Many visitors of Brest immediately notice the majesty of the railway station. The massive building looks huge and even awesome. It is not accidentally, as the building has suffered a lot for a century of its existence: reconstruction, rebuilding, even full demolition. 

The history of the railway station: all the way fr om A to Z

The first telegrams were sent from the station in 1886. The short telegram said that the railway service had already been put to work, and new routes would be available for the inhabitants of the surrounding area in Brest. That telegram has survived, and it is kept in the station museum.

In the late XIX century, the building of the railway station made the same impression: an unassailable fortress on a small island. It was the first station in the whole history of railway service wh ere electricity had been established, that’s why the station truly lightened.

Transport network of the town also began to develop concurrently with the construction of the railway station. Single cabs gradually disappeared, instead of them multiseat coaches drove along the streets.

The railway station during the First World War

The town with its station came to be in possession of Poland in the early XX century. The railway junction had lost its function, began to play a smaller role in the life of Brest’s inhabitants. During the First World War, its building was severely damaged.

The authorities did not want to neglect the station. They launched the call for proposals for the restoration and reconstruction of the station as a matter of urgency. And the engineering works had been finished by 1929. The building of the railway station acquired a renovated appearance and began to function as earlier.

The period of the Great Patriotic War

The building firmly held the front during the Second World War. It almost has not suffered from  German invaders. Every day coaches full of ammunition and humanitarian aid departed from the platforms to all corners of Europe.

After the war, it took the engineers a few weeks to demine the building, and all works were brought to a successful conclusion. Then many years of the reconstruction began. Not only Brest’s inhabitants but also German prisoners took part in the active engineering works.

The modern heritage of the railway station

Another reconstruction of the station took four years – 1953-1957. A lot of new additions appeared: a propaganda center, a hall for international travellers and a hall of customs processing.

Strands were taken away from the central hall; they had fastened the walls of the station. A ledgement appeared instead of them; it made of reinforced concrete. So inside it was comfortable and spacious.

After the collapse of the USSR, another lesser reconstruction took place inside the railway station. All Soviet symbols were to be removed, but due to the scandal the management of the station left all standing.

Today the designing of the station is in line with the modern stylistics. Every year the comfortable waiting room receives millions of passengers coming to Europe and back. The railway station in Brest is an architectural landmark of the country for those who visit Brest for the first time.