Warsaw Central Train Station

For many their stay in Warsaw will begin in its most brutal building: Central Train Station.
Financed by massive Western loans the monster was completed on December 5, 1975, of ficially opened just ten days before the 7th rally of the Polish Communist Party. Guest of honour was Soviet leader comrade Brezhnev, and a special entrance and reception room were built for him. Built in a rush, primarily by soldiers of the Polish army, the structure was erected at lightning speed so as to be completed to coincide with Brezhnev’s visit; although the site of the station was officially picked in 1946, work on the design would only begin in 1971. It was built at breakneck pace in under 1,100 days, and as such vital technical tests were never conducted - the station would be under constant renovation for the next ten years. Nonetheless, it was seen as an architectural showpiece of the time, so much so that it was awarded the groovy sounding ‘Mr Warsaw’ prize for architecture in 1975. Over the next few years coachloads of peasants were bussed in to marvel at it, and fashion shows frequently held in the main concourse. Designed by Arseniusz Romanowicz, Centralna was constructed using 12,500 tons of steel, 8,000m2 of glass and 53,000m2 of concrete. Floor beams, automatic doors and metal elements used in the façade were imported from Switzerland, escalators from Paris and Brussels and the electronic clocks from Italy. Featuring four 300 metre long underground platforms Centralna touted the first moving ramp in Poland, as well as the first escalator not produced in the USSR (it was in fact built in France to an American design). Its halcyon days also saw the construction of a now non-existent Italian marble fountain. Today it stands somewhat at odds with the gleaming 21st century super structures that surround it. The only elevator is for employees only, while a recently installed electric platform for disabled travellers can only be put into action by summoning rail workers with a siren. Plans are afoot to renovate the building, but repair work has only been tentatively sketched in to begin in 2012. In the meantime visitors to Warsaw have the chance to admire an astonishing legacy to Poland’s communist past.