Pardubice hlavní nádraží

Pardubice main railway station (Czech Pardubice hlavní nádraží) is one of the largest railway stations in the Czech Republic, located about 1.8 kilometres (1.1 mi) WSW from city centre of Pardubice, an important railway network hub.

The complete name of the station in Czech is Uzlová železniční stanice Pardubice, hlavní nádraží, translating to "Pardubice railway junction, main station".

Work on the railway connecting Prague and Olomouc started in 1842 and the line was finished in 1845. The construction was led by Jan Perner. A small railway station was opened on the same year, with four tracks, a roundhouse (výtopna) for eight steam locomotives and passenger hall covering two tracks. The building still exists and is used by the railway operator.

A line between Liberec and Pardubice was built during 1855–1859. In 1859, a new railway station was opened and used for both lines. A line between Pardubice and Německý Brod (now Havlíčkův Brod) was built during 1869–1871. Access to the railway turned a small town into a large industrial city.

In 1908, the station building was coupled with a glass hall over two tracks. In 1910, a locomotive repair shop was set up; it was rebuilt in 1924.

Factories in the city built industrial sidings to the main station: 37 lines had been constructed in 1908 and new ones were added after the war. Since the 1960s, this number dropped to 19 in 2000, and even these are not fully utilized.

Pardubice, a city with large petrochemical factories, was bombed several times during World War II. An air raid on 24 August 1944 damaged the station. All lines were shattered and the passenger hall was destroyed. After the war, repairs started and in October 1945 traffic was restored.

Architects Karel Řepa and Josef Danda started to work on the new station in 1947. Their design was a single floor large passenger hall with complete infrastructure connected to a seven story administrative building. During 1951–1960, a block of flats was added to the complex. The new station was opened on May 1, 1958.

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