The Rijeka railway station ( Croatian: ''Željeznički kolodvor Rijeka'') opened in 1873 and is close to the

port of Rijeka The Port of Rijeka ( hr, Luka Rijeka, ) is a seaport in Rijeka, Croatia, located on the shore of the Kvarner Gulf in the Adriatic Sea. The first records of the port date to 1281. It was the main port of the History of Hungary 1700–1919, Kingdom ...

. It is operated by

Croatian Railways Croatian Railways ( hr, Hrvatske željeznice; abbreviated as HŽ) is the national railway company of Croatia. Croatia is a member of the International Union of Railways (UIC). The UIC Country Code for Croatia is 78. The Croatian rail network carri ...

(HŽ).

History

Following the

Croatian–Hungarian Settlement The Croatian–Hungarian Settlement ( hr, Hrvatsko-ugarska nagodba, hu, magyar–horvát kiegyezés, german: Kroatisch-Ungarischer Ausgleich) was a pact signed in 1868 that governed Kingdom of Croatia (Habsburg), Croatia's political status in th ...

of 1868 the

Free State of Fiume The Free State of Fiume () was an independent free state that existed between 1920 and 1924. Its territory of comprised the city of Fiume (today Rijeka, Croatia) and rural areas to its north, with a corridor to its west connecting it to the K ...

was given a special status in Croatia's personal union with Hungary, as well as forcing the expansion of the

Port of Rijeka The Port of Rijeka ( hr, Luka Rijeka, ) is a seaport in Rijeka, Croatia, located on the shore of the Kvarner Gulf in the Adriatic Sea. The first records of the port date to 1281. It was the main port of the History of Hungary 1700–1919, Kingdom ...

in the form of making it the main commercial port of the

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from the Middle Ages into the 20th century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the coronation of the first king Stephen ...

. In the year of 1873 the railway routes coming from

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 ...

via Zagreb and Karlovac as well as from

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

via

Ljubljana Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center. During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the ar ...

& Pivka to Rijeka were finished and the station was opened on the 25 June 1873. A year later a direct rail connection to

Trieste Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into provi ...

was established. In 1882 one of Europe's first

oil refineries An oil refinery or petroleum refinery is an industrial process plant where petroleum (crude oil) is transformed and refined into useful products such as gasoline (petrol), diesel fuel, asphalt base, fuel oils, heating oil, kerosene, liquefie ...

was founded in Rijeka, and during the 1880s the port and station were expanded with new warehouses. The

station building A station building, also known as a head house, is the main building of a passenger railway station. It is typically used principally to provide services to passengers. A station building is a component of a station, which can include tracks, p ...

as it stands today was built from 1889 to 1891 after plans of the Budapestian architect

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 build 14 station buildings in total in the Hungarian countries. The in the style of

neoclassicism Neoclassicism (also spelled Neo-classicism) was a Western cultural movement in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiquity. Neoclassicism was ...

built building comprises a 150 m long single-storey arcaded building, a two-storey, centrally placed entrance hall, as well as two head-end buildings placed on its side. Today the station building is under preservation order because of its architectural qualities. In 1899 Rijeka got an electrical tram system which connected the train station and Rijeka's districts. After the first world war the city was annexed by the

Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy ( it, Regno d'Italia) was a state that existed from 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 1946, when civil discontent led to ...

and the station became a border station under ownership of the

Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane S.p.A. ( "Italian Railways of the State"; previously only Ferrovie dello Stato, hence the abbreviation FS) is Italy's national state-owned railway holding company that manages transport, infrastructure, real estate ...

who electrified the Rijeka-Pivka line with a 3000 V DC system. After the second world war the station was connected to the network of the

Yugoslav Railways Yugoslav Railways ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Jugoslavenske željeznice/Jugoslovenske železnice, Југославенске жељезнице/Југословенске железнице; mk, Југословенски железници; sl, Jugoslovans ...

(JŽ) and since 1991 it's owned by the

(HŽ) with their founding.

References

External links

{{Commons category-inline, Rijeka railway station * http://www.hznet.hr/ –

(HŽ) Buildings and structures in Rijeka Neoclassical architecture in Croatia Railway stations in Croatia Ferenc Pfaff railway stations Transport in Rijeka