Kraków 2025-01-22
PKP Kraków Płaszów. Station.
The Kraków Płaszów railway station is the second largest station in the Kraków junction after the Kraków Główny station. Its construction is associated with the commencement in 1850 of the construction of a railway line to Lviv via Tarnów, Rzeszów, Przemyśl. This route was launched in sections from 1855, and the entire route was put into service in 1856.
The Płaszów railway station was launched in 1855, which we now call Kraków Płaszów. Initially, the name Podgórze station was used. The name Kraków Płaszów has been used since 1924, when Płaszów was incorporated into Kraków. In 1857, a railway track was built leading from the Kraków Płaszów station to Wieliczka. In 1858, a railway track was built leading to the Vistula river port in Dąbie. The port had several sidings directly at the port basins. Płaszów station was an important hub for transshipment of goods: salt from the Wieliczka mine, agricultural produce from the Dąbie river port, aggregate from the Krzemionki – Liban quarry and many others. From the Podgórze station there was also a track to the non-existent Wisła station, which served factories in Zabłocie: meat plants, distillery and others.
Initially, Płaszów station was only a freight station. A locomotive shed with a locomotive turntable, a water tower with several cranes, coaling equipment, repair workshops were built, and a railway rescue station was organized. Ramps, storage yards and warehouses were built. The buildings of the Polish Post Office, which had its own siding, were built nearby.
In 1884, the first station building in Płaszów was built. It is a typical station building developed for the Austro-Hungarian railway. This type of station buildings can be seen at many stations in Małopolska: Kraków Swoszowice, Brzeźnica, Spytkowice, Alwernia, Dwory and many others. The station included: passenger and luggage ticket offices, a waiting room, a buffet and a waiting room. There were apartments upstairs. The station is used to this day (2025) for other railway needs. In 1967, a new station in the modernist style was built at the Kraków Płaszów station.
Written by Karol Placha Hetman