Warszawa Wileńska ( en, Warsaw Vilnius Station) is a railway station located in the eastern borough of

Praga Północ Praga is a district of Warsaw, Poland. It is on the east bank of the river Vistula. First mentioned in 1432, until 1791 it formed a separate town with its own city charter. History The historical Praga was a small settlement located at ...

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

, Poland. It serves mostly local and suburban trains run by Masovian Railways (Polish: ''Koleje Mazowieckie'').

History

The Petersburg Train Station ( pl, Dworzec Petersburski) was built in 1863 as the final terminus of a new railroad linking Warsaw with

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urb ...

and

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

. The building itself was designed by Narcyz Zborzewski. As the line used Russian gauge while another major railway line operating in Warsaw at the time (namely the

Warsaw–Vienna Railway The Warsaw-Vienna Railway ( pl, Kolej Warszawsko-Wiedeńska, german: Warschau-Wiener Eisenbahn) was a railway system which operated since 1845 in Congress Poland, then part of the Russian Empire. The main component of its network was a line 327.6 ...

) used Standard gauge, the two could not have been connected. To allow passengers travelling from Vienna to St. Petersburg easier access to both terminals a

horse-drawn tramway A horsecar, horse-drawn tram, horse-drawn streetcar (U.S.), or horse-drawn railway (historical), is an animal-powered (usually horse) tram or streetcar. Summary The horse-drawn tram (horsecar) was an early form of public rail transport, wh ...

line was opened soon after the railway line's completion, thus giving birth to Warsaw's tramway network. The original train station had been blown up by withdrawing Russian troops in 1915 during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. File:Warsaw dworzec kolei petersburgskiej 19w.jpg File:Dworzec Petersburski w Warszawie przed 1916.jpg File:Вокзал Варшавской станции Петербург-Варшавской железной дороги.jpg File:Петроградский вокзал. Варшава. 1914-1915.jpg After the end of hostilities and the Polish-Bolshevik War parts of the Warsaw–Saint Petersburg Railway between Warsaw and Vilnius were converted to standard gauge while passenger traffic between Warsaw and then-Soviet

Leningrad Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

practically ceased. Because of that the name of the station was changed to the one used currently. The position initially occupied by the 19th century train station which was demolished during the war was occupied by the new office building headquarters of

Polish State Railways (''PKP S.A.''; en, Polish State Railways, Inc.) is the dominant Rail transport operations, railway operator in Poland. The company was founded when the former state-owned enterprise was divided into several units based on the need for separati ...

, constructed between 1927 and 1928. At the same time a new provisional Warszawa Wileńska station was constructed across the street, slightly to the south from the original location. The new provisional building survived

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

when it was dismantled while old railway depots were converted to a station building. This building was also provisional, but survived in its role until 2000, when a new station was constructed. The ground floor houses a suburban train station operated currently by

Koleje Mazowieckie Masovian Railways, in Polish Koleje Mazowieckie, is a regional rail operator in the Masovian Voivodeship of Poland. History The company was founded in 2004 as a joint venture of the Masovian Voivodeship, with 51% shares, and the, then governmen ...

, while upper floors house a shopping mall. The building was completed in 2002. The construction of a

Warsaw Metro The Warsaw Metro ( pl, Metro Warszawskie) is a rapid transit underground system serving the Polish capital Warsaw. It currently consists of two lines, the north-south Line M1 which links central Warsaw with its densely populated northern and sout ...

line 2 station Dworzec Wileński was completed in March 2015.

External links

* Railway stations in Poland opened in 1863 Wilenska Railway stations served by Koleje Mazowieckie {{Warsaw-railstation-stub