The main railway station of Rostov-on-Don is the junction station of the North Caucasus Railway, which is recognized as one of the most popular in our country. This is a complex consisting of two stations: the main, from which the long-distance trains depart, and the suburban. Railway station Rostov-on-Don looks very respectable. Few people know that this building has a rather turbulent history, which has nearly a century and a half.
History
During its long history, the station of the Don capital experienced a lot - both the Civil War and the Great Patriotic War, when fierce battles were fought right on its territory. The building of the railway station in Rostov appeared in 1875 - on the land that the City Duma allocated for construction. Unfortunately, the story did not preserve the name of the author of the first construction project.
At that time, it was one of the largest railway stations in southern Russia, which was located in the floodplain of the Temernik River.
Station during World War II
During this difficult period for the whole country, the railway station in Rostov-on-Don was glorified by Lieutenant Ghukas Madoyan. In early February 1943, soldiers of the combined battalion of the 159th brigade, under his leadership, crossed the frozen Don on ice and captured the city’s station territory by storm.
For the Nazis, this was a complete surprise - on the rails waiting for dispatch trains, loaded with military equipment, which was supposed to be sent to Taganrog. Residents of the city in every possible way helped the soldiers - with bread and medicines, nursed the wounded. Under pressure from superior enemy forces, Madoyan’s group retreated to the station and held it until February 14, despite heavy fire from enemy artillery and air bombing.
According to eyewitnesses, it seemed that not only the earth, but also the air was burning here. Thanks to the driver Khizhnyak, who was later killed by an enemy sniper, the soldiers were able to go to the foundry of the Lenin plant (steam locomotive). German aviation bombs fell on the empty station building, and Madoyan’s group, under the cover of the powerful walls of the plant, kept the station under fire, preventing the invaders from using the railway.
Gukas Madoyan for courage and heroism while performing a combat mission was in 1943 awarded the high title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Moreover, this feat was also noted by US President Roosevelt, who awarded the hero a gold medal of the US Army.
Recovery
Needless to say that during such fights the building of the railway station in Rostov was almost destroyed. Later it was restored, was repeatedly completed and reconstructed. At the end of the seventies of the last century, the building was dismantled in parts in order to make way for the new modern station with a high-rise hotel.
In 2004, a large-scale reconstruction of the complex was completed, after which a concourse was added above the rails to the station building with spacious waiting rooms and convenient exits to the platforms. The engineers and architects of Kavzheldorproekt, led by V. A. Sukhorukova, initially planned to create three concourses, as well as the construction of a railway flyover for the convenience of boarding and disembarking passengers. As planned, the underground level of the station was occupied by a parking lot, and a shopping center was located on the second floor.
At the main station there are three platforms and five railway tracks. Three more paths are shunting. Platforms accommodate twenty-eight wagons.
Today, Rostov-Glavny is the largest train station in the south of Russia with large passenger traffic and throughput. On the territory of the station there are several cafes, a restaurant, an emergency room, a hotel, and left-luggage offices.
Since passenger traffic is growing every year, a new reconstruction and technological re-equipment is planned soon.
Further development
The next reconstruction of the railway station in Rostov provides for the expansion and arrangement of platforms for high-speed trains, and the construction of a multifunctional complex. The developed project proposes three types of reconstruction: linear, area and underground. The development of the underground area of the station is also planned: a shopping and entertainment complex should be located on two levels. Thus, reconstruction with an increase in transport services and a functional level will lead to the creation of a large modern train station complex.