Gdynia Główna railway station


Gdynia Główna railway station is the main railway station serving the city of Gdynia, in the Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland. The station opened in 1921 and is located on the Nowa Wieś Wielka–Gdynia Port railway, Gdańsk–Stargard railway and the parallel Gdańsk Śródmieście–Rumia railway. Trains are operated by PKP, Przewozy Regionalne and SKM Tricity.

History

The first railway station in the centre of Gdynia opened on 1 January 1894. Initially, it held only a small wooden waiting room, several lamps and a board identifying name of the stop. In 1920, Gdynia began to grow very quickly as a city and a port under the Second Polish Republic, and this resulted in a significant increase in passenger rail traffic. Therefore, between 1923-1926, a new imposing art-deco main building was constructed, designed by Romuald Miller and opening on 15 July 1926. Its interior featured a large waiting room, ticket windows, toilets, luggage storage, a restaurant, bookstore, money exchange, and hairdresser.
The railway station building was destroyed in World War II. In the 1950s a new station was built, designed by prof. Waclaw Tomaszewski. The building is a unique combination of social realism and pre-war art-moderne modernism. In the station's main waiting room several notable wall and ceiling frescoes of sea landscapes were re-discovered during the 2008 renovation after having been covered over in the intervening years. In the dining hall, the wall paintings depict the celestial bodies and signs of the zodiac, and a mosaic illustrates Pegasus.
The station under Nazi German occupation was known as Gotenhafen. Until 11 March 2004, the station was officially called Gdynia Osobowa. Currently, all the markings changed to "Gdynia Glowna". Among others, a large inscription "Osobowa" on the station building was dismantled.

Modernisation

In August 2008, the station building was entered in the register of monuments. In the same year, a modernisation program of the station was initiated, which included reconstruction of the station concourse, new canopies on the platforms, and changes in the rail traffic control system. During this work, in 2011, an original 5-meter long brick wall from the 1926 station was discovered. It has been preserved and integrated into the newly renovated interior. On 6 June 2012 the modernised station was officially opened. The investment cost 40.7 million euro and was financed in part with EU funds.

Train services

The station is served by the following services: