The reconstruction of the train station in Pardubice is nowhere in sight

Karel Řepa, train station in Pardubice

Pardubice - The reconstruction of the functionalist building of the train station in Pardubice by architect Karel Řepa is still not in sight. Repairs will cost hundreds of millions of crowns. The Railway Infrastructure Administration (SŽDC) currently has no plans for the modernization. Martin Netolický (ČSSD), the regional governor, said this today to ČTK.

The reconstruction of the railway station itself is being prepared by SŽDC, and it will start no earlier than 2018. The surroundings of the functionalist building are already changing. A new terminal for public transport is being built in front of the train station, and it is expected to be completed in June. The city also plans to build a bus station next to the train station in the future.

"In our opinion, the building of the Pardubice train station will be the largest investment, but it is also the most necessary investment. Today we are in a situation where we really need a reconstruction," said the governor.

The train station is the most significant work of Řepa. He designed the state contract together with Josef Danda and Karel Kalvoda at the end of the 1940s, and the construction work lasted ten years until 1959. The station has a spacious ticketing hall, a large hotel is attached to it, and there was a cinema in the basement.

Recently, a proposal to designate the building as a national cultural monument was unsuccessful. However, the governor hopes that in the coming years it will gain the highest level of monument protection. It would be easier to draw funds for its repairs from the funds redistributed by the Ministry of Culture, he stated.

Partial interior modifications have already taken place in the past, said Michal Štěpán, a board member of Czech Railways responsible for passenger transport, to ČTK. New shops with refreshments and a café have been established in the interior. Passengers have dignified waiting areas for waiting for their trains. The carrier was originally the owner of the building, but it was recently acquired by SŽDC.

Miroslav Řepa, the son of the building's author, stated that the hotel next door is in much worse condition than the station building itself, with tiles falling off its facade. "It is completely devastated; it needs a different use," said Řepa. According to him, the station building needs a careful reconstruction to preserve all the unique elements of the interior and exterior, including the checkerboard tiles and the mosaics on the walls.