Poprad-Tatry railway station

Poprad-Tatry railway station (Slovak: Železničná stanica Poprad-Tatry) is a break-of-gauge junction station serving the city of Poprad, in the Prešov Region, northeastern Slovakia.

Poprad-Tatry
General information
Location	Jiřího Wolkera 05801 Poprad Prešov Region Slovakia
Coordinates	49°03′35″N 20°17′47″E
Elevation	670 m (2,200 ft)
Owned by	Železnice Slovenskej republiky (ŽSR)
Operated by	Železnice Slovenskej republiky
Line(s)	Košice–Bohumín 185 Poprad-Tatry–Plaveč 183 Tatra Electric Railway
Distance	199.39 km (123.90 mi) from Slovakia–Ukraine border
Platforms	4
Connections	Local buses
History
Opened	8 December 1871 (1871-12-08)
Location Poprad-Tatry Location within Slovakia

Opened in 1871, the station forms part of the standard gauge Košice–Bohumín Railway, and is the junction between that line and the Poprad-Tatry–Plaveč railway, a standard gauge branch line. Poprad-Tatry is also the southern terminus of the metre gauge Tatra Electric Railway, and, as such, is a gateway to the High Tatras mountain range, a popular tourist destination.

The station is currently owned by Železnice Slovenskej republiky (ŽSR); train services are operated by Železničná spoločnosť Slovensko (ZSSK).

Location

Poprad-Tatry railway station is situated at Jiřího Wolkera, at the north western edge of the town centre.

History

The station was opened on 8 December 1871, together with the rest of the Žilina–Poprad section of the Košice–Bohumín Railway. Only four days later, upon the inauguration of the section to Spišská Nová Ves, it became a through station.

With the commissioning of the first part of the Poprad-Tatry–Plaveč railway in 1889, the station was transformed into a junction.

The metre gauge connection with the High Tatras was achieved on 20 December 1908, via Starý Smokovec.

On 25 March 1942, the first deportation of Slovak Jews left Poprad station for the Auschwitz death camp. The train that departed that day was carrying about 1,000 Jewish girls and young women. Most of the subsequent transports of Slovak Jews similarly departed from Poprad. By the end of 1942, when the transports were halted, over 58,000 Jews had been deported from Slovakia to Poland.

Following a renovation in the 1980s, the station reached its present form as a two level interchange station. An SKK 858 million modernization and extension of the 1980s renovations was carried out in 2006–2007.

Train services

Poprad-Tatry railway station is the junction of the following Slovakian railway lines:

• 180 Košice–Žilina (part of the Košice–Bohumín Railway)
• 183 Poprad-Tatry–Starý Smokovec–Štrbské Pleso (part of the Tatra Electric Railway)
• 185 Poprad-Tatry–Plaveč

Line 180 forms part of Pan-European Corridor Va, which runs from Venice in Italy to Kyiv in Ukraine, via Bratislava, Žilina, Košice and Uzhhorod.

Interchange

The station offers interchange with local buses.

Services

Preceding station		ZSSK		Following station
Liptovský Mikuláš toward Prague		EuroNight EN Slovakia		Spišská Nová Ves toward Košice
Liptovský Mikuláš toward Bratislava		InterCity		Kysak Košice
Štrba toward Žilina		Regional fast trains		Spišská Nová Ves toward Humenné
Svit toward Žilina		Stopping trains		Gánovce toward Košice
Terminus		Stopping trains		Matejovce pri Poprade toward Tatranská Lomnica
Terminus		Stopping trains		Matejovce pri Poprade toward Stará Ľubovňa
Veľký Slavkov toward Štrbské Pleso		Stopping trains Tatra Electric Railway		Terminus

See also

• History of rail transport in Slovakia
• Rail transport in Slovakia

References

• Catchpole, Paul (1998). Steam and Rail in Slovakia. Kings Norton, Birmingham, England: Locomotives International. ISBN 1-900340-08-9.

External links

Media related to Poprad-Tatry railway station at Wikimedia Commons

• Poprad-Tatry railway station on vlaky.net (in Slovak)