Warszawa Centralna

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Warszawa Centralna

THE STATION IS CURRENTLY NOT OPERABLE.

Warszawa Centralna is a station established in the 1970s, built as an underground station. Previously, since the end of World War II and the resumption of traffic on the cross-city line, an open-air station called Warszawa Śródmieście had been located here, serving primarily suburban traffic. After the construction of the second pair of tracks on the cross-city line, the station was renamed Warszawa Centralna, with a makeshift station building and two double-edge platforms. The location of the new station was changed relative to the previous locations of the main station - both the pre-war station and the "Vienna" station, located further east of the new Central. In turn, the Kalisz Railway station was located to the west of the station.

The first new (southern) platforms were opened on March 24, 1974, after which demolition of the makeshift station began. On December 5, 1975, however, a new station building was opened, still in operation today.

It is now the most important station for long-distance traffic in Warsaw, and also receives a small portion of suburban traffic. It has 4 double-edge platforms to handle all traffic. Platforms 1 and 2 generally serve the eastern direction, while 3 and 4 serve the western direction. This rule is quite strictly adhered to, as the station has no turnout crossings on the east side - they were abandoned due to the existence of curves with small reverse radii in the tunnel. This often causes problems in emergency track closures - forcing some long-distance traffic to run through the suburban line. The station is controlled from a single switchboard "WDC", which is equipped with relay equipment with traffic lights.[1]