$100 million face-lift on nation's largest station is nearly completed after hasty reconstruction in Kyiv
A heaving sigh of squeaky brakes is followed by the jolt of opening doors and the lowering of metal stairs. Out of cramped metal boxes pours a stream of humanity.
It’s rush hour all day, every day at Kyiv’s central train station, where stamp collectors from Minsk rub elbows with Polish cereal salesmen, and local hawkers vend beer to thirsty executives arrivingon the red‑eye express from Moscow.
These days, rail travelers to Kyiv have a lot to smile about, thanks to the $100‑million facelift of the capital’s main train station.
The project involved erecting a new terminal, refurbishing two worn‑out depots, building basements, resurfacing sidewalks and digging a network of tunnels and ramps linking rail travelers to ticket booths and platforms.
Ukraine’s National Railway Transport Administration, Ukrzaliznytsia, oversaw the reconstruction, which President Leonid Kuchma approved by decree last April.
“It was high time the station was taken care of,” explained Herman Klyucherov, editor of the twice‑weekly railroad newspaper Magistral. He said the eight‑month project should be entered into the Guinness Book of Records because it was completed almost three years ahead of schedule.
Ukrzaliznytsia General‑Director Hryhory Kyrpa and Kyiv Mayor Oleksandr Omelchenko are taking most of the credit. They oversaw the four general contractors that supervised 5,000 workers employed by more than 70 construction companies involved in the project.
Mykhailo Pozhyvanov, Kyiv’s chief of foreign economic activity, told the Web site Liga on Sept. 5 that Russian officials visiting Kyiv for Independence Day celebrations on Aug. 24 were so impressed by the reconstruction that they invited local developers to Moscow to discuss collaborating on construction projects there.
Each of the four contractors had different roles. While Ukrzaliznytsia oversaw crews refurbishing the Primisky Vokzal (the terminal for electrichkas traveling to the four oblasts serviced by its southwest railway), Mostobud was digging tunnels and Ukrrestavratsiya was remodeling the interior of the old station.
Months earlier in February, Ukraine’s largest construction company, Kyivmiskbud, broke ground on a new terminal connected to the old station by an elevated concourse.
Most of the work involved installing basements and burrowing tunnels is not visible to the 100,000
| The spiffy new waiting lounge includes plush couches and clean floors. |
people who wended their way through the station daily.
“The most difficult thing was that we could not close down the station, and that was more than a challenge,” Klyucherov said.
Dubbed the “House of Dreams” by workers for its shining aluminum and glass facade, the new terminal stands out in stark contrast to the old station, which was designed early last century in Ukrainian‑baroque style.
Kyiv’s first railroad station was built at the end of Komintern Street in 1870. Oleksandr Verbytsky and Pavel Aleshyn redesigned the depot in 1927, on the 10th anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution.
Before this year’s reconstruction, neither Verbytsky nor Aleshyn would have recognized the interior of their masterpiece, which since independence had deteriorated into a grimy neo‑Stalinist shell through which travelers passed as quickly as possible.
While scaffolding still obscures the finishing touches being applied to the old station, the bulk of the work is already done.
The main vestibule’s walls and floors are now plated with pricey Italian marble. Ten mosaics depicting seminal moments in Ukrainian history decorate the ceiling, which visitors can better view after ascending to the main concourse on a modern illuminated escalator.
Scores of cameras have been installed to monitor the arrival and departure of trains and the hordes of people who come through the station.
New German clocks adorn the facades of the new and old terminals and the neighboring Primisky Vokzal. Station officials say the clocks are synchronized by
| A woman walks down the new escalator connecting the vestibule to the main concourse |
satellite. They replace the station’s previous timepieces, installed in 1954, which fell apart while being temporarily removed for construction.
So far, retail development of the new station does not appear to be playing an important part in the train station’s architectural revival.
The new terminal offers a post office and a ticket hall, but few other conveniences.Officials expect that one day commercial interest will be high, and when that happens, space will be available for shops.
For now, however, the kiosks and flower shops that previously lined the sidewalk from Vokzalny Metro to the old station have been moved out of sight to a bazaar behind McDonald’s near the train station’s dilapidated northern platform.
Passengers who arrive at the station early and those waiting to greet visitors on delayed trains can relax on couches in the station’s spiffy new waiting lounge, which charges Hr 5 admission.
Parliament deputies and government officials have their own VIP lounge adjacent to the stationmaster’s office on the first floor of the old station.
