Piła Główna railway station

Piła Main Station (Polish: Piła Główna) is one of the largest and most important rail junctions of Poland, located in the northwestern city of Piła. The complex is located in southern part of the center of the city, at 1 Sigismund I the Old Street, and its construction began in 1853, when Pila belonged to the German Empire. The station was part of the newly-built Prussian Eastern Railway, which had been opened in 1851, and which had reached Pila on July 27, 1851.

Construction of the complex was not completed until 1876, and in the subsequent years, many changes were introduced. Meanwhile, the importance of Piła as a rail junction grew, with construction of several other connections. In January 1871, a line to Złotów was opened, in May 1879, a line Poznań - Piła - Szczecinek, and in November 1881, a line to Wałcz was completed. Within 30 years, Piła became a nexus of great importance, and in 1913, the station served some 575,000 people.

Currently, the station has six platforms, and all tracks are electrified, with electrification works completed in 1990. Above the tracks, there is a 230-meter long road overpass, built in 1975. Near the complex, there is a bus station of Przedsiebiorstwo Komunikacji Samochodowej. On May 19, 1988, a train wreck of a military transport of the Polish Army took place at the station, in which 10 soldiers died, and 28 were injured^[1].

Lines crossing the station

Connections

The station provides train service to several Polish cities, including Białogard, Bielsko-Biała, Bydgoszcz, Częstochowa, Gdańsk, Gdynia, Gorzów Wielkopolski, Gliwice, Katowice, Koszalin, Kraków, Kutno, Lublin, Poznań, Opole, Przemyśl, Rzeszów, Szczecin, Toruń, Warszawa, Wrocław, also Berlin.

See also

• OKRAGLAK Roundhouse in Piła

References

• Piła Główna article at Polish Stations Database, URL accessed at 01 October 2010

External links

• A photo of the station
• History of rail in Pila