Riga Central Station

Riga Central Station
Riga Central Station
General information
Owned by	Latvian Railways
Platforms	5
Tracks	12
Connections	bus, trolleybus
History
Opened	1861

Riga Central

Map of the planned Rail Baltica line

Riga Central Station (Template:Lang-lv is the main railway station in Riga, Latvia. It is known as the main point of Riga due to its central location, and most forms of public transport stop in this area. Part of the building is a shopping centre.

Three rail mainlines depart the station to the east:

Riga–Skulte
Riga–Lugaži, through to the Estonian border crossing at Valka
Riga–Daugavpils (Zilupe), including international routes to the Russian, Belarussian & Lithuanian borders at Zilupe, Bigosovo & Turmantas.

Two rail mainlines depart the station to the west:

Riga–Jelgava, including lines through to Liepāja & the Lithuanian border at Meitene
Riga–Tukums, including trains through to Ventspils

History

The station was built in 1861 with the project of architect Johann Felsko. It was expanded in 1885 following the project of Heinrich Scheel. Two separate stations were in operation in 19th century — one serving the line to Daugavpils and the other towards Jūrmala. They were joined and reconstructed in 1914 and functioned until the 1960s. In 1960 the current station building was opened and in 1965 — a second one. During the years, the station saw many reconstructions.^[1]

There exist plans to completely remodel the station in conjunction with the Rail Baltica project. A design by Danish architectural firms PLH Architects and COWI was selected in March 2017.^[2]

Other facilities

In the Central station building on the first floor there is Rimi supermarket. Directly nearby is Stockmann supermarket and the largest cinema in the city — Forum cinemas. In station there are a lot of popular restaurants such as "Čili pica", Hesburger etc. Opposite Marijas iela there is a McDonald's restaurant and few hotels.

Public transport

There are many stops at this location. The main stop is the railway station, Riga Central Station, which operates all passenger trains within Latvia. Most public transport stops are situated in the nearby streets — Marijas iela, Merķeļa iela, Satekles iela and 13. janvāra iela. Buses and trolleybuses stop here.