Warszawa Gdańska railway station

Warszawa Gdańska
Railway Station
General information
Coordinates	52°15′31″N 20°59′41″E
Owned by	Polish State Railways SA
Line(s)	Route 20 (Warszawa Główna Towarowa - Warszawa Praga) Route 509 (Warszawa Główna Towarowa - Warszawa Gdańska)
Platforms	3
Tracks	6
Connections	Dworzec Gdański
Construction
Structure type	Ground level
History
Opened	1880 (1880)
Rebuilt	1920, 1948, 1958-1959, 1984
Previous names	Vistulan Main Train Station (Polish: Główny Dworzec Kolei Nadwiślańskiej)
Passengers
PKP Category B Station
Location

Warszawa Gdańska station (also known as Dworzec Gdański; literally Gdańsk station) is a railway station in northern Warsaw, Poland. The name of the station derives from its past as the main station serving trains towards Gdańsk. Currently, trains in that direction use the main Cross-City Line and the Warszawa Centralna railway station.

It is located on the "Northern Line" that runs between Central Warsaw and the city's Żoliborz district to the north. It serves as a transportation hub for regional trains departing the station. It connects with the Warsaw Metro's Dworzec Gdański stop, located below the railway station, and a number of nearby tram and bus stops. The Warsaw Metro has received EU funding to build a pedestrian tunnel linking the metro station to the railway station.

The railway station is located some 3.5 km north of the main rail line crossing the city linking Warszawa Wschodnia, Warszawa Centralna and Warszawa Zachodnia railway stations and as such is sometimes used as a reserve station, used by trains during track works on the main line, but that is quite rare, as there are two tracks in each direction on the main line.

Currently (2023), it is used by suburban and regional trains and also by long distance and international trains due to reconstruction of Warsaw Cross-City line.

History

The original station was built around 1880 under the name of Vistulan Main Train Station (Polish: Główny Dworzec Kolei Nadwiślańskiej) and served a local line running along the Vistula river northwards. In the early 20th century, with the opening of a railway bridge over the river south of Warsaw Citadel (directly to the east of the station; the bridge was constructed around 1870, but was initially used by the Russian Army exclusively), it was renamed Warszawa Kowelska (Warsaw Kovel train station) and started serving as a junction between the Warsaw Główna and Warszawa Wileńska stations. Until then the passengers travelling from St. Petersburg to Vienna had to leave the train station at Warszawa Wileńska, take a tram to the city centre and take another train of the European standard gauge (1435 mm) on the Warsaw-Vienna railway. The Warsaw Kovel station also served as the main supply station for the Russian garrison stationed in the Warsaw Citadel.

During the withdrawal of Russian troops from Warsaw in August 1915, the station was demolished, along with the bridge to which it led. After World War I both were rebuilt, and the station was renamed Warszawa Gdańska (Warsaw Gdańsk station), named after the city of Gdańsk.

After 1933, with the opening of the cross-city line, linking three main Warsaw train stations, the Warsaw Gdańsk station lost its importance as a transit station and began serving as a station for local and suburban trains.

After 1942, the western part (adjacent to the Warsaw Ghetto) of the freight station had been adapted to become the Umschlagplatz (collection point) — the deportation facility for Warsaw's Jews.

After World War II, due to the complete destruction of many Warsaw's railway stations, Warsaw Gdańsk was used as a temporary station for long-distance trains, including, until the 1970s, trains passing through Warsaw between the USSR and the west. Among the notable trains to stop there was the Ost-West Express from Moscow to Ostend, Hook of Holland and Paris; the Chopin to Vienna; and the Praha to Prague trains. As such, it was the main location through which people expelled in the aftermath of the Polish 1968 political crisis left Poland. The events of 1968 are now commemorated by a stone tablet on the eastern wall of the building with the inscription by Henryk Grynberg Here they left more than they had.

Between 1958 and 1959 the new building of the station was constructed. It was the first station built in Warsaw after World War II, and it was at the time the most modern station in Warsaw. The building stood until 1984, when it was destroyed in a fire. The station was rebuilt in a few years with some changes - a new story was added.

In the 1970s, the station's long-distance services were completely taken over by the newly built Warszawa Centralna, and Warszawa Gdańska became a minor station for suburban trains.

Train services

The station is served by the following service(s):

• Intercity services (IC) Łódź Fabryczna — Warszawa Wschodnia
• Intercity services (IC) Łódź Fabryczna — Warszawa — Lublin Główny
• Intercity services (IC) Łódź Fabryczna — Warszawa — Gdańsk Glowny — Kołobrzeg
• Intercity services (IC) Wrocław- Opole - Częstochowa - Warszawa
• Intercity services (IC) Wrocław - Ostrów Wielkopolski - Łódź - Warszawa
• Intercity services (IC) Warszawa - Częstochowa - Katowice - Bielsko-Biała
• Intercity services (IC) Zgorzelec - Legnica - Wrocław - Ostrów Wielkopolski - Łódź - Warszawa
• Intercity services (IC) Kołobrzeg - Piła - Bydgoszcz - Warszawa - Lublin - Hrubieszów
• Intercity services (TLK) Warszawa - Częstochowa - Lubliniec - Opole - Wrocław - Szklarska Poręba Górna
• Intercity services (TLK) Warszawa - Częstochowa - Katowice - Opole - Wrocław - Szklarska Poręba Górna

Preceding station	PKP Intercity			Following station
Żyrardów towards Łódź Fabryczna		IC		Warszawa Wschodnia Terminus
				Warszawa Wschodnia towards Lublin Główny
Terminus				Żyrardów towards Wrocław Główny
Warszawa Wschodnia Terminus				Żyrardów towards Bielsko-Biała Główna, Wrocław Główny or Zgorzelec
Żyrardów towards Łódź Fabryczna				Legionowo towards Kołobrzeg
Żyrardów towards Kołobrzeg				Pilawa towards Hrubieszów Miasto
Żyrardów towards Szklarska Poręba Górna		TLK via Lubliniec		Warszawa Wschodnia Terminus
Grodzisk Mazowiecki towards Szklarska Poręba Górna		TLK via Katowice
Preceding station	KM			Following station
Warszawa Powązki towards Warszawa Zachodnia		R90		Warszawa Zoo towards Działdowo
		RE90
Terminus		RE91		Warszawa Zoo towards Sierpc
Preceding station	SKM			Following station
Warszawa Powązki towards Warsaw Chopin Airport		S3		Warszawa Zoo towards Legionowo Piaski or Radzymin
Warszawa Powązki towards Piaseczno		S4		Warszawa Zoo towards Zegrze Południowe

Gallery

• 
  Station building in 1877
• 
  Gdanska railroad station looking toward the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising in 1943
• 
  Warszawa Gdańska platforms, view to the west. March 2012

External links

• Media related to Warszawa Gdańska railway station at Wikimedia Commons
• Vintage train at the station
• Modern view of the neglected part of the station
• Warszawa Kowelska on an old postcard (pre-1915)