Bucharest North railway station

Bucharest North railway station (Romanian: Gara București Nord) is the main railway station in Bucharest and the largest railway station in Romania. The vast majority of mainline trains to and from Bucharest originate from Gara de Nord.

Gara București Nord
Căile Ferate Române
LocationPiața Gării de Nord, Bucharest, Romania
Coordinates44°26′46.92″N 26°4′27.15″E
Owned byCFR
Line(s)Bucharest-Constanța
Bucharest-Craiova
Bucharest-Ploiești
Bucharest-Pitești
Bucharest-Ruse
Bucharest-Urziceni
M1 Line (Bucharest Metro)
M4 Line (Bucharest Metro)
Platforms8
Tracks14
Construction
Structure typeterminal station
Parkingyes
History
Opened1872
Electrifiedyes (16 February 1969)
Services
Preceding station   CFR   Following station
toward Arad
CFR Intercity 200Terminus
toward Oradea
CFR Intercity 300
CFR Intercity 400
toward Suceava
CFR Intercity 500
toward Iași
CFR Intercity 600
P.O. Aeroport Henri Coandă
toward Galați
CFR Intercity 700
CFR Intercity 900
TerminusBosphorus Express
toward Istanbul
Preceding station   BDŽ   Following station
toward Sofia
RomaniaTerminus
Preceding station   Bucharest Metro   Following station
toward Dristor
Line M1
Transfer at: Gara de Nord
toward Republica
toward Străulești
Line M4
Transfer at: Gara de Nord
Terminus

History

The station was built between 1868 and 1872, the foundation stone was set on 10 September 1868 in the presence of Carol I of Romania. The building is designed as a U-shaped structure. The first railways between Roman – Galați – Bucharest – Pitești were put in service on 13 September 1872. Between 1895 and 1896 a new wing of the station was built, which included a "Royal hall" due to the visit of Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria-Hungary.[1] It was initially named Gara Târgoviștei, after the road nearby, Calea Târgoviștei ("Târgoviște Road", nowadays Calea Griviței) and took its current name in 1888.

The station and its surroundings were heavily bombed by the Allies in April 1944 during a campaign aimed at the Axis supply lines, since the station played an important part in the Romanian railway network and was the main departure point for troops headed to the Eastern Front.

Under communist times, the station received a number of upgrades, such as a footbridge (1950s or 1960s), partial electrification on 16 February 1969, and then an expansion between 1978 and 1984 and complete electrification. It is still upgraded as of today, having received a platform overhaul (replacement of tiles with asphalt from 2006 to 2010), removal of the footbridge (replaced with Basarab Overpass in 2009) and, in 2018, replacement of the original split-flap displays with LED ones.

Current status

There are currently 14 tracks and 8 platforms.

As of 2009, Gara de Nord served about 200 trains, including domestic trains operated by Căile Ferate Române, Regiotrans and Trans Feroviar calatori as well international trains to Hungary – Budapest, Bulgaria – Sofia, Varna and Burgas, Republic of Moldova – Chișinău, Ukraine – Kiev, Dnipro and Chernivtsi, Austria – Vienna, Turkey – Istanbul, Russia – Moscow and Saratov, Belarus – Minsk.

The station is served by several bus ( lines 105, 123,133,178,182,205,282 and express line 780 which links the railway station with the Henri Coandă Airport) trolleybus (65, 79 and 86 on Grivița side and 62,85,93,96 on The Columnes side) and tram lines (42,45,46 on Grivița side and 44 on Dinicu Golescu side), as well as the Gara de Nord metro station. Also, the station is connected by CFR train to Henri Coandă International Airport.

Future developments

In 2019 plans were announced by the Government of Romania's Ministry of Transport to convert Gara de Nord from a terminus station to an underground through station, linking with Bucharest Obor railway station, and a partial underground link between Gara de Nord and Progresul.[2]

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See also

References
  1. "Străzile Bucureștilor – mică istorie sentimentală în imagini (XLVI). Bulevardul Dinicu Golescu – Gara de Nord/ de dr. Alexandru Popescu | Ziarul Financiar". ZF.ro.
  2. "Big plans for Bucharest's main train station: Mall and offices, underground railway". Romania Insider. 10 July 2019. Retrieved 30 July 2019.
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