Jelenia Góra 2023-01-25
Jelenia Gora railway station.
Geographic coordinates: 50.902N 15.756E.
The article is a supplement to the article - PKP Jelenia Góra. 2010.
PKP Jelenia Góra is a junction railway station in Jelenia Góra. It is now a regional station. In 2018, the station served approximately 2,300 passengers per day, which is approximately 840,000 per year. It is about 1,800 m from the station to the market square in Jelenia Góra.
In 1866, the line of the Silesian Mountain Railway was brought to Jelenia Góra from the side of Węgliniec - Lubań Śląski - Rybnica. The trail was 72 km long. The construction of the line took two years, in the period 1864 - 1866. In 1868, Jelenia Góra gained a connection with Wrocław. The railway connection between Jelenia Góra and Wrocław was established in 1868 after a direct track was built from the Wałbrzych Szczawienko station. At that time, the journey from Jelenia Góra to Wrocław took about 2 hours.
Station building.
The station in Jelenia Góra was built in 1866. Its construction took 18 months. The station had stone foundations and stone and brick walls. The ceilings between the floors were wooden. There was also a wooden gable roof covered with roofing felt. The toilets were located in a separate building. The station had electricity, water and sewage systems. Downstairs there were ticket and baggage offices, a restaurant divided into classes, a left-luggage office, and railway service rooms. There were apartments on the upper floors.
As the station grew, the building was extended. The topography of the land only allowed for the expansion of the building in the meridional direction, so the next wings were added to the tops of the building. The first expansion took place in the period 1886 - 1888. The facade of the building was covered with sandstone stone cladding. The style of the original building has been preserved.
In 1910, another expansion of the station was started, but it was temporarily stopped by the Great World War. In the period 1912 - 1922, a new administrative wing was added to the station, which differed in form from the existing architecture.
In 1910, the track system at the station was reconstructed. There were about 9 passing tracks at the station. Three platforms were built. The first platform from the station side was single edged. The other two platforms were island double-edged platforms. All platforms were roofed with sheds, with a metal structure, covered with full boarding and roofing felt. At the same time, a tunnel was built under the tracks for travelers. The balustrades at the stairs were made of wrought iron, and the walls of the tunnel were covered with ceramic tiles. Around 1905, a new brick water tower was built and water cranes were placed at the end of each platform. A few years later, a second similar water tower was added. Both water towers and the chimney of the boiler room are still standing (2023) at Krakowska Street. New shape semaphores were also placed.
The first tunnel was built in the west head of the station. It made it easier for the residents to move from 1-Maja Street to Wincentego Pola Street, because the barriers were often closed.
In 1919 or 1920, the electrification of the Jelenia Góra railway junction began, although German plans for electrification had already been made before the Great World War. The first electric traction was launched in February 1923, on the most important route Wałbrzych - Jelenia Góra - Lubań - Zgorzelec. The electrification of the station was completed in 1924. The catenary was stretched between metal poles which were connected by metal girders. Ropes hung from the girders, to which traction wires were attached. A single-phase alternating current with a voltage of 15 kV and a frequency of 16 2/3 Hz was used. In 1925, electrification also covered the routes towards Szklarska Poręba and Karpacz.
Many tenement houses, hotels, banks, restaurants and shops with expensive goods have been built near the Jelenia Góra station. Jelenia Góra was then famous for the production and trade of cloth.
In 1929, the Jelenia Góra station reached the area it has today. Most were sidings with unloading ramps, storage yards and warehouses. The sidings belonged to individual industrialists. There were over 80 of these sidings, most of them in the eastern head of the station. This layout resulted from the inability to run sidings to individual factories due to the terrain. Currently, many of these sidings are not used and some of their tracks have been dismantled. An interesting fact at the Jelenia Góra station is a large number of railway turntables. This is due to the limited area. For the most part, the turntable was used to turn the wagons in the railway sidings to fit as many wagons as possible. After turning, the wagon was pulled onto the siding by a horse team. Such a turntable, as a monument, is located next to the station building at Platform 1. Its task was to move the locomotive so that it could go around the wagon depot, with the maximum number of wagons in the platform. In the history of the station, there was also a track triangle for turning steam locomotives.
