Kraków Główny, in English Kraków Main, is the largest and the most centrally located

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 Track (rail transport), tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the ...

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula, Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland un ...

, Poland. The railway station was situated in a historical building, constructed between 1844 and 1847 by Rosenbaum, which lies parallel to the tracks. The design was chosen to allow for future line expansion. The station was initially a

terminus Terminus may refer to: * Bus terminus, a bus station serving as an end destination * Terminal train station or terminus, a railway station serving as an end destination Geography *Terminus, the unofficial original name of Atlanta, Georgia, United ...

of the KrakówUpper Silesia Railway (''Kolej Krakowsko-Górnośląska'', german: Oberschlesische-Krakauer Eisenbahn). Trains entered the

trainshed A train shed is a building adjacent to a station building where the tracks and platforms of a railway station are covered by a roof. It is also known as an overall roof. Its primary purpose is to store and protect from the elements train car ...

via a brick archway at the northern end of the station which was almost doubled in size in 1871. In 2014, a new building was opened.

History and early connections

The station opened on 13 October 1847, with the first train leaving for

Mysłowice Mysłowice ( szl, Myslowicy; german: Myslowitz) is a city in Silesia in southern Poland, near Katowice. The population of the city is 74,085. It is located in the south district of the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union in the Silesian Highlan ...

(the point where the

Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...

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 **Ge ...

and Russian Empires adjoined during era of the

partitions of Poland The Partitions of Poland were three partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that took place toward the end of the 18th century and ended the existence of the state, resulting in the elimination of sovereign Poland and Lithuania for 12 ...

). The railway line was extended eastwards in 1856, when the first section to

Dębica Dębica (; yi, דעמביץ ''Dembitz'') is a town in southeastern Poland with 44,692 inhabitants as of December 2021. It is the capital of Dębica County. Since 1999 it has been situated in the Podkarpackie Voivodeship; it had previously been ...

(then Dembitz in the

Habsburg Empire The Habsburg monarchy (german: Habsburgermonarchie, ), also known as the Danubian monarchy (german: Donaumonarchie, ), or Habsburg Empire (german: Habsburgerreich, ), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities ...

) of the future Galician Railway of Archduke Charles Louis connecting Kraków with

Lwów Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in Western Ukraine, western Ukraine, and the List of cities in Ukraine, seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is o ...

(then Lemberg) in

Galicia Galicia may refer to: Geographic regions * Galicia (Spain), a region and autonomous community of northwestern Spain ** Gallaecia, a Roman province ** The post-Roman Kingdom of the Suebi, also called the Kingdom of Gallaecia ** The medieval King ...

. The increasing traffic resulted in the station's modernization and enlargement in several stages between 1869 and 1894. The next substantial expansion took place in the 1930s in the reborn Polish Republic. At that time the northern brick wall and trainshed were demolished, the latter replaced by individual platform roofs.

Underground expansion and revitalisation

A new urban shopping mall,

Galeria Krakowska ''Galeria Krakowska'' is a shopping mall in Kraków, Poland, located adjacent to the city's Kraków Główny railway station, main railway station. Development Galeria Krakowska has 270 specialty shops, cafés, and restaurants on three floors in ...

(''Kraków Mall''), opened in September 2006 with adjacent parking for 1,400 cars. The construction of the Galeria Krakowska and remodeling of the area in front of the main station building means that taxis are no longer able to drive up to the station or collect passengers directly from the main entrance; however, the free overhead parking and passenger pick-up right above the tracks is now closer to the platforms, accessible via a convenient elevator. The station has undergone a multi-million złoty refurbishment to improve passengers' experience. A new transport interchange has been developed. This includes a bus station to the east, and an express tram line under the station which opened in December 2008. A new underground ticket hall opened in February 2014, with waiting rooms, travel centers and other amenities. This is located to the north of the earlier platform underpass, and connected to the platforms by escalators. It also provides two new direct exits/entrances to the station complex, one from the lower level of

and another from the Regional Bus Station located to the east of the railway station. The current platform underpass will also be refurbished.History and modernization of Kraków Główny
at PKP S.A. ''Robi się''. Accessed July 23, 2011. As part of this large investment all platforms and tracks have been replaced.

Train services

The station is served by the following service(s): *EuroCity services (EC) (EC 95 by DB) (IC by PKP) ''Berlin - Frankfurt (Oder) - Rzepin - Wrocław – Katowice – Kraków – Rzeszów – Przemyśl'' *Express Intercity Premium services (EIP) ''Warsaw - Kraków'' *Express Intercity Premium services (EIP) ''Gdynia/Kołobrzeg - Warsaw - Kraków (- Rzeszów)'' *Express Intercity services (EIC) ''Warsaw - Kraków - Zakopane'' * Intercity services (IC) ''Łódź Fabryczna — Tomaszów Mazowiecki/Częstochowa — Kraków Główny'' *Intercity services (IC) ''Poznań - Ostrów Wielkopolski - Kępno - Lubliniec - Częstochowa - Kraków'' *Intercity services (IC) ''Kołobrzeg - Piła - Poznań - Wrocław - Opole - Kraków'' *Intercity services (IC) ''Zielona Góra - Wrocław - Opele - Częstochowa - Kraków - Rzeszów - Przemyśl'' *Intercity services (TLK) ''Poznań - Ostrów Wielkopolski - Kępno - Lubliniec - Częstochowa - Kraków'' *Intercity services (TLK) ''Gdynia Główna — Zakopane'' *Intercity services (TLK) ''Kołobrzeg — Gdynia Główna — Warszawa Wschodnia — Kraków Główny''Koleo. TLK 83170 USTRONIEKołobrzeg — Kraków Główny. Timetable
https://koleo.pl/pociag/TLK/83170-USTRONIE
/ref> File:PlacJanaNowaka-Jeziorańskiego-WidokOdPołudnia-POL, Kraków.jpg, Main entrance promenade File:Krakow1.jpg, Original appearance of the station building in the 1850s File:WK14 Kraków (15) Travelarz.jpg, Interior of the Main Railway Station File:20150207 Pendolino ED250 PKP Intercity Krakow 5031.jpg,

Pendolino Pendolino (from Italian ''pendolo'' "pendulum", and ''-ino,'' a diminutive suffix) is an Italian family of tilting trains used in Italy, Spain, Germany, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Finland, Russia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, the UK, the US, ...

PKP Intercity Krakow File:Krakow summer 2015 01.JPG, The Station island platforms File:WK14 Kraków (16) Travelarz.jpg, Departures. Interior File:Kraków,_Regionalny_Dworzec_Autobusowy.jpg, Long distance bus terminal

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Krakow Glowny Railway Station Railway stations in Kraków Railway stations opened in 1847 Railway stations in Lesser Poland Voivodeship Railway stations served by Przewozy Regionalne InterRegio 1847 establishments in the Austrian Empire Railway stations in Poland opened in 1847