Venezia Santa Lucia railway station famous train station
Venezia Santa Lucia railway station
The Santa Lucia railway station in Venice, is one of the most unique stations in the world, perhaps not because of the size or the look, but mostly because of the location. Santa Lucia is located in the northern part of the historic Venice city, connected the mainland by the Ponte della Libertà bridge.
Construction of Santa Lucia railway station began in 1860 when Venice was part of the Austrian Empire. In order to make room for station buildings, a convent and the Church of Santa Lucia were demolished. The station took its name after that church. From 1861, when the station was opened, it was the only land-based link between the historic city and the mainland (the Ponte della Libertà was built in 1933).
That was one of the reasons why the Santa Lucia station was from the beginning quite large (in the context of a city filled to the brim with buildings) and had an extensive goods yard attached to it. After the road bridge was built and after the end of World War 2, the demand for goods transit has decreased and in the 1970s the goods yard was practically closed. In the 1970s, the goods yard was demolished to make space for further 8 platforms.
Today, after the 2012 renovation, the train station has 23 platforms, which serve for not only local or regional trains, but also the long-distance and high-speed ones. On average, the station is used by about 82,000 passengers per day, which means around 30 million passengers per year. Every day, approximately 450 trains stop at this station, which is the terminus of several famous trains, including the Venice Simplon Orient Express (the spiritual descendant of the famous Orient Express).
Sources:
interior photo: fity.club
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