Bratislava main railway station ( Slovak: ''Bratislava hlavná stanica'', abbreviated as ''Bratislava hl.st.''; Hungarian: ''Pozsony főpályaudvar'') is the main

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

of the city of

Bratislava Bratislava (, also ; ; german: Preßburg/Pressburg ; hu, Pozsony) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Slovakia. Officially, the population of the city is about 475,000; however, it is estimated to be more than 660,000 — approxim ...

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

. It averages about 60,000 passengers per day. Apart from domestic routes, international routes from this station include trains to

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

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(summer only),

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

, and

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

Etymology

Prior to 1919 the city was part of the

Austro-Hungarian Empire Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

, and was known as "Pressburg", in

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

, and "Pozsony", in Hungarian. The station was named ''Pressburger Hauptbahnhof'' and ''Pozsony főpályaudvar'' in those languages.

History

The first station building, a two-storey building at Šancová 1, now serves as the headquarters of the railway police. It was built in 1848 as the terminus for the

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

Gänserndorf Gänserndorf () is a town on the Marchfeld, Lower Austria, Austria and the capital of Bezirk Gänserndorf. It is about 20 km northeast of Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , p ...

- Bratislava (Pressburg) and

Břeclav Břeclav (; german: Lundenburg) is a town in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 24,000 inhabitants. Administrative parts Town parts of Charvátská Nová Ves and Poštorná are administrative parts of Břeclav. Etymol ...

- Bratislava (Pressburg) lines. The second building, which is used to this day, was built after the completion of the

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

- Párkány (Štúrovo) - Bratislava line in 1905 to the design of

Ferenc Pfaff Ferenc Pfaff (born as Franz Pfaff, Mohács, 19 November 1851 – Budapest, 21 August 1913) was a Hungarian architect and academic. Career Pfaff received his degree in 1880 after studying under Imre Steindl at the József Nádor Technical Un ...

, who was the

Hungarian State Railways Hungarian State Railways ( hu, Magyar Államvasutak, MÁV) is the Hungarian national railway company, with divisions "MÁV START Zrt." (passenger transport), "MÁV-Gépészet Zrt." (maintenance), "MÁV-Trakció Zrt." and "MÁV Cargo Zrt" (freig ...

's main architect at the time. Originally it was built in

eclectic style Eclecticism is a kind of mixed style in the fine arts: "the borrowing of a variety of styles from different sources and combining them" . Significantly, Eclecticism hardly ever constituted a specific style in art: it is characterized by the fact th ...

, however in 1960 it underwent a major reconstruction, when the exterior was completely changed to be more "socialist" in nature. The

fresco Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaste ...

s were added to the interior at the same time. The foyer, colloquially called "Skleník" (meaning "greenhouse"), was added to the second building in 1987 as an extension, which was meant only as a temporary solution already during its construction. This extension was scheduled to be demolished during the reconstruction of the Franz Liszt Square, which, though, has never been started by the investor, what led into a lawsuit by the city and the state-owned railway company. That caused a stall to any changes for many years. Newest plans by the railway company are just to renew the foyer and surrounding area, until a new station will be built. In 1883, a connection was added to the Bratislava- Rača station, which was connected to the line to

Žilina Žilina (; hu, Zsolna, ; german: Sillein, or ; pl, Żylina , names in other languages) 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 Sl ...

. The line to the Nové Mesto station is the most recently added line, and it was built in 1962 At first, the station also had freight loading and unloading facilities. One unique feature was the "vínovod" ("wine transport system"), which consisted of tubing from the station to the Palugyay family's wine cellars. Gravity flow drew wine from trains into barrels in the cellars. The station also had a

ropeway conveyor A material ropeway, ropeway conveyor (or aerial tramway in the US) is a subtype of gondola lift, from which containers for goods rather than passenger cars are suspended. Description Material ropeways are typically found around large mining conc ...

to ''

Patrónka Patrónka is an area in the western part of Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, it is also the name of a major transport junction within the area and an important bus stop. Patrónka is located at the boundary of Bratislava I Old Town and Bratis ...

