International Railroad Discussion > Armenia, part 1.Yerevan Railway Station

Yerevan is the capital of Armenia. It sits on the south slope of some mountains, and about 10 miles upslope from a river that is the general international border between Armenia and Turkey, then Iran further south.

The railway station is a magnificent building, E shaped with a long lobby that protrudes toward the parking lot as the middle bar of the E, and a long E back that is adjacent to the station platforms. The bars of the E are connected with colonnades, and there are courtyard gardens inside the two E bits. Or maybe it's shaped like a block 8 if you include the colonnades. In all it's a very nice, large building, and the inside gets good light and has a fairly tranquil feel because of the gardens.

It was built in 1956. I don't care for the concrete boxy architecture that was quickly becoming the norm in the 1950s, and I think Yerevan is fortunate to have this classic edifice, kept in a state of good repair.

It only gets a handful of trains a day -- overnight train to Tbilisi (and on to Batumi, Georgia in summer months) and shorter distance trains to Gyumri, Yraskh and Arakhs, to the S and NW. Another train, NE into the mountains, leaves from a station on a plateau above the center city.

Basic info:
Caravanistan site
https://caravanistan.com/transport/train/armenia/

This passage got me intrigued:
"Beyond the train to Georgia, there are daily local trains... ...these are mostly of interest to train lovers, sniffers of couleur locale and slow travel enthusiasts."
Check, check and check!

Wikipedia on Yerevan Station
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yerevan_railway_station

Photos:
1) Train from Tbilisi, parked at the station.

2) Train schedule, this screen alternated between English, Russian and Armenian.
As you can see, 2 of the 3 Gyumri trains run in daylight (684, 686, 681, 687), the six trains are either mostly or all after dark or before dawn (in late October). Unfortunately, I think some other trains have been recently cut from the schedule...

3) International train schedule, trilingual



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/28/18 00:37 by gobbl3gook.

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Station interior photos. It was really quite light and airy, I seem to have only taken photos in low light.

4) Waiting room, maybe the international waiting room?

5) Waiting room, this is where I bought a domestic ticket.

6) Main hall

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Exterior photos: The station was quite striking, with pretty gardens in the courtyard. But I didn't take many photos.

1) Whole building. A better view could be had from the street entrance to the parking area with a bit of a garden in the circle drive. But this view is more lively.

2) Detail on the colonnade that separates the front walk from the courtyard gardens.

3) Detail on front entrance.

It's certainly a grand and well kept building. But it doesn't have a whole lot of trains at present.

Edit -- Though its in a region with improving rail service, so more trains could potentially come through here in the future. Iran, Turkey and Georgia are all building new rail lines. So if Armenia-Azerbaijan relationships that out the rail line south to Tehran could be reestablished. And if Armenia-Turkey relations thaw out the line from Armenia to Karz/Erzurum/Ankara could be reopened. And if the Russian-occupied part of NW Georgia, as GettingShort points out, thaws out then Yerevan-Moscow trains could be resumed. Not that any of these borders seem likely to open anytime soon, but things do change from generation to generation, and Yerevan has a very nice central station that could happily host additional international trains.

Photos taken October, 2017.

Location
https://www.google.com/maps/@40.1551799,44.5081662,736m/data=!3m1!1e3



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/28/18 13:58 by gobbl3gook.

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10) Armenia rail system map, from Caravanistan.

11) Photo of station from the platform side, with a static display steam locomotive in the foreground.

12) Bonus photo, I went to the "Matenadaran," a museum of ancient texts. Most were religious. Many were illustrated. Here is a page in an illustrated text, of a self portrait of the illustrator. From the 1300s.
http://www.matenadaran.am/

Questions, comments?

Ted in OR



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/28/18 13:59 by gobbl3gook.

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Very interesting, especially the last pic. Love that depot.

Armenia' railways are rather sad. The breakup of the Soviet Union, hostility from Azerbaijan and Turkey, the cutting of the railway connection from Georgia to Russia after the breakaway of Abkhazia, all contributed to a rather dysfunctional railway system in the Caucasus. Nearly all the regions trade is with Russia, other than oil the west buys almost nothing from the Caucasus nations, agricultural products from Georgia and Armenia are their main exports and nearly all goes to Russia.
This line of trucks waiting to enter Russia extended for 17 miles from the the Georgia- Russia border at Kazbegi. The trucks are all from Georgia, Armenia, and Artskah (Nagorno-Karabakh).



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/28/18 11:07 by GettingShort.

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How did you like the equestrian statue outside the station?

GettingShort, interesting comments on the NW Georgia breakaway region severing rail links from Armenia to Russia...

And I didn't notice the equestrian statue. Was there anything significant about it? There were a *lot* of equestrian statues in Central Asia. I'm more of a train/sheep/church/landscape/ruined amusement park/house museum/castle/market fan. Though I tried to see everything.

2 more pics:

13) I found this decent daylight photo of the station platform. It would have looked a lot classier before they built the train sheds, but I'm sure on a snowy winter night those sheds really make it easier to get on and of the trains...

14) And a good photo of the main entrance hall, looking out into the garden courtyard. The E or 8 shape to the station, with courtyards, really makes for a bright, pleasant station interior.

Ted in OR

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Very interesting post! I wonder if the Georgia-Russia connection will ever be restored.

I agree with you about the canopy. It looks like something built to benefit a well connected friend of someone big or was a quick way to spend some foreign money will benefitting a friend of..........

So true about the equestrian statues, they are everywhere, Macedonia has some real howlers. Attached is the one in the plaza in front of the station.

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