Skawina 2021-09-25

Skawina Railway Station.

Geographic coordinates: 49.977N 19.822E. Elevation 215 m.

The Skawina Railway Station is located 16 km from the center of Krakow in a south-westerly direction. Geographic coordinates 49°58′38″N 19°49′20″E. Geographic coordinates: 49.977N 19.822E. Elevation 215 m. Skawina is a city in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship, in the Kraków district. It is the seat of an urban-rural commune. The city is located on the Skawinka River.

The railway station in Skawina was launched in 1884, simultaneously with the opening of the Kraków Płaszów (then Podgórze) – Sucha Beskidzka (then Sucha) railway route. The route was part of the Galician Transversal Railway, which was to meet the military needs of Austria-Hungary. Only then would it develop the economy. At that time, Lesser Poland was under the Austro-Hungarian rule. Despite everything, the railway revived the economy of the region. The following were built successively: a brewery (1895), a petroleum refinery (1900), the First Galician Stoneware and Fireclay Products Factory (1909) and the Henryk Franck and Sons Coffee Products Factory (1910).

Skawina Railway Station.

The station building is one of the typical stations built at that time in the Austro-Hungarian Partition. It is medium-sized, two-storey, with an undeveloped attic. The building is designed to resemble a small palace. On the street side, it has a projection in the middle. On the track side, it has a platform roof along its entire length. On November 14, 1995, the station was entered on the list of historical monuments.

At the station, the waiting room and ticket offices were closed in May 2012. At the same time, the railway apartments located on the first floor, the offices of the PKP Cargo company and the Railway Protection Guard station located in the former stationmaster’s office were also liquidated. The PKP company decided to get rid of the unnecessary property, as is the case with other railway stations in Poland. In 2018, the station was transferred to the city of Skawina. The building was renovated. It gained a usable attic, which means it is now three-storey. Since September 29, 2020, passengers have been able to use the renovated historic train station in Skawina. In addition to its railway function, the building also gained a cultural function, as it houses the new seat of the Municipal Public Library. The new seat of the library is fully adapted to the needs of disabled people. There are ramps, an elevator, a library drop-off and other improvements. There is a shop in the building.

Development of the railway station.

The station developed in line with the development of the local industry. More railway facilities were built. A water tower was built, and later a second one. Workshops were established along with a forge. There was a small locomotive shed at the Skawina station. There were 6 main tracks at the station.

The major development of the Skawina station took place after World War II. The reason was the establishment of several industrial plants nearby: a power plant (currently a combined heat and power plant), confectionery plants, an aluminum smelter and others. All larger plants had their own railway sidings. The aluminum smelter and the power plant had their own shunting locomotives.

At that time, a footbridge for travelers was built above the platforms, which was also used by residents and employees of nearby factories. The footbridge connected the city of Skawina with its northern, industrial part. At that time, the PKP Skawina Zachód train stop was also opened, which was used by employees of the power plant and the aluminum smelter.

There were two water towers in Skawina. Both of them had unusual access points. The first, older one, was a building built on a rectangular plan. The first floor was made of brick, and the second was covered only with planks. There was a water tank there. The second, younger tower was also built on a rectangular plan. It had two floors made of brick and the whole thing was covered with a hipped roof.

Until 2006, the station only had platforms that were “curb-height”, i.e. very low. In 2006, both platforms were rebuilt to be high and much more modern. On Platform 2, shelters with benches were installed, which protected passengers from rain and snow. These activities were related to the initiative to renovate the John Paul II Railway Trail from Krakow to Wadowice. As part of this project, the nearest track at the station, which had not been used for a long time, was eliminated. Several unused railway buildings were also demolished, such as: the Railway Traffic Security Section, the Road Section warehouses, the utility building for shunting, the power plot and trackmaster building, the former ACZ and DZ forge building, the warehouse buildings directly at the station and the wagon scale shed located at the side track. In December 2017, the PKP Skawina station became the final station of the second line of the Fast Agglomeration Railway on the Sędziszów – Miechów – Kraków Główny – Skawina route. The train from Skawina to Kraków Główny station takes 20 minutes.

In 2020, the Skawina Communication Center was built next to the station, where there is a bus terminus, a shelter for 60 bicycles and a park&ride parking lot for 500 vehicles.

In 2021, instead of a footbridge over the tracks, a tunnel was built for travelers and residents. The footbridge was closed on May 20, 2019 and dismantled. The difference in the time of the footbridge closure and the tunnel opening was a very inconvenient period for the residents of Skawina, especially those who wanted to get to the hospital, health center, or workplaces.

PKP Skawina currently.

Skawina is a junction station, where a single-track, electrified line branches off from the double-track, electrified line from Krakow Płaszów to Oświęcim, running through Kalwaria towards Sucha Beskidzka. The station has two platforms and 6 main tracks.

Platform 1 is single-edged. It is located on the station side. Track 4 is at this platform.

Platform 2 is a double-edged island platform. Tracks 1 and 2 are at this platform. Access to the platform is provided by a tunnel with stairs and a lift for wheelchairs and bicycles.

Train traffic at the station is managed by two signal boxes: “Sk” and “Sk1”, which have recently been modernized. Two railway lines run through the station:

Railway line No. 94 Kraków Płaszów – Oświęcim is a railway line of national importance with a length of 64.502 km, double-track, electrified. The Kraków – Spytkowice section was electrified in 1970. The Spytkowice – Oświęcim section was electrified in 1971.

Railway line No. 97 Skawina – Żywiec is a single-track, electrified railway line with a length of 82.708 km, opened in 1884. The Skawina – Sucha Beskidzka section was electrified in 1974. The Sucha Beskidzka – Żywiec section was electrified in 1989.

The Skawina station is mainly used by PolRegio passenger trains to/from Krakow; Zakopane, Bielsko Biała, Sucha Beskidzka. The Agglomeration trains, the so-called SKA2 line (Fast Agglomeration Railway), terminate in Skawina; Skawina – Krakow – Miechów – Sędziszów. In the summer, InterCity long-distance trains to/from Zakopane pass through Skawina. In general, in the summer, there are 75 pairs of passenger trains per day (summer 2021 timetable). In the winter, there are 47 pairs of passenger trains per day (winter 2021 timetable). Freight train traffic is moderate.

Written by Karol Placha Hetman