In 1922, the last wing was added to the western side of the station, which was to serve as an administrative building. The main hall of the station was moved to this building in 2008 - 2009. Throughout its history, the building has been painted with new paints several times. After 2000, the exterior of the building was cleaned and restored to its original appearance. The extensions on the eastern side were plastered and painted white.
In the 1920s, Jelenia Góra gained new railway connections. The largest number of connections were to Wałbrzych and Wrocław. In 1929, a direct connection was launched from Wałbrzych via Jelenia Góra, Zgorzelec to Berlin. The communication between the city of Jelenia Góra and the station was provided by horse-drawn carriages, buses, taxis and trams. The tram line was operated in the period 1897 - 1969.
The largest fan-type locomotive depot was located in the eastern part of the station. The turntable and the inspection channel have been preserved. Around 1987, the walls of the building were demolished, because it was planned to build a new, modern locomotive depot. Due to the lack of funds and the decline in rail transport, the plan was not implemented. The area is covered with vegetation.
Jelenia Gora in Poland.
After the end of the Second World War, in 1945 and the change of state borders, Lower Silesia and Jelenia Góra became part of Poland.
Pursuant to the agreement between the communist government of Poland and the CCCP of July 8, 1945, within three weeks, the electric traction system, including, among others, the overhead network, substations, rolling stock, workshops, line equipment, as well as route tracks (one track on double track), dismantled and transported to Moscow. Significantly, the agreement was made when the looting was already underway.
Polish railway workers relatively quickly launched railway traffic at the Jelenia Góra station in the direction of Wałbrzych and further to Wrocław. On October 22, 1946, the first PKP passenger train ran on the Warsaw - Jelenia Góra route. It was worse towards the west, because two bridges over the Bóbr River were destroyed. Until 1953, trains started from Jelenia Góra Zachodnia station. The western stone and reinforced concrete bridge over the Bóbr is very impressive. Over the river itself, the bridge has one arched span, and in the remaining sections it is supported on stone pillars. The fragment by the river itself was destroyed, where a pillar standing in the bottom of the river was blown up. This fragment was rebuilt as a reinforced concrete single span. The bridge has a maximum height of 33 m and a total length of 166 m. There are two tracks on the bridge, two different railway lines. The bridge was opened to traffic on August 20, 1866. It was erected on seven pillars, on which 8 spans were supported. The bridge was entirely made of stone. It was placed among the hills and forests that hide its greatness. In 1945, the retreating German army blew up the bridge. The reconstruction of the bridge lasted in the period 1951 - 1954, although on September 30, 1953, railway traffic was restored, resuming direct communication from the main station towards Szklarska Poręba and Lubań Śląski.
On December 17, 1966, the electrification of the Wałbrzych - Jelenia Góra section was completed, and thus the entire route to Wrocław was electrified. At the same time, traffic lights were installed. The number of trains coming to Jelenia Góra increased when this electric traction was launched from the east and from 1986, from the west. The operation of the steam traction in the Jeleniogórski junction was completed in 1984, and diesel traction was used on non-electrified routes; mainly ST43, SU45, SM42 locomotives. At the station, in the locomotive depot, all diesel and electric locomotives were repaired. Among them were ST43, ET21, EU07, ET22 locomotives. In the 1990s, there was a regress in passenger and freight transport, which resulted in a decrease in the number of running trains. The rolling stock has been repaired.
In the 1970s, the rail-road crossing along the provincial road No. 367 (today's Aleja Solidarności) was liquidated and a viaduct was built over the tracks in the eastern head of the station. The same was done along Wincentego Pola Street.
At the beginning of the 80s of the 20th century, a crisis was felt in the national economy, ineptly led by the communists. The condition of the tracks was deteriorating and there was no money to repair them. In 1986, railway connections in the direction of Kowary and Kamienna Góra were closed. On other lines, the number of connections was limited, and travel times were longer. The bottom of the crisis occurred in the mid-90s.
