Pardubice main railway station (

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places * Czech, ...

''Pardubice hlavní nádraží'') is one of the largest

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 prep ...

s in the

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 ...

, located about west-south-west from city centre of Pardubice, and an important railway network hub.

Name

The complete name of the station in Czech is ''Uzlová železniční stanice Pardubice, hlavní nádraží'', translating to "''Pardubice railway junction, main station''". It abbreviates to ''Pardubice hl. n.''

History

Work on the railway connecting

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

and

Olomouc Olomouc (, , ; german: Olmütz; pl, Ołomuniec ; la, Olomucium or ''Iuliomontium'') is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 99,000 inhabitants, and its larger urban zone has a population of about 384,000 inhabitants (2019). Located on t ...

started in 1842 and the line was finished in 1845. The construction was led by

Jan Perner Jan Perner (7 September 1815 – 10 September 1845) was a Czech railway engineer. Between 1842 and 1845, Perner was responsible for construction of several railways in the Austrian Empire. Career Perner was born on 7 September 1815 in Bratčice. ...

. A small railway station was opened on the same year, with four tracks, a roundhouse (''výtopna'') for eight

steam locomotives A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...

and passenger hall covering two tracks. The building still exists and is used by the railway operator. A line between Liberec and Pardubice was built during 1855–1859. In 1859, a new railway station was opened and used for both lines. A line between Pardubice and Německý Brod (now

Havlíčkův Brod Havlíčkův Brod (, until 1945 Německý Brod; german: Deutschbrod) is a town in Havlíčkův Brod District in the Vysočina Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 23,000 inhabitants. The town centre is well preserved and is protected by law ...

) was built during 1869–1871. Access to the railway turned a small town into a large industrial city. In 1908, the station building was coupled with a glass hall over two tracks. In 1910, a locomotive repair shop was set up; it was rebuilt in 1924. Factories in the city built industrial sidings to the main station: 37 lines had been constructed in 1908 and new ones were added after the war. Since the 1960s, this number dropped to 19 in 2000, and even these are not fully utilized. Pardubice, a city with large petrochemical factories, was bombed several times during

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 ...

. An air raid on 24 August 1944 damaged the station. All lines were shattered and the passenger hall was destroyed. After the war, repairs started and in October 1945 traffic was restored.

New station

Architects Karel Řepa and Josef Danda started to work on the new station in 1947. Their design was a single floor large passenger hall with complete infrastructure connected to a seven-story administrative building. During 1951–1960, a block of flats was added to the complex. The new station was opened on May 1, 1958. Since 1956 the lines in Pardubice have been electrified and work on improving them still continues. Work on the international railway corridor from Děčín to

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 ...

(part of a Pan-European corridor) going through Pardubice had started in 1993 and was largely completed by 2004.

The station today

The main railway station, operated by Czech Railways, is an important hub for both passenger and freight traffic. The station has connections to Prague, Brno,

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

, Bratislava,

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 ...

and other cities and is served by

InterCity InterCity (commonly abbreviated ''IC'' on timetables and tickets) is the classification applied to certain long-distance passenger train services in Europe. Such trains (in contrast to regional, local, or commuter trains) generally call at m ...

, EuroCity,

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, ...

and local trains. In station operates also LEO Express with comfortable trains to

Ostrava Ostrava (; pl, Ostrawa; german: Ostrau ) is a city in the north-east of the Czech Republic, and the capital of the Moravian-Silesian Region. It has about 280,000 inhabitants. It lies from the border with Poland, at the confluences of four riv ...

and Košice and RegioJet. After decades of use, the passenger hall became a rather dingy place where homeless people concentrate. Reconstruction of stations in Pardubice and in neighbouring

Hradec Králové Hradec Králové (; german: Königgrätz) is a city of the Czech Republic. It has about 91,000 inhabitants. It is the capital of the Hradec Králové Region. The historic centre of Hradec Králové is well preserved and is protected by law as an ...

is planned as of 2005
/sup> with intent to make them more attractive to the public. Small railway stations in Svítkov and Rosice nad Labem, districts of Pardubice, handle local traffic. A

Railway museum A railway museum is a museum that explores the history of all aspects of rail related transportation, including: locomotives ( steam, diesel, and electric), railway cars, trams, and railway signalling equipment. They may also operate historic ...

in Rosice nad Labem, opened in 2005, documenting the history of railways in the region.

Provided services

(as of 2006) * customer centre of Czech Railways * restaurant, wine shop and several fast food stalls * bookstore * hotel in station hal

* movie theatre in station hal

* lounge for 1st class passengers

Connection with other transport

The central

bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...

station of the city lies a short walk away. There is a taxi stand and a city bus stop in front of the station hall. A direct line to

Pardubice Airport Pardubice Airport ( cs, Letiště Pardubice) is both military and civilian international airport in the city of Pardubice, Czech Republic. Apart from the military purpose, it is used for scheduled services, charter flights to Southern Europe d ...

/sup> exists as well as a direct bus connection. A spur to Elbe, Labe (''Elbe'')

river port An inland port is a port on an inland waterway, such as a river, lake, or canal, which may or may not be connected to the sea. The term "inland port" is also used to refer to a dry port. Examples The United States Army Corps of Engineers publ ...

will be built in the future.

Services

References

External links

All texts are in

.
History of railway in Pardubice, photos

Unofficial website of the station
(with up-to-date details) {{DEFAULTSORT:Pardubice Hlavni Nadrazi Railway stations in Pardubice Region hlavni nadrazi Railway stations opened in 1845 Anton Jüngling railway stations Railway stations in the Czech Republic opened in 1845