Pirna station

Pirna station is the largest railway station of the town Pirna in the German state of Saxony. The station is integrated into the network of the Dresden S-Bahn. It is also the starting point of a Regionalbahn service and a Regional-Express stop.Passenger operationsOld stationThe first Pirna station was opened on 1 August 1848 together with the first section of Děčín–Dresden-Neustadt railway (Elbe Valley Railway). The station was close to Pirna's Altstadt (old town) not far from the monastery church of St. Henry (Heinrich). The station building was built in the Neoclassical architectural style with Romanesque elements. It originally had two main sections, connected by a hallway, and a covered main platform.Just a few years after its opening the station reached capacity because of increasing traffic. Due to its suburban location no room was available for expansion. It was difficult for trains to cross and for locomotives to be re-supplied with water at the site. The upgrading of railway facilities at this location was difficult.The first bridge of the Elbe in Pirna (now called the Stadtbrücke—"town bridge") was built in 1875 to the west of the former station as part of the Kamenz–Pirna railway. A new Pirna station was opened on 15 October 1875 at the intersection of the Kamenz–Pirna railway and the Elbe Valley Railway. The old station was closed on 18 October 1875. During the bombing of the Pirna Elb Bridge in 1945, the old station building was partially destroyed. The track maintenance branch was housed in the building until 1998. During this period, the building was also used for residential purposes. At present, the listed building stands empty. The old Pirna station is the oldest preserved station building of the Saxon-Bohemian Railway (Sächsisch-Böhmischen Eisenbahn).