, and Złote Tarasy shopping centre.
History
Warsaw Central was constructed as a flagship project of the Polish People's Republic during the 1970s economic boom, and was intended to replace the inadequate and obsolete Warszawa Główna railway station.
The station's design was innovative, but construction was plagued by continuous alterations to the scope of work which in turn hurt functionality and operations upon completion. It was a result of a hasty completion schedule, with the opening date set to coincide with Leonid Brezhnev's 1975 visit to Warsaw.. As planned, in 1975, Edward Gierek officially opened the railway station. However, the design and construction problems necessitated immediate repairs that would continue through the 1980s. The structure was fairly advanced for its time and incorporated such features as automatic doors, as well as escalators and double-sided elevators for each platform. Moreover, each platform was equipped with WC, public telephones and glazed waiting rooms with television sets and central heating system. The edges of the platforms were backlit, but this feature was later removed. There was also a marble fountain, which was also later removed. All benches are made of white marble.marble fountain in a railway station in Warsaw "Centralny" 1976 http://repozytorium.fn.org.pl/?q=en/node/10891Arseniusz Romanowicz "Warszawski Dworzec Centralny", wyd. DOKP, Warszawa 1975.
The station was one of only a handful of public buildings in Warsaw which suffered a technical fault as a result of the millennium bug. The passenger information screen was switched off for approximately 24 hours on 1 January 2000 while its timing chip was replaced. In the meantime, all departures were announced over the public address system. The normal practice is for only international departures to be announced in this way. The story was originally reported in Gazeta Wyborcza on 4 January 2000.
After a period of decline, a cosmetic upgrade of the station in 2010–2011 was completed in time for the Euro 2012 championships. Between 2015 and 2016, a mezzanine connecting the waiting room in the west wing to the restaurants in the east wing was constructed. It has been both praised for improving the use of space in the main hall and criticized for its futuristic design, which clashes with the building's modernist architecture. The Warsaw city government is contemplating demolishing and replacing the station, either at the same location or farther from the city center.Gazeta Wyborcza article: Dworzec Centralny. Burzyć czy zachować? Some elements of the Warsaw press (e.g. Gazeta Wyborcza and Architektura Murator, 2012), as well as Swiss architect and journalist Werner Huber, have argued against demolition, claiming that the current Warszawa Centralna is a great example and a masterpiece of modernism in Poland.
The station is fully accessible to the disabled as well as passengers with heavy luggage.
In January 2019, the name of the Polish composer Stanisław Moniuszko was appended to Warszawa Centralna station, to celebrate the 200th anniversary of his birth.
Location
Warszawa Centralna is connected by an underground passage to two other rail stations: to the west lies Warszawa Śródmieście WKD railway station, the terminus of the WKD suburban light rail line, and to the east lies Warszawa Śródmieście PKP, served by suburban trains run by Masovian Railways and Rapid Urban Railway (Warsaw). From the station one can also easily access Złote Tarasy shopping centre, Centrum LIM, the Palace of Culture and Science and Varso Tower.
International train services Train number Train name Destination Operated by EN 9S/10S Polonez(Suspended) Warszawa-Zachodnia Moscow-Belorussky PKP Intercity Russian RailwaysEC 40/41 EC 44/45 EC 48/49Berlin-Warszawa-Express Berlin Hbf Warszawa-Wschodnia Deutsche Bahn PKP Intercity 067/068 Kyiv Express Warszawa-Zachodnia Kyiv-Pasazhyrskyi Ukrainian RailwaysEC 102/103Polonia Wien Hbf Warszawa-Wschodnia PKP IntercityEC 106/107Sobieski Wien Hbf Gdynia Główna PKP IntercityIC 110/111Silesia Ostrava-Svinov Warszawa-Wschodnia PKP IntercityEC 112/113 EC 116/117Silesia Praha hl.n. Warszawa-Wschodnia České dráhy PKP Intercity IC 125/126 Mickiewicz(Services to Belarus suspended,Terminates in Terespol) Warszawa-Zachodnia Brest PKP Intercity IC 127/128 Skaryna(Services to Belarus suspended,Terminates in Terespol) Warszawa-Zachodnia Brest PKP Intercity EC 130/131 Báthory(Services to Belarus suspended,Terminates in Terespol) Budapest-Nyugati Brest Hungarian State Railways PKP Intercity IC 143/144 Hańcza Kraków-Główny Mockava (coordination with a further train to Vilnius) PKP IntercityIC 145/146Wigry Szczecin Główny Mockava (coordination with a further train to Vilnius) PKP IntercityEC 246/247 IC 248/249Berlin-Warszawa-Express Berlin Hbf Warszawa-Wschodnia Deutsche Bahn PKP Intercity EN 404/405 Vltava(Suspended) Praha hl.n. Moscow-Belorussky Russian RailwaysEN 406/407Chopin (Service via Vienna) Munich hbf Warszawa-Wschodnia PKP IntercityEN 408/409(Suspended) Nice-Ville Moscow-Belorussky PKP Intercity Russian RailwaysIC 430/431Ursa (Service via Łódź, most of the train runs to Świnoujście with some carriages
