Riga Central Station

Architectural drawing from 1872 of the first station building.

The first railway station in Riga was constructed to serve as the western terminal station of the new railway line from Riga to Daugavpils which was financed by British contractors and led by British engineers. Construction of the station started in 1858, and the ceremony of laying the foundation stone on 21 May 1858 was attended by the Governor-General of the Baltic provinces Alexander Arkadyevich Suvorov. The station opened on 12 October 1861 along with the railway line, which connected Riga with Daugavpils and the Saint Petersburg–Warsaw railway line. The station building was designed by the architect Johann Felsko, and was a small building on two floors with two platforms and four tracks. In addition to railway facilities it also housed a telegraph office, a post office and a police station.[1]

In 1868, the railway line from Riga to Jelgava opened, initially terminating at Torņakalns railway station on the left bank of the river Daugava. From 1872, however, all trains were continued from there via the Iron Bridge across the Daugava to the Riga II Station.

The Dvinsk station after the expansion of 1885 with the chapel in front of the station building.

Due to the further expansion of the railway network, the old building became too small, and in 1885 the station was rebuilt and expanded with two large side wings following the project of the architect Heinrich Scheel. In 1889, a Neo-Byzantine style chapel was also built in front of the railway station to commemorate the miraculous survival of Emperor Alexander III and his family at the Borki train disaster in 1888.

Two separate stations were in operation in 19th century — one serving the line to Daugavpils and the other towards Jūrmala. They were joined and reconstructed in 1914 and functioned until the 1960s. In 1960 the current station building was opened and in 1965 — a second one. During the years, the station saw many reconstructions.[2]

Riga Central

Map of the planned Rail Baltica line

There exist plans to completely remodel the station in conjunction with the Rail Baltica project. A design by Danish architectural firms PLH Architects and COWI was selected in March 2017.[3]

In the Central station building on the first floor there is Rimi supermarket. Directly nearby is Stockmann supermarket and the largest cinema in the city — Forum cinemas. In station there are a lot of popular restaurants such as "Čili pica", Hesburger etc. Opposite Marijas iela there is a McDonald's restaurant and few hotels.

About 50–100 metres walk west-southwest one can also access Riga Central Market and Riga International Coach Terminal nearby.

There are many stops at this location. The main stop is the railway station, Riga Central Station, which operates all passenger trains within Latvia. Most public transport stops are situated in the nearby streets — Marijas iela, Merķeļa iela, Satekles iela and 13. janvāra iela. Buses and trolleybuses stop here.

• 
  Riga Central in 2018
• 
  Interior in 2019
• 
  ER2-964 Riga train
• 
  Clock Tower
• 
  The old station, 1905-1918

• Media related to Riga Central Train Station at Wikimedia Commons

56.947222°N 24.122222°E / 56.947222; 24.122222