'' (cartridge factory) which produced ammunition cartridges, colloquially known as "patróny". As passenger traffic increased, freight operations were progressively relocated to other stations in the city. The station's engine house by the stabling yard was built after the removal of the old stabling yard, which was formerly in the space occupied by platforms 3-5. On January 1, 1919, as Czechoslovak troops were about to enter the city, negotiations between representatives of the Pressburg population, led by

Paul Wittich Paul Wittich (c.1546 – 9 January 1586) was a German mathematician and astronomer whose Capellan geoheliocentric model, in which the inner planets Mercury and Venus orbit the sun but the outer planets Mars, Jupiter and Saturn orbit the Ea ...

, and '' Entente'' officers, led by the Italian Colonel Barreca, took place at the Pressburg railway station.

Current situation

Current rail traffic exceeds the station's track capacity, which occasionally becomes evident in a

domino effect A domino effect or chain reaction is the cumulative effect generated when a particular event triggers a chain of similar events. This term is best known as a mechanical effect and is used as an analogy to a falling row of dominoes. It typically ...

caused by delayed trains. One suggested solution is to transfer some of the trains to the Nové Mesto and

Petržalka Petržalka (; german: Engerau / Audorf; hu, Pozsonyligetfalu) is the largest borough of Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. Situated on the right bank of the river Danube, the area shares a land border with Austria, and is home to around 100,000 ...

stations, which currently have unused track capacity.

Future reconstruction

Since 2000, there have been plans to reconstruct not only the station but also the surrounding area, most importantly the Franz Liszt Square. The investor is the company I.P.R. Slovakia and the cost was estimated at €232,357,432 in 2008. In 2003, the Bratislava City Magistrate agreed with the project. In 2006, the

Old Town In a city or town, the old town is its historic or original core. Although the city is usually larger in its present form, many cities have redesignated this part of the city to commemorate its origins after thorough renovations. There are ma ...

district of Bratislava and the Regional Environment Office decided to allow I.P.R. Slovakia to cut down 630 trees worth €230,000 and shrubs worth of €14,000. The decision is final and according to experts, when executed it will forever change the micro-climate of the area. Since 1 September 2007 a new City plan came into effect in Bratislava and in 2008 the

district informed the investor that he needs another agreement from the Bratislava City Magistrate.

Access

Bratislava main station serves as the hub for the local public transport service (MHD). It can thus be conveniently accessed from all parts of

. Many buses and trolleybuses terminate here as well as almost all of the

night buses Night service, sometimes also known as owl service, refers to the public transport services operated during the night hours. These services are operated, mainly using buses but in certain cases using trams (or streetcars), not including int ...

for which station serves as the hub.https://www.bratislavaguide.com/transport/main-train-station-hlavna-stanica Tram routes number 1 and 2 commence at the station and serve both the old town and the new town. In 2012 the government allocated part of a €420m transport funding package towards the construction of a segregated light rail line from the main station to the Šafárik Square and Janíkov Dvor, and modernisation of the existing tram route to Dúbravka.

Military shelter

Bratislava main station features one of the city's major war shelters built during the communist era, to protect citizens from air raids or attacks with weapons of mass destruction. As with many other similar structures in Bratislava, it is inaccessible and not widely known to the public. Built in the 1950s, it is located underneath the Jaskový rad Street and nearby houses and its designed capacity is 1,500 people. The main entrance can be found at the very end of the tunnel leading to platforms, after leaving the tunnel, the entrance is behind a small metal door built into the massive rock wall.
The shelter features several hallways, rooms, a command centre, air filtering and power generating machinery and toilets. There are two emergency exits, one behind Hotel Spirit and the other behind the building known as U Matúša, which in the past featured a pub with the same name, both on private property. The shelter belongs to the Railways of Slovak Republic.

Services

Gallery

File:Bratislava station.JPG, Main entrance to the station. File:Fresco - mail hall - Bratislava Hlavna Stanica.jpg, The large interior fresco in its context in the main hall. File:Bratislava Hlavna Stanica.jpg, Bratislava main station August 2014

References

External links

Railway station Bratislava hlavná stanica
(SK/EN)
Station Reconstruction Project

(SK) {{DEFAULTSORT:Bratislava hlavna stanica Railway stations in Bratislava Railway stations opened in 1848 Ferenc Pfaff railway stations Railway stations in Slovakia opened in 1848