European Railroad Discussion > Liviv Passenger Station

Here and as requested is the beautiful Liviv Ukraine passenger station I referenced a few days ago. It is nicknamed: Liviv Railway Palace and is a very busy place. The third is the main station in Kiev.

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Nice looking station, it looks very similar to stations in other parts of the Austro Hungarian Empire.

Nice, I'm looking forward to seeing Lviv and Kiev next year even more, thanks!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/12/12 10:47 by GettingShort.

Thanks for sharing these! Lviv is really impressive. Do I detect the gloom of Soviet period in the Kiev station?

McKey Wrote:
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> Thanks for sharing these! Lviv is really
> impressive. Do I detect the gloom of Soviet period
> in the Kiev station?

Come on, John, I know you're from Finland and all, but I have to call out this "Soviet gloom" stuff! :)) (Nothing personal....ever!). I believe you're thinking of 1950s-type images way too much! ;-)

As a native "Kievlyanin", who lived in Kiev from birth in 1981 until 1989, and who has visited four times since (2001, and annually 2006-08), I am not so sure which Kiev many of its native residents prefer.

"Old" Kiev, was cleaner, safer, more pleasant, simpler, and "stabler". "New" Kiev is more energetic and dynamic, but more dangerous, dirtier, and getting to the point of overdevelopment in many of its parts (nowhere near the level of Moscow though). The standard of living comparison for many average residents is also somewhat sensitive.

To get back to trains....before it's 2001 renovation, the station was almost entirely brown (dating, from I believe, before the war.....B&W photos of Kiev during the German occupation show it being of a color that could be brown). While not exactly attractive-looking, it was no more gloomier than many large stations throughout Europe.

The station, at one point, had a small overhead concourse to access the tracks. The concourse survived the war, but was demolished sometime in the 50s, and the access to tracks was via a spartan underground passageway. In my memory, the passageway was very dingy-looking in the 80s, however, prevalent with the Soviet-era attitudes, it was not considered unsafe.

As a side-note, since many Soviet cities had (and still do) wide avenues and boulevards, underground pedestrian crossings were (are) fairly common-place, thus using such a passageway to access station platforms was nothing unusual.

Starting in 2001, a series of changes and renovations were done to the station. The first one was to the headhouse, with the exterior changes resulting in change of color from brown to gray, and the replacement of the Soviet coat of arms with the Ukrainian "Trizub". Subsequent construction added a new modern "South Terminal" to the other side of the tracks in 2004, and a modern concourse spanning the 17-20 or so tracks connecting the two station buildings.

The new concourse is nice, albeit with a little airport feel to it. Two biggest improvements are that access to the tracks is now by escalator as well as by stairs, and that each track has an electronic info board that flashes train destinations not just in Russian and Ukranian, but also in English, German, and Polish (as appropriate).

And that dingy-looking underground passageway? Still there, looking as dingy as ever :), but it can provide a way to avoid the crowds and get to your train faster (as long as you don't mind dragging your bags up a flight of stairs). It also now has a companion at the "northern" end of the station platforms.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 11/13/12 07:22 by chs7-321.

Yes, or the 1980s Leningrad in the November rain... sorry. Things change for _better_, even for Leningrad (now St Petersburg again but still in the _Leningrad_ county/area).


chs7-321 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> McKey Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Thanks for sharing these! Lviv is really
> > impressive. Do I detect the gloom of Soviet
> period
> > in the Kiev station?
>
> Come on, John, I know you're from Finland and all,
> but I have to call out this "Soviet gloom" stuff!
> :)) (Nothing personal....ever!). I believe
> you're thinking of 1950s-type images way too much!
> ;-)

I guess I missed the escalators. We ended up carting our bags down two flights of stairs to track 3. No difference to elderly or disabled passengers there!

chs7-321 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> McKey Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Thanks for sharing these! Lviv is really
> > impressive. Do I detect the gloom of Soviet
> period
> > in the Kiev station?

Yes, McKey, as Finn you must know that there was no "gloom" in Soviet Empire, only "glory" ;)
And, yes, I share similar memories as chs7-321, but about Moscow: cleaner, safer, not so much of the rush... just my Moscow.
After all, there was something to be nostalgic about.