warsaw connection

After arriving and spending as little time in Warsaw, I made my way to Milanówek (more about it later) from Warszawa Centralna. This is the most important railway station in the city. Construction began in 1972 and completed in 1975 for the Polskie Koleje Państwowe, PKP (Polish State Railways). It was a flagship project of the Polish People's Republic during the economic boom fuelled in the 1970s by Western loans to replace the inadequate city's main rail station. As many monumental projects, the station encountered substantial problems early on and soon became a white elephant. Quality of the construction work and the station's functionality was poor compared to its initial design because of unmanaged alterations during its construction. The political propaganda for having it ready for Leonid Brezhnev's visit in 1975 doesn't help the situation. Unfortunately, the unnecessary haste meant that immediate repairs were needed through 1980's.

Saying that, the station was advanced for its time and incorporated technologies like automatic doors and escalators. Since the mid-1980s, Warsaw Central Station has been in decline and the city council has contemplated to demolishing and replacing it with a new one. Nothing has since been agreed. Now, Warsaw Central Station is flanked by Warszawa Śródmieście WKD for suburban light rail line and Warszawa Śródmieście PKP to the east.