joining a train to Berlin at Poznań Główny) Berlin Gesundbrunnen Chełm PKP IntercityEN 440/441Strizh(Suspended) Berlin Hbf Moscow-Belorussky Russian Railways EN 452/453(Suspended) Paris Est Moscow-Belorussky PKP Intercity Russian RailwaysTLK 13102/13103(Services to Belarus suspended) Kraków-Główny Suwałki (cars: Grodno) PKP Intercity
Domestic Train services The station is served by the following service(s):
Express Intercity Premium services (EIP) Gdynia – Warsaw Express Intercity Premium services (EIP) Warsaw – Wrocław Express Intercity Premium services (EIP) Warsaw – Katowice – Bielsko-Biała Express Intercity Premium services (EIP) Gdynia – Warsaw – Katowice – Gliwice/Bielsko-Biała Express Intercity Premium services (EIP) Warsaw – Kraków Express Intercity Premium services (EIP) Gdynia/Kołobrzeg – Warsaw – Kraków (- Rzeszów) Express Intercity services (EIC) Szczecin — WarsawPKP EIC Szczecin Główny – Warszawa Wschodnia Timetable. https://koleo.pl/en/pociag/EIC/8100-CHROBRY/09-02-2023 Express Intercity services (EIC) Warsaw – WrocławPKP EIC Warszawa Wschodnia – Wrocław Główny Timetable. https://koleo.pl/en/pociag/EIC/1600-PANORAMA Express Intercity services (EIC) Warsaw – Kraków – ZakopanePKP EIC Warsaw – Kraków – Zakopane Timetable. https://koleo.pl/en/pociag/EIC/1350-TATRY Intercity services (IC) Wrocław- Opole – Częstochowa – WarszawaKoleo. PKP IC 6128 OLEŃKA Wrocław Główny – Warszawa Gdańska. Timetable. https://koleo.pl/pociag/IC/6128-OLE%C5%83KA/Koleo. PKP IC 6124 FREDRO Wrocław Główny – Warszawa Wschodnia. Timetable. https://koleo.pl/pociag/IC/6124-FREDRO/ Intercity services (IC) Wrocław – Ostrów Wielkopolski – Łódź – WarszawaKoleo. PKP IC 6122 BACZYŃSKI Wrocław Główny – Warszawa Wschodnia https://koleo.pl/pociag/IC/6122-BACZY%C5%83SKI/ Intercity services (IC) Białystok – Warszawa – Częstochowa – Opole – WrocławKoleo. PKP IC 16104 NAŁKOWSKA Białystok – Wrocław Główny. Timetable. https://koleo.pl/pociag/IC/16104-NA%C5%81KOWSKA/ Intercity services (IC) Białystok – Warszawa – Łódź – Ostrów Wielkopolski – WrocławKoleo. PKP IC 16102 DĄBROWSKA Białystok – Wrocław Główny. Timetable. https://koleo.pl/pociag/IC/16102-D%C4%84BROWSKA/ Intercity services (IC) Ełk – Białystok – Warszawa – Łódź – Ostrów Wielkopolski – WrocławKoleo. PKP IC 6520 SŁOWACKI Białystok – Wrocław Główny. Timetable. https://koleo.pl/pociag/IC/6520-S%C5%81OWACKI/ Intercity services (IC) Olsztyn – Warszawa – Skierniewice – Częstochowa – Katowice – Gliwice – RacibórzKoleo. PKP IC 5422 SKARBEK Olsztyn Główny – Racibórz. Timetable. https://koleo.pl/pociag/IC/5422-SKARBEK/ Intercity services (IC) Olsztyn – Warszawa – Skierniewice – ŁódźKoleo. PKP IC 5122 MAZURY Olsztyn Główny — Łódź Fabryczna. Timetable. https://koleo.pl/pociag/IC/5122-MAZURY/ Intercity services (IC) Olsztyn – Warszawa – Skierniewice – Częstochowa – Katowice – Bielsko-BiałaKoleo. PKP IC 5424 KORMORAN Olsztyn Główny – Bielsko-Biała Główna. Timetable. https://koleo.pl/pociag/IC/5424-KORMORAN/27-01-2023 Intercity services (IC) Olsztyn – Warszawa – Skierniewice – Częstochowa – Katowice – Gliwice – Racibórz Intercity services (TLK) Warszawa – Częstochowa – Lubliniec – Opole – Wrocław – Szklarska Poręba GórnaKoleo. TLK 61100 ORZESZKOWA. Szklarska Poręba Górna – Warszawa Gdańska. Timetable. https://koleo.pl/en/pociag/TLK/61100-ORZESZKOWA Intercity services (TLK) Warszawa – Częstochowa – Katowice – Opole – Wrocław – Szklarska Poręba GórnaKoleo. TLK 61190 KARKONOSZE. Szklarska Poręba Górna – Warszawa Gdańska. Timetable. https://koleo.pl/en/pociag/TLK/61190-KARKONOSZE Intercity services (TLK) Gdynia Główna – ZakopaneKoleo. PKP TLK 53170 KARPATY Gdynia Główna – Zakopane. Timetable. https://koleo.pl/en/pociag/TLK/53170-KARPATYKoleo. PKP TLK 53104 MAŁOPOLSKA Gdynia Główna – Zakopane. Timetable. https://koleo.pl/en/pociag/TLK/53104-MA%C5%81OPOLSKA Regional services (ŁKA) Łódz – Warsaw
See also Rail transport in Poland List of busiest railway stations in Poland
Notes
References
External links
Satellite photo via Google Maps Track diagram