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 using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

, 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: Ancient Rome *Terminus (god), a Roman deity who protected boundary markers Transport *Terminal train station or terminus, a railway station serving as an end destination *Bus terminus, a bus station serving as an end des ...

of the KrakówUpper Silesia Railway (''Kolej Krakowsko-Górnośląska'', ). 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. In 2023, it served 23.4 million passengers, making it the country's third busiest railway station behind Wrocław Główny and

Poznań Główny Poznań ( ) is a city on the River Warta in west Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business center and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John's Fair ...

stations.

History and early connections

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

Mysłowice Mysłowice (; ) is a city in Silesia in Poland, bordering Katowice. The population of the city is 72,124. It is located in the core of the Metropolis GZM in the Silesian Highlands, on the Przemsza and Brynica rivers (tributaries of the Vistul ...

(the point where the

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

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

and

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

Empires adjoined during era of the

partitions of Poland The Partitions of Poland were three partition (politics), partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that took place between 1772 and 1795, toward the end of the 18th century. They ended the existence of the state, resulting in the eli ...

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

Dębica Dębica (; ''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 in the Tarnów Voiv ...

(then Dembitz in the

Habsburg Empire The Habsburg monarchy, also known as Habsburg Empire, or Habsburg Realm (), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities (composite monarchy) that were ruled by the House of Habsburg. From the 18th century it is ...

) of the future

Galician Railway of Archduke Charles Louis The Imperial and Royal privileged Galician Railway of Archduke Charles Louis (, ) was a privately owned railway company in the Austro-Hungarian province of Galicia operating during the time of the partitions of Poland in the second half of the 1 ...

connecting Kraków with

Lwów Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

(then Lemberg) in Galicia. 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 main railway station. Development Galeria Krakowska has 270 specialty shops, cafés, and restaurants on three floors in two roof-covered shopping mall ...

(''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 A transport hub is a place where passengers and cargo are exchanged between vehicles and/or between mode of transport, transport modes. Public transport hubs include train station, railway stations, metro station, rapid transit stations, bus ...

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) ''Warsaw - Kraków - Zakopane'' *Intercity services (IC) ''Gdynia - Gdańsk - Bydgoszcz - Łódź - Czestochowa — Krakow — 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 (IC) ''Ustka - Koszalin - Poznań - Wrocław - Katowice - 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'' *Regional services (PR) ''Katowice — Kraków'' *Regional services (PR) ''Katowice — Kraków — Dębica'' *Regional services (PR) ''Zakopane - Nowy Targ - Chabówka - Skawina - Kraków Główny'' *Regional service (PR) ''Bielsko-Biała Główna — Wadowice - Kraków Główny'' *Regional services (PR) ''Kraków - Bochnia - Tarnów - Dębica - Rzeszów'' *Regional services (PR) ''Kraków - Bochnia - Tarnów - Nowy Sącz - Piwniczna'' *Regional services (PR) ''Kraków - Bochnia - Tarnów - Nowy Sącz - Piwniczna - Krynica-Zdrój''Polregio. PR 33151 Jaworzyna Kraków Główny — Krynica-Zdrój. Timetable
https://bilety.polregio.pl/pociag/REG/33151-JAWORZYNA
/ref> *Regional Service (KMŁ) '' Kraków Lotnisko (

Airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial Aviation, air transport. They usually consist of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surf ...

) -

Gł. -

Kopalnia Kopalnia is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Konopiska, within Częstochowa County, Silesian Voivodeship, in southern Poland. It lies approximately south-west of Częstochowa and north of the regional capital Katowice Katowi ...

- Wieliczka Rynek-Kopalnia'' *Regional Service (KMŁ) ''

Sędziszów Sędziszów is a town in Jędrzejów County, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, Poland, with 6,830 inhabitants (2004). The town belongs to Lesser Poland. Transport Sędziszów railway station is a stop for both the PKP intercity trains and their reg ...

Miechów Miechów is a town in Poland, in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, about north of Kraków. It is the capital of Miechów County. Population is 11,852 (2004). Miechów lies on the Miechówka river, along European route E77. The area of the town is , a ...

Gł. -

Skawina Skawina is a town in southern Poland with 27,328 inhabitants (2008). Situated in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship (since 1999), previously in Kraków Voivodeship (1975–1998), Kraków Voivodeship (1975–1998). The town is located on the Skawinka ri ...

- Podbory Skawińskie - Przeciszów -

Oświęcim Oświęcim (; ; ; ) is a town in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship in southern Poland, situated southeast of Katowice, near the confluence of the Vistula (''Wisła'') and Soła rivers. Oświęcim dates back to the 12th century, when it was an im ...

(Auschwitz)'' *Regional Service (KMŁ) ''

(Auschwitz) -

Trzebinia Trzebinia (; ''Tchebin'') is a town in Chrzanów County, Lesser Poland, Poland with an Orlen oil refinery and a major rail junction of the Kraków - Katowice line, with connections to Oświęcim and Spytkowice. The town became part of Lesser Pola ...

Gł. -

Tarnów Tarnów () is a city in southeastern Poland with 105,922 inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of 269,000 inhabitants. The city is situated in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship. It is a major rail junction, located on the strategic east– ...

'' *Regional Service (KŚ) ''

Katowice Katowice (, ) is the capital city of the Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland and the central city of the Katowice urban area. As of 2021, Katowice has an official population of 286,960, and a resident population estimate of around 315,000. K ...

Krzeszowice Krzeszowice () is a town in southern Poland, situated in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship. As of 2004, its population was 9,993. Krzeszowice belongs to ''Kraków Metropolitan Area'', and lies 25 kilometers west of the center of the city of Krakó ...

Gł.'' 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:Kraków Główny, kasy biletowe.jpg, Ticket offices File:20150207 Pendolino ED250 PKP Intercity Krakow 5031.jpg,

Pendolino Pendolino (from Italian language, Italian "pendulum", and ''-ino,'' a diminutive suffix) is an Italian family of high-speed tilting trains (and non-tilting) used in Italy, Spain, Germany, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Finland, the Czech Republic, ...

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 Poland opened in 1847 Railway stations in Kraków Railway stations in Lesser Poland Voivodeship Railway stations served by Przewozy Regionalne InterRegio 1847 establishments in the Austrian Empire

History and early connections

Underground expansion and revitalisation

Train services

See also

References

External links