Praha hlavní nádraží

Prague Main Railway Station from the park

The former Art Nouveau booking hall, now a cafe (October 2005)

The former main entrance, now the entrance to Fanta's Cafe (Fantova Kavárna)

Praha hlavní nádraží (English: Prague main railway station, abbreviated Praha hl.n) is the largest and most important railway station in Prague in the Czech Republic. It was originally opened in 1871 and named Franz Josef Station after Franz Joseph I of Austria. During the First Republic and from 1945 to 1953 the station was called Wilson station (Czech: Wilsonovo nádraží) after former President of the United States Woodrow Wilson. His statue stood in the park in front of the station before torn down by German authorities when the U.S. entered the war in 1941. In 2010, the station served 132 560 trains and 22 million passengers.

The Art Nouveau station building and station hall were built between 1901 and 1909, designed by the Czech architect Josef Fanta, on the site of old dismantled Neo-Renaissance station. The station was extended by a new terminal building, built between 1972 and 1979, including an underground station and a main road on the roof of the terminal. The new terminal building claimed a large part of the park, and the construction of the road cut off the neo-renaissance station hall from the town. In 2011 a refurbishment of the station was completed by Italian company Grandi Stazioni, which has leased retail space for 30 years from 2002.

Services

Long-distance services

The station is an international transport hub, handling services to Germany (Munich/Nuremberg, Bavaria-Bohemia RE (Regio-Express) services, and EuroCity/EuroNight services to Berlin, Dresden and Hamburg), Poland, Slovakia, Austria, Hungary, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Serbia, and Croatia in summer. Services are operated by express trains, and also by ČD Class 680 Pendolino trains.

Regional services

In addition to the international services, trains serve most of the larger Czech cities, such as Brno, Plzeň, České Budějovice and Olomouc.

Suburban services

The station is served by most of the Esko Prague lines which are not dispatched from the nearby Masaryk Railway station.

Local transport

The station is served by the Prague Metro's Line C, and numerous tram routes call outside the station.

Entrance hall (Before reconstruction)

References

Preceding station		České dráhy		Following station
Plzeň hl.n. toward Františkovy Lázně		SuperCity Pendolino		Pardubice hl.n. toward Ostrava
Terminus
Turning point or terminus		EuroCity		Praha-Holešovice toward Berlin
				Kolín toward Brno or Olomouc
Praha-Vršovice toward Linz		EuroCity		Terminus
Praha-Smíchov toward Nuremberg or Munich		Arriva-Länderbahn-Express		Terminus
Praha-Smíchov toward Plzeň or Písek		Regional fast trains		Terminus
Praha-Smíchov Terminus		Regional fast trains		Praha-Libeň toward Pardubice
Terminus
Terminus		Regional fast trains		Praha-Libeň toward Havlíčkův Brod
Terminus		Regional fast trains		Praha-Holešovice toward Chomutov
Praha-Vršovice toward České Budějovice		Regional fast trains		Terminus
Terminus		Regional fast trains		Praha-Vysočany toward Hradec Králové
Preceding station		Esko Prague		Following station
Praha-Vršovice Terminus		S3		Praha-Vysočany toward Byšice, Mělník or Mladá Boleslav hl.n.
		R3		Praha-Vysočany toward Tanvald
Terminus		R4		Praha-Holešovice toward Děčín hl.n.
Praha-Smíchov (severní nástupiště) toward Hostivice		S65		Terminus
Praha-Smíchov toward Beroun		S7		Terminus
				Praha-Libeň toward Úvaly
Praha-Vršovice toward Čerčany		S8		Terminus
Praha-Vršovice toward Dobříš		S80
Praha-Vršovice toward Strančice or Benešov u Prahy		S9		Praha-Vysočany Terminus
				Terminus
Preceding station		RegioJet		Following station
Terminus		IC RegioJet		Praha-Libeň toward Havířov