Sosnowiec Główny

About

Sosnowiec Główny railway station is a major railway stations in Sosnowiec, Silesian Voivodeship, Poland. The station is located about 9 km to the East of Katowice railway station. As of 2022, it is served by Polregio (local and InterRegio services) and PKP Intercity (EIP, InterCity, and TLK services). The railway station was established on August 24, 1859 as part of the connection of the Warsaw-Vienna Railway and the Upper Silesian Railway as a border station, which over time gave rise to the city of Sosnowiec. The building of station has heritage monument status and its creation gave rise to the development of the city.

The station is served by the following service(s):

- Express Intercity Premium services (EIP) Warsaw - Katowice - Bielsko-Biała

- Express Intercity Premium services (EIP) Gdynia - Warsaw - Katowice - Gliwice/Bielsko-Biała

- Intercity services (IC) Warszawa - Częstochowa - Katowice - Bielsko-Biała

- Intercity services (IC) Białystok - Warszawa - Częstochowa - Katowice - Bielsko-Biała

- Intercity services (IC) Gdynia - Gdańsk - Bydgoszcz - Toruń - Kutno - Łódź - Częstochowa - Katowice - Bielsko-Biała

- Intercity services (IC) Olsztyn - Warszawa - Skierniewice - Częstochowa - Katowice - Bielsko-Biała

- Intercity services (IC) Olsztyn - Warszawa - Skierniewice - Częstochowa - Katowice - Gliwice - Racibórz

- Regional Service (KŚ) S1 Gliwice – Zabrze - Katowice – Zawiercie - Częstochowa

- Regional services (KŚ) S41 Tychy - Katowice - Będzin - Dąbrowa Górnicza - Zawiercie - Częstochowa

The beginnings of the Sosnowiec station are linked to the construction of the Warsaw–Vienna Railway. On November 25, 1838, the Warsaw–Vienna Railway Company was established, initiating the construction of a railway line connecting Warsaw (Vienna Station) with Granica (now Sosnowiec Maczki ; initially, it was planned to end in Niwka ). Despite organizational and financial difficulties, the construction was completed in stages under the Warsaw–Vienna Railway Administration. The section between Ząbkowice and Granica was opened on April 5, 1848.

The idea of connecting the Upper Silesian Railway network with the Warsaw–Vienna Railway via Sosnowiec arose in 1854 due to the high traffic on the existing route through Granica, which led to the border with the Austrian Empire. As a result of an agreement between the two companies in June 1858, construction began on a connection between these two railway networks (the Ząbkowice– Szopienice section via Sosnowiec). This aimed to shorten travel time between the Russian Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia. After completion, the Sosnowiec–Szopienice section was ceremonially opened on August 24, 1859, connecting Ząbkowice with Katowice. With this connection operational, most freight traffic between Prussia and the Congress Poland was routed through Sosnowiec instead of Maczki, increasing the station's cargo and passenger volume significantly by 1868.

The station was established near the Sosnowice settlement as a major border station with a customs house and technical facilities. The station building and platforms were inaugurated in 1859. The two-story neoclassical-style building with single-story extensions along the platform was likely designed by the Italian architect Henryk Marconi. The building's layout was modeled on the Vienna Station in Warsaw. The station's interior included waiting rooms for first, second, and third class passengers, rooms for dignitaries, customs offices, a passport office, residential areas, and a restaurant. Additionally, platforms, sidings, warehouses, and a locomotive depot were constructed.

In 1860, the Russian architect A. I. Gornostayev constructed customs buildings on the opposite side of the tracks, later demolished in the Interwar period. The station's establishment spurred Sosnowiec's rapid development, leading to the construction of public facilities (banks, hotels, commercial and service buildings), and residential structures, which contributed to receiving city rights from Tsar Nicholas II in 1902.

During the January Uprising, on the night of February 6–7, 1863, a battle took place at the station between Polish insurgents and the Russian garrison. The insurgents used an armed train to move troops from Maczki to Sosnowiec, transporting soldiers to the vicinity of Sielec, from where they attacked and captured the Sosnowiec station and the customs house.

After Poland regained independence in 1918, the station came under Polish administration. During the interwar period, significant changes were made to the Sosnowiec station. In 1924, a connector between Sosnowiec Główny and Sosnowiec Południowy stations was completed, making the main station in Sosnowiec a railway junction. In 1927, repair workshops for railway cars were set up next to the rectangular engine shed, and two years later, a new fan-shaped roundhouse with a turntable was built.

After World War II, the station was incorporated into the Katowice Regional Directorate of State Railways. In the 1950s, the first electric trains appeared at the station. The decision to electrify the Warsaw–Katowice line via Sosnowiec Główny was made in mid-1948, citing the need to improve passenger and freight traffic. Electrification proceeded in stages, with the section Gliwice – Katowice – Sosnowiec Główny – Łazy electrified on June 1, 1957.

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, as part of the redevelopment of Sosnowiec city center, part of the station building on the northeastern side was demolished, where a gymnasium had been located in the 1960s. In its place, the Railway Computing Center of PKP (now the Sosnowiec branch of PKP Informatics ) was constructed. The station's main hall was also remodeled, with the addition of an entrance to an underground passage connecting the other side of the city and the station platforms.

Between 1997 and 2002, the station underwent further transformations as part of another redevelopment project for the city center to mark the city's 100th anniversary. The first phase involved renovating and restoring the building's interiors and façade. The second phase included the construction of an underground shopping passage connecting Modrzejowska Street with Jana Kilińskiego Street beneath the station, along with the reorganization of the surrounding area and the nearby church.