The number of PKP employees decreased. In Jelenia Góra, the staff canteen and the night shelter were liquidated. But in place of the canteen, a health clinic was built, and the dormitory was adapted into a hotel. However, there was no construction of a new locomotive depot in place of the already demolished old facility.
The socialist model of subsidized PKP was no longer viable. But the changes took place at the expense of passengers. On April 3, 2000, PKP carried out the largest liquidation of passenger connections, which covered 1,028.5 km of railway lines. Many small stations lost all rail connections. In Jelenia Góra, among others, trains to Karpacz were liquidated. In 2002, trains from Wrocław to Jelenia Góra took nearly 4 hours, which resulted from the lack of repairs on the route.
From the 1960s, a PKP vocational school operated at the station in Jelenia Góra, which educated very good employees for PKP. At the beginning of the 1990s, the school was liquidated on the wave of subsidizing chalk to be described on the board in general secondary schools, and not expensive teaching aids in vocational schools and technical schools. As a result, most of the population has a master's degree but can't hammer a nail into a board. The buildings of the vocational school were demolished.
Since 2005, there has been a slow development of rail connections, first for freight and later also for passenger transport. In the period 2007 - 2008 it was decided to renovate the station building. The hall of the station was reduced by half, and the resulting space was allocated for rent. The station has been adapted to serve disabled passengers. The number of cash desks was reduced and a new restaurant was built.
In the period 2015 - 2018, a major renovation of the platforms and the track system was carried out. The platforms have been rebuilt and raised. Their surface is now non-slip. A drainage system was installed. There are yellow warning lines, pushpins and guide paths for blind passengers. A new passenger information system with LCD screens and a new audio system was installed. Added new small architecture: benches, trash cans. The roofing over the platforms has been renovated. There are lifts for disabled passengers and those with large luggage. The renovation cost PLN 27 million.
Train traffic at the station is controlled from one control room with "JG". The "JGm1" signal box located in the eastern part of the station, used to handle freight train maneuvers, is no longer used.
Platforms in Jelenia Góra.
There are currently four platforms at the station. A small platform, which was between the station and PKP Energetyka, was liquidated. It used to have the designation Peron 1B. Platform 1 is two-part and is located at the station building. It has an eastern and a western part. From this platform, short trains depart towards Wałbrzych, Wrocław (east) or Szklarska Poręba, Gorlitz (west). The total length of Platform 1 is 506 m. There is only one track between Platform 1 and Platform 2 and passengers disembark on the side of Platform 2. Platform 2 is 347 m long. Platform 2 and Platform 3 are island platforms. Platform 3 is 334 m long. Platform 4 is narrow and trains terminating relations at the Jelenia Góra station stop there. Platform 4 is 280 m long and has no roof.
Timetable.
Between 37 and 43 trains leave the Jelenia Góra station daily, depending on the day of the week. The data is from January 2023. From Jelenia Góra you can get to: Gdynia - TLK train "Karkonosze". Gorlitz - 7 trains of Koleje Dolnośląskie. Kłodzko Miasto - 1 train of Koleje Dolnośląskie. Krakow - TLK "Sudety" train. Poznań - PolRegio "Kamienczyk" train. Szklarska Poręba - 13 trains; 9 trains of Koleje Dolnośląskie, 1 PolRegio train "Kamieńczyk", 1 InterCity train "Śnieżka", 2 TLK trains "Karkonosze" and "Orzeszkowa". Wałbrzych - 1 train of Koleje Dolnośląskie. Warsaw - 2 TLK trains "Karkonosze" and "Orzeszkowa", 1 InterCity train "Śnieżka". Węgliniec - 1 train of Koleje Dolnośląskie. Wrocław 12 trains of Koleje Dolnośląskie. Zielona Góra - 2 PolRegio trains "Winnica" and "Śmielec".
In January 2023, we paid PLN 49 for a ride on the Jelenia Góra - Wrocław route: with the InterCity train, we paid from PLN 42 with the PolRegio train, and PLN 34 with the Koleje Dolnośląskie train. The last train lasted 2.10 hours.
Written by Karol Placha Hetman