Praha hlavní nádraží


Praha hlavní nádraží is the largest railway station in Prague, Czech Republic.
It opened in 1871 as Franz Josef Station, after Franz Joseph I of Austria. During the First Republic and from 1945 to 1948 the station was called Wilson Station, after former President of the United States Woodrow Wilson.
In 2014, the station served 224,505 trains and more than 53,000,000 passengers.

Overview

The Art Nouveau station building and station hall were built between 1901 and 1909, designed by Czech architect, Josef Fanta, on the site of the old dismantled Neo-Renaissance station designed by Czech architects Antonín Viktor Barvitius and Vojtěch Ignác Ullmann.
The station was extended by a new terminal building, built between 1972 and 1979, including an underground metro station and a main road on the roof of the terminal. The new terminal building claimed a large part of the park, and the construction of the road cut off the neo-renaissance station hall from the town. In 2011 a partial refurbishment of the station was completed by Italian company Grandi Stazioni, which has leased retail space for 30 years from 2002. In 2016 Grandi Stazioni has lost the concession after failing to complete the renovation of the historic building by the extended contractual deadline.
The station was the embarkation point for the children evacuated by Nicholas Winton who were evacuated to London Liverpool Street station via the Port of Harwich. In 2009 a statue was unveiled on platform 1 commemorating this.

Train services

Long-distance services

The station is an international transport hub, handling services to Germany, Poland, Slovakia, Austria, Hungary, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Serbia, Russian Federation, Ukraine and Croatia in summer. Services are operated by express trains, and also by ČD Class 680 Pendolino. Services to Moravia, Silesia, Slovakia and Poland are also operated by open-access train operators LEO Express, RegioJet and Arriva.

Regional services

In addition to the international services, trains serve most of the larger Czech cities, such as Brno, Plzeň, České Budějovice and Olomouc.

Suburban services

The station is served by most of the Esko Prague lines which are not dispatched from the nearby Masaryk Railway station.

Bus services

In front of the main station building are situated bus stops towards Český Krumlov, České Budějovice, Tábor and other Czech cities. Also Airport Express bus service to Václav Havel Airport Prague maintained by České dráhy departs from Wilsonova street in front of the historical building.

Local transport

The station is served by the Prague Metro's Line C, and numerous tram routes call outside the station.