Žižkov freight railway station


Praha-Žižkov freight railway station is a railway station formerly used for rail freight transport, located in the Žižkov district of Prague, the capital of the Czechia. It was originally opened in 1936 and ceased operations in 2002. The station building was confirmed as a cultural monument in March 2013.

Service

The station, which was built in an area previously known as Červený Dvůr, went into service on 1 March 1936. The buildings were designed by Karel Caivas and Vladimír Weiss, whereas Miroslav Chlumecký designed the track infrastructure. The purpose of the station was to relieve Prague city centre of freight train services. It was also used for warehousing, although the creation of a food warehouse in the district of Strašnice in 1966 reduced the demand at the station. The station's formal service ceased in 2002. The access track with a rail branching is used for a container terminal which is adjacent to the freight station building and is in service up to now.

Usage beyond 2002

Following its closure in 2002, parts of the station were leased to local businesses for use as a warehouse. The station hosted the Prague Biennale art exhibition in June 2013. In October of the same year, the 15th edition of the annual Designblok festival was hosted there. Redevelopment plans were proposed in November 2019.

Cultural monument

The three-winged main station building was denoted as a national cultural monument in 2010 by the Ministry of Culture, a move which was quickly challenged by local government and members of the local real estate development industry including the Sekyra Group. Developers had wanted to use the area to construct a new residential area to house 15,000 people. The building's status was however secured in March 2013, with its historical, technical and architectural value among the reasons cited for its confirmed status.

Local transport

The station is served by Prague's tram network with a stop bearing the station's name.