Warszawa Śródmieście railway station (Polish pronunciation: ) is a railway station in

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 officiall ...

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 populou ...

, in the district of Śródmieście. The station serves the suburban (southern) tracks of the

Warsaw Cross-City Line Warsaw cross-city line ( pl, Linia Średnicowa w Warszawie) is a 7 km railway line crossing Central Warsaw in the east–west direction. Opened in 1933 and electrified in 1936, it initially had two tracks, with an additional two added in 196 ...

and is used by regional trains run 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 ...

(KM) and Szybka Kolej Miejska (SKM). There are two

side platforms A side platform (also known as a marginal platform or a single-face platform) is a platform positioned to the side of one or more railway tracks or guideways at a railway station, tram stop, or transitway. A station having dual side platforms ...

and one

island platform An island platform (also center platform, centre platform) is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway interchange. Island platforms are popular o ...

serving two tracks, all located in a tunnel. It was built on the principle of the

Spanish solution In railway and rapid transit parlance, the Spanish solution is a station layout with two railway platforms, one on each side of the track, which allows for separate platforms for boarding and alighting. Description This platform arrangement allo ...

, whereas the centre platform would be using for the arriving passengers only and the side platforms for departing passengers only. The separation was enforced by access controls to the centre platform (discontinued in 1960s), location of ticket offices next to side platforms only, and opening trains' doors on the centre platform side first and on the side platform side with a delay. The separation was in operation until the 1980s.

History

The first station with this name opened in 1949 in a

cutting Cutting is the separation or opening of a physical object, into two or more portions, through the application of an acutely directed force. Implements commonly used for wikt:cut, cutting are the knife and saw, or in medicine and science the scal ...

(now covered) on the

between Marchlewskiego (currently Jana Pawła II) and Emilii Plater streets, a few hundred meters to the west of the current location. It had two side platforms and a simple wooden station building on the street level. It served both suburban and long-distance trains. The present structure was built between 1955 and 1963. The overground part consists of two rectangular buildings without any facilities, being effectively oversized shelters for staircases leading to the platforms, ticket offices, etc. The station underwent a refurbishment in 2006–2007.

Connections

The station offers convenient ground-level transfers to the nearby Centrum metro station as well as a large number of

trams A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport ar ...

and

buses 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 ...

. The station is connected by an underground pedestrian passage to

Warszawa Centralna Warszawa Centralna, in English known as Warsaw Central Station, is the primary railway station in Warsaw, Poland. Completed in 1975, the station is located on the Warsaw Cross-City Line and features four underground island platforms with eight tr ...

, which serves long-distance trains, and Warszawa Śródmieście WKD, which serves

Warszawska Kolej Dojazdowa Warsaw Commuter Railway ( pl, Warszawska Kolej Dojazdowa, WKD) is a light rail commuter line in Poland's capital city of Warsaw. The line, together with its two branches, links Warsaw with the municipalities of Michałowice, Pruszków, Brwinów ...

trains.

Gallery

File:EW55-03 (kadr), Warszawa Śródmieście, 1977.jpg, Station platforms in 1977 File:Dworzec Warszawa Śródmieście 2015 01.JPG, Station interior, Platforms 2 and 3 File:Dworzec Warszawa Śródmieście widziany z Pałacu Kultury i Nauki.JPG, Aerial view of the station entrances Mosaics in Warszawa Śródmieście railway station 02.jpg, Mosaics by

Wojciech Fangor Wojciech (pronounced: ) Bonawentura Fangor (15 November 1922 – 25 October 2015), also known as Voy Fangor, was a Polish Painting, painter, graphic artist, Sculpture, sculptor. Described as "one of the most distinctive painters to emerge from p ...

Mosaics in Warszawa Śródmieście railway station 03.jpg, Mosaics by Wojciech Fangor

External links

Srodmiescie Railway stations opened in 1949 Railway stations served by Koleje Mazowieckie Railway stations served by Szybka Kolej Miejska (Warsaw) Śródmieście, Warsaw {{Warsaw-railstation-stub