Varshavsky station (russian: Варша́вский вокза́л, ''Varshavsky vokzal''), or Warsaw station, is a former passenger

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 pre ...

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

. It is located to the south of the city centre, and was in operation from 1853 to 2001 From 2001 to 2017 it served as the home of the

Russian Railway Museum The Russian Railway Museum is situated next to Baltiysky railway station in Saint Petersburg. The museum was established in 1978, its current site and exhibition opened to public on 1 November 2017. The museum utilizes the nineteenth century lo ...

(also known as the Russian Federation Central Museum of Railway Transport).

History

The station was originally built in 1851 for a rail line, completed in 1858, from the city to the Tsar's residence in

Gatchina The town of Gatchina ( rus, Га́тчина, , ˈɡatːɕɪnə, links=y) serves as the administrative center of the Gatchinsky District in Leningrad Oblast, Russia. It lies south-south-west of St. Petersburg, along the E95 highway which ...

. The line was extended in 1859 to

Pskov Pskov ( rus, Псков, a=pskov-ru.ogg, p=pskof; see also names in other languages) is a city in northwestern Russia and the administrative center of Pskov Oblast, located about east of the Estonian border, on the Velikaya River. Population ...

and in 1862 to

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 officia ...

, which at that time was a part of

Congress Poland Congress Poland, Congress Kingdom of Poland, or Russian Poland, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland, was a polity created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna as a semi-autonomous Polish state, a successor to Napoleon's Duchy of Warsaw. It w ...

and the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

. A branch from the main line that ran to the

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...

n border at

Virbalis Virbalis (, pl, Wierzbołów, yi, ווירבאלן ''Virbalen'') is a town in the Vilkaviškis district municipality, Lithuania. It is located west of Vilkaviškis. History It is frequently mentioned in historical as well in modern literatur ...

(now

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

) connected Saint Petersburg to other capitals of

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. The current building was designed by Piotr Salmanovich in a mixture of historical styles. It was constructed between 1857 and 1860. A church was built in front of the station in 1908; it was later demolished and a Lenin statue by Soviet sculptor

Nikolai Tomsky Nikolai Vasilyevich Tomsky (russian: Никола́й Васи́льевич То́мский b. , Ramushevo, Novgorod Governorate d. 22 November 1984 - Moscow) was a much-decorated Soviet sculptor, designer of many well-known ceremonial monumen ...

appeared in 1949. In 2001, the station was closed, with long distance rail service diverted to

Vitebsky railway station St Petersburg-Vitebsky (russian: Ви́тебский вокза́л) is a railway station terminal in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Formerly known as ''St Petersburg-Tsarskoselsky'' station because its first line led to the suburban royal residence ...

and commuter service to

Baltiysky Rail Terminal St. Petersburg-Baltiysky (russian: Балти́йский вокза́л) is a railway station in St. Petersburg, one of the busiest railway stations in Russia by volume of suburban traffic. The station was modelled by architect Alexander Kra ...

, and the depiction of Lenin removed. The trade center ''Warsaw Express'' has occupied the building since 2005. On the tracks, a railway museum used to display 80 exhibits of steam engines, electric and diesel locomotives. The Museum is closed, and the exhibits have been relocated to the

adjacent to

Baltiysky railway station St. Petersburg-Baltiysky (russian: Балти́йский вокза́л) is a railway station in St. Petersburg, one of the busiest railway stations in Russia by volume of suburban traffic. The station was modelled by architect Alexander Krak ...

, which opened on 1 November 2017.

Future

The train depot of the Ladozhsky station is now proposed at the former Varshavsky station track area.

Sources

*
Reconstruction of the Warsaw Railway Station

External links

Paveletsky Rail station Official site
at

156 photos of the Varshavsky Station Railway Museum
{{authority control Railway stations in the Russian Empire opened in 1860 Railway stations in Saint Petersburg Railway stations closed in 2001 1851 establishments in the Russian Empire Cultural heritage monuments in Saint Petersburg

History

Future

See also

Sources

External links