ČD opened the reconstructed hall of the Ústí nad Labem railway station

Ústí nad Labem - Passengers at the Ústí main station are now served by a reconstructed ticket hall from today. It has replaced a part of the building that was constructed after the American bombings in 1945 and was originally intended to be just temporary. The entire reconstruction of the building is expected to cost about 45 million crowns and is to be completed in December. This was stated to journalists today by the spokesperson of České dráhy, Radka Pistoriusová.
     The Ústí main station is one of the oldest in the Czech Republic, built in 1850 when the railway line from Prague to Dresden was being constructed. However, it was damaged by an American air raid in 1945, leaving essentially only a third of it, the part closer to Mariánská skála. The remaining part was built in a way that somewhat matched architecturally, but it still suffered from many deficiencies.
     It was cramped and did not reflect that it is a busy station, being the tenth in the Czech Republic in terms of passenger numbers. There were also problems with the poorly planned exit from the underpass - passengers ignored the exit and then collided at the opposite doors with those who wanted to leave. About 1.5 million passengers pass through Ústí main station annually.
     In spring, construction began on a new glass extension with a ticket hall of 170 square meters, featuring four ticket counters and a customer center. "This completed the first phase of the reconstruction; the second phase is to be completed in December 2012," said Pistoriusová. The entire station has been undergoing reconstruction since 2005. The track layout, platforms, underpasses, and the area between the station and the Elbe embankment have completely changed.
     The new building is also expected to allow direct access from the street to the underpass, which serves not only passengers but also acts as a connection between the city center and the Elbe waterfront. "You walk from the center through a historic alley and suddenly you run into a wall behind which are restrooms. That is not a dignified entrance, the same is true when coming from the other side from the platform," said architect Zdeněk Havlík, who designed the reconstruction, to journalists in winter. "It will be a communication axis with a significantly higher urban dimension," added Havlík.
     Finishing works are planned until December. Stores will be created in the historical part of the building, and the passage under the platforms is also expected to transform into a commercial arcade in the future.