After the Union of 1959 and the making of Greater
\nRomania in 1918, railway played an essential role in the formation and cohesion
\nof this state. Romania had adopted the French cultural model and saw a significant
\ndevelopment of its railway network with the capital city Bucharest as the
\ncountry’s most important railway hub. <\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Romania’s first king, Carol I is responsible for the
\ncountry’s first major railways, all of which met in Bucharest.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Romania’s capital had several railway stations but
\nalong the years, the modernization of the country’s railway network led to the
\ndisappearance of some and the emergence of others. <\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
If we look at a Bucharest map,
\nwe’ll see that all the city’s railway stations are located in the main compass
\npoints adding to the capital’s international importance. We recall that many international
\ntrains arrived in Bucharest’s North Station, such as the famous Orient Express,
\nwhich from here was bound for southern and eastern destinations. In the
\nfollowing minutes historian Dorin Stanescu is going to refer to the
\ncontribution of this famous train to the modernization of Romania’s rail
\ninfrastructure. <\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Dorin Stanescu: In 1883 the
\nOrient Express used to enter Romania through Varciorova in the west, then went on
\nto Turnu Severin, Craiova, Slatina, Pitesti and Bucharest. It was bound for
\nGiurgiu, in the country’s south and then to the port of Smardan. It crossed the
\nDanube to Varna from where a ferryboat took it to Constantinople. However, this
\ntrain route also prompted the then authorities to step up the construction of
\nthe country’s railway infrastructure. Many components of this railway network
\nwere added in that period, such as the famous Cernavoda bridge designed by
\nAnghel Saligny, which played an essential role in the Orient Express route. The
\ntrain was now bound for the port of Constanta, in southern Romania, from where
\nthe ships of the Romanian Maritime Service took its travelers to
\nConstantinople.<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The history of the Bucharest
\nrailway stations starts with the Filaret station in 1869, opened with the
\ninauguration of the first railway linking Bucharest and Giurgiu, in the
\ncountry’s south. The U-shaped two-storey building had three rails in front of
\nit that could accommodate three trains. The premises have served as a bus
\nterminal since 1960 and its building was declared a historical monument. Between
\nthe Filaret Station and the future North Station there was another station
\ncalled Dealul Spirii, which no longer exists. Its former location was replaced
\nby a crossroad in the city’s western region. <\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Another station, which no longer
\nexists today was the Cotroceni Station, close to the palace, which nowadays
\nhouses the Romanian presidency and was used by the royal trains. It was
\ndismantled back in 1960, just like Filaret and its building serves as an
\nentrance gate to the Cotroceni Park. <\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
A second station with the same
\nname was operational at nearly 1.5 kilometers from the first, in the city’s
\nwestern area. It is still operational but has an extremely reduced traffic, two
\nfreight trains that are bringing supplies to the two malls in the region. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Herastrau used to be another
\nstation, close to the present King Mihai park in northern Bucharest. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
In 1872, King, Carol 1st
\ninaugurated the country’s most important railway station, Gara de Nord, the
\nNorth Station, which presently has 14 rail lines. Its premises have also
\nincreased during the years. Its first name was the Targoviste Station after the
\nname of a city north-west of Bucharest. The facility, which got its present
\nname in 1888, has the same U-shaped main building as Filaret. It reached the
\nlargest number of travelers between 1950 and 1990 and its premises have also
\nbeen declared a monument. <\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
One of Bucharest’s prettiest
\nstations is Obor or the East Station, which covers the eastern regions
\nconnecting Bucharest to the city of Constanta, on the Black Sea coast. It is
\nstill operational and has also been declared historical monument. <\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Baneasa is one of Bucharest’s most
\ndiscrete railway stations and it was built in 1936 according to blueprints by
\nthe famous architect Duiliu Marcu. The station was used by the royal family to
\nwelcome its guests. It served the same purpose back in the communist regime and
\nit is still operational nowadays, with limited traffic though. The newest
\nrailway stations in Bucharest are Basarab, Progresu and Titan, built after
\n1945. Only Basarab is still operational for trains bound for the country’s
\nsouth-western regions. <\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
(bill)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Rail transportation proved to be the first modern way to ease the exchange of goods, improve the workers mobility, at the same time contributing to state centralization<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":127,"featured_media":169712,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[45210],"tags":[36107,45529,35096,45345,41915,31306],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-169711","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rri-encyclopaedia","tag-cotroceni","tag-herastrau","tag-north","tag-stations","tag-targoviste","tag-train"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n