Varshavsky railway station

The Warsaw Station (Russian Варшавский вокзал ) is a former passenger station ( terminal station ) in St. Petersburg, which was rebuilt in recent years for Trade and Exhibition Complex " Warshawski Express" ( Варшавский Экспресс ).

History

The construction of the Warsaw railway station was started in 1851 and ended in 1860. He was after the Vitebsk and Moscow Train Station, the third station in St. Petersburg. He was the starting point for the 44.6 km long stretch of the Warsaw - Petersburg railway from the Russian capital for the residence of the tsars Gatchina ( Гатчина ), which was opened in November 1858. The station building was built according to the plans of the architect KA Skarschinski ( Скаржинский ). It comprises of three pages the platforms, which were covered by a sheet construction of metal and glass.

With the aim of expanding the station in 1857 to 1860 was by the architect Salmanowitsch ( Сальманович ) a new building has been designed with the two lateral stone houses were included in the reconstruction. The steel structure of iron and glass canopy to the platforms met the leading architectural trends of the time, but it was contaminated by the smoke of the locomotives.

In 1859, the 273 km long railway to Pskov ( Псков ) / Pskov and 1862 to Warsaw was completed. A branch railway from Vilna via Kaunas to the East Prussian border to Werschbolowo ( Вержболово ) / Werballen (Russian border station ) and Eydtkuhnen ( Prussian border station ) joined St. Petersburg on the Prussian Eastern Railway with the capitals of European countries. The trains of the Warsaw Railway distinguished by convenient and richly decorated wagons that were intended primarily for first-class passengers.

Architecture

The building of the Warsaw train station, which was executed in the Renaissance style, undoubtedly presented an architectural value not only to St. Petersburg, but also for the whole of Russia dar. During the Second World War, the station suffered by artillery shelling and air raids. The restoration work was completed in 1949. In a niche of the main facade of the station a bronze sculpture of Lenin was erected. Time has not spared the Warsaw railway station in the following years. Many of his unique architectural elements were destroyed. As part of the electrification of the Warsaw Railway in the early 1960s, the steel structure was demolished with the glass roof over the platforms.

Current situation

In May 2001, the Warsaw train station was closed for renovation for the railway. Most of the trains of the suburban and long-distance train was diverted to the Vitebsk Station. On the free tracks of the Warsaw train station now houses a collection of the Central Museum of Railway Technology. A few years after its closure, the former station building was reopened as a shopping center.

Interior view after reconstruction

Interior view after conversion to luxury department store

Interior view after conversion to luxury department store