Katowice railway station

Katowice
Location
City/Town	Katowice
District	city centre
Voivodeship	Silesian Voivodeship
Country	Poland
Operational information
Category	A
Platforms	8+2
History
Opened	1846 (rebuilt 1972)
Previous name(s)	Kattowitz, Stalinogród
Katowice Location of station in Poland
Polish State Railways

Katowice railway station is a railway station in Katowice, Silesia, Poland and is the biggest and most important railway station in the Górnośląski Okręg Przemysłowy area. Both the domestic and the international connections run from there to almost every major city in Poland and Europe. The station, finished in the 1972, is an example of modern architecture. The majority of trains are operated by Polskie Koleje Państwowe.

The railway main hall style is that of late modern architecture. It was designed by recognized Polish architects of the period: Wacław Kłyszewski, Jerzy Mokrzyński and Eugeniusz Wierzbicki. Its construction was supervised by Wacław Zalewski.

The hall's unique form was worked out without respect to the special conditions of the former coal mining region, still threatened by repeated tectonic movements. Its good technical condition enables its further use. Demolition of the hall is however possible because of economical reasons and is under consideration at the moment.

The new station

In July 2009 the station has signed an agreement with the Spanish Neinver for the construction of an integrated communications and business center in Katowice. The investment involves the reconstruction of the railway station in Katowice, as well as the construction of an underground bus station, the shopping centre Galeria Katowicka, an office building and reconstruction of road infrastructure and the reorganization and ordering of urban space around the station. Thorough reconstruction of the railway station in Katowice was launched in May 2010. Works were started in August 2010. By the end of September 2010 the so-called temporary station was completed and began to serve passengers. On 1 October 2010, the concourse was closed and gradually a number of platforms were also shut (platforms infrastructure repair is carried out in stages). Construction of a new coach and rail station is being carried out by Neinver Poland. Demolition of the main hall was begun on 22 December 2010, and was completed by 11 January 2011, when the last 'cup' was demolished. The new complex will be finished by 2013 at the earliest, because in June 2012, a new main hall with integrated underground bus station will be put into service. In December of the same year it is expected that the construction of Galeria Katowicka - a mall on W. Szewczyk Square will be completed; this will be connected to the station. There are also ongoing works to build an underground car park which can accommodate about 1,200 cars.

The overall investment is estimated at about 240 million euros.

External links

• Media related to Katowice Central station at Wikimedia Commons