Gara Sinaia
Căile Ferate Române
View of the station building
General information
LocationSinaia, Romania
Coordinates45°21′9.594″N 25°33′10.50″E / 45.35266500°N 25.5529167°E / 45.35266500; 25.5529167
Owned byCFR
History
Electrifiedyes (20 April 1966)
Services
Preceding station CFR Following station
Azuga
towards Arad
CFR Intercity 200 Ploiești Vest
Azuga
towards Oradea
CFR Intercity 300
Azuga CFR Intercity 400 Ploiești Vest
towards Brașov
Location
Sinaia is located in Romania
Sinaia
Sinaia
Location in Romania
Sinaia is located in Europe
Sinaia
Sinaia
Location in Europe

Sinaia railway station serves the Sinaia mountain resort in Romania. The first station was built in 1913 by the Demeter Cartner Company, and it was reserved exclusively for the Royal Family and its guests at Peleș Castle, generally foreign leaders.[1]

Located on the railway line connecting Bucharest and Ploiești to Brașov and the rest of Transylvania, the train station serves the Căile Ferate Române lines 200, 300, and 400.

Memorials

On the station platform, there is a memorial plate marking the spot where Prime Minister Ion G. Duca was assassinated by the Iron Guard in 1933.[1] A second memorial plaque was erected in 1999 to mark the celebrations then held to mark 120 years of the Ploiești to Brașov railway line.

New ceremonial station

The second Ceremonial Railway Station is a short distance away from the first one, built following the plans of architect Duiliu Marcu in 1939. It is designed in a modern Neoclassical style, featuring an arcaded porch on both sides, and is constructed of rustic random stone blocks. Originally displaying the Hohenzollern coat of arms, it has remained in use as a ceremonial station for state occasions and guests. Its single platform is continuous with platform 1 of the original (and now public) railway station. The building also featured a depot housing the Royal Train.

In front of the ceremonial station there is a large plaza designed with the purpose of holding official welcome ceremonies for various foreign leaders. The main room is decorated with a wall painting (5.50 meters x 5.50 meters) depicting a boar hunt of Prince Basarab I of Wallachia (eight life-size characters on horseback, alongside an inscription in Latin reading Basarab Voivode, 14th century).

The ceremonial station's purpose was retained during the communist regime. A presidential train brought American President Gerald Ford and Romanian President Nicolae Ceaușescu here on August 6, 1975. It is not open to the public.

Exhibitions

The main (original) railway station has a large booking hall, and extensive offices. In addition the northern part of the station building has been developed into a model railway exhibition, which is open to the public most days, and some static exhibits of railway memorabilia have been placed on the platform beyond the model exhibition. These include a 230 series 4-6-0 steam locomotive number 230.039 (displayed with the tender of sister engine 230.050), and a motor car converted for railway track inspection duties, with flanged wheels fitted.

All photos were taken before 2010. The station was reconstructed between 2009 and 2011.

References

  1. 1 2 Mihai, Dana (2 April 2014). "Sinaia, the city with three stations, where kings and presidents descended". Adevărul.
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