Pardubice hlavní nádraží

Pardubice main railway station (Czech "Pardubice hlavní nádraží") is one of the largest railway stations in the Czech Republic, located near the city centre of Pardubice, an important railway network hub.

Name

The complete name of the station in Czech is "Uzlová železniční stanice Pardubice, hlavní nádraží", as "railway junction Pardubice, main station".

History

Work on railway connecting Prague and Olomouc started in 1842 and the line was finished in 1845. The construction was led by Jan Perner. A small railway station was opened on the same year, with four tracks, a roundhouse ("výtopna") for eight steam locomotives 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 "Český Brod") 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 short-line railroad spurs to the main station: 37 lines in 1908 and new ones added after the war. Since the 1960s, this number dropped to 19 in 2000, and even these are not fully utilized. [http://pshzd.wz.cz/vlecky.html See details] .

Pardubice, a city with large petrochemical factories, was bombed several times during World War II. An air raid on August 24 1944 damaged the station. All lines were shattered and the passenger hall was destroyed. After the war, repairs had started and on October 1945 traffic was restored.

New station

Architects Karel Řepa and Josef Danda started to work on new station in 1947. Their design was 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 are getting electrified and this process still continues. Work on high-speed railway corridor from Děčín to Břeclav (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 České Dráhy, is an important hub for both passenger and freight traffic. The station has connections to Prague, Brno, Vienna, Bratislava, Budapest and other cities and is served by InterCity, EuroCity, Pendolino and local trains.

After decades of use, the passenger hall became a rather dingy place where city homeless concentrate. Reconstruction of stations in Pardubice and in neighbouring Hradec Králové is planned ^{[http://www.zelpage.cz/comment.php?id=1775&w=n as of 2005]} 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 in Rosice nad Labem, opened in 2005, documents the history of railways in the region.

Provided services

(as of 2006)
* customer centre of České Dráhy
* restaurant, wine shop and several fast food stalls
* bookstore
* hotel in station hall [http://hotel-sirius.wz.cz/index.php]
* movie theatre in station hall [http://cdpardubice.blog.cz/0605/kino-sirius]
* lounge for 1st class passengers

Connection with other transport

The central bus 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.

There is a direct short-line railroad line to Pardubice Airport ^{[http://www.airport-pardubice.cz/?lang=en]} exists as well as a direct bus connection. A short-line railroad to Labe ("Elbe") river port will be built in the future.

External links

All texts are in Czech language.
* [http://pshzd.wz.cz/155letPce.html History of railway in Pardubice, photos]
* [http://cdpardubice.blog.cz/ Unofficial website of the station] (with up-to-date details)