Padua Railway Station


Padua railway station, sometimes referred to as Padova Centrale, is the main station serving the city and comune of Padua, in the Veneto region, northeastern Italy.
Opened in 1842, the station forms part of the Milan–Venice railway, and is a junction for direct branch lines to the Padua–Bologna railway, the Bassano to Padua line, and the Camposampiero. Padua railway station is also the terminus of the short Padua–Padua Interporto railway.
The station is currently managed by Rete Ferroviaria Italiana. However, the commercial area of the passenger building is managed by Centostazioni. Each of these companies is a subsidiary of Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane, Italy's state-owned railway company. Trains to and from the station are operated by Trenitalia, NTV and Thello.

Location

Padua railway station is situated in the Piazzale Stazione, to the north of the historic city centre.

Features

Passenger building

The passenger building has both passenger facilities and commercial activities. These include a ticket office, a customer support office, the Club Eurostar, many automated ticket machines, a luggage deposit, an office of the railway police, two newsagents, two bars, a supermarket, two travel agencies, a bank, a post office, three car rental offices, as well as numerous businesses and travel agencies.

Station yard

Currently the station yard is composed of:Passenger yard with eleven loops, of which nine are equipped with platforms and the remaining two are used for manoeuvres, as well as stabling of trains;Secondary yard, located south of the line to Venice; used only for stabling of trains that originate or terminate at this station;Locomotive depot, wedged between the lines to Milan and Bologna;Wash stalls, located north of the line to Milan; also used for stabling of trains.
Operating under this system are the Gruppo Scambi Altichiero and the Gruppo Scambi Montà. Each of these yards connects with a corresponding namesake line from Padova Campo Marte railway station, and allows freight trains coming from Bologna to continue towards Camposampiero and Milan, respectively, without having to reverse direction.

Train services

The station is one of the main railway nodes of the Italian system, with approximately 18.5 million passenger movements per year.
Around 450 passenger trains call at the station each day. They include trains of categories AV, ES *, ES *, CIS, EC, EN, Eurostar, IC, ICN, and R. The main domestic destinations served directly from Padua are Venice, Genoa, Turin, Como, Milan, Lecco, Bolzano/Bozen, Trento, Bassano del Grappa, Belluno, Calalzo di Cadore, Udine, Trieste, Mantua, Bologna, Florence, Pescara, Bari, Lecce, Rome, Naples, Messina, Palermo, and Syracuse.
Some of the services to and from Bassano and Trento are operated by Trentino Trasporti using Minuetto trains, but always on behalf of Trenitalia.
The main international destinations are Geneva, Lausanne, Zürich, Innsbruck, Munich and Vienna. International trains are made up of either Trenitalia or foreign railways' rolling stock, such as that of Österreichische Bundesbahnen.
In addition to passenger trains, the station is affected by a number of transit freight trains operated by both Trenitalia and other companies. These trains do not stop at the station for loading and unloading, as it has had no freight facilities since the 1990s; the freight facilities are now all concentrated at the Padova Interporto railway station.
The following services call at the station:
  • High speed services Naples - Rome - Florence - Bologna - Padua - Venice
  • High speed services Turin - Milan - Verona - Padua - Venice - Trieste
  • High speed services Milan - Verona - Padua - Venice - Treviso - Udine
  • High speed services Lecce - Bari - Ancona - Rimini - Padua - Venice
  • High speed services Salerno - Naples - Rome - Florence - Bologna - Padua - Venice
  • Intercity services Munich - Innsbruck - Verona - Padua - Venice
  • Intercity services Geneva - Lausanne - Brig - Milan - Verona - Padua - Venice
  • Intercity services Rome - Florence - Bologna - Padua - Venice - Trieste
  • Night train Rome - Bologna - Padua - Venice - Trieste
  • Express services Bologna - Ferrara - Rovigo - Padua - Venice
  • Express services Verona - Vicenza - Padua - Venice
  • Express services Verona - Padua - Venice - Latisana
  • Regional services Verona - Vicenza - Padua - Venice
  • Regional services Bologna - Ferrara - Rovigo - Monselice - Padua
  • Regional services Bassano del Grappa - Citadella - Padua
  • Regional services Padua - Castelfranco Veneto - Treviso
  • Regional services Padua - Castelfranco Veneto - Montebelluna
  • Regional services '' Padua - Castelfranco Veneto - Montebelluna - Belluno ''

Interchange

In the square in front of the passenger building are the termini of most of Padua's urban bus lines and the Translohr line, all managed by APS. In addition, many provincial bus lines operated by APS, SITA, CTM, FTV, plus some national bus companies, include a stop at the station.
In June 2010, an intermodal centre was opened near the Chiesa della Pace, close to the railway station. It includes a 14 lane bus station, which serves as the terminus of several suburban lines, operated by a variety of transportation companies: APS, SITA, CTM, FTV, ACTV.