They are probably the most famous staircase in Poland. You can find hundreds of articles about them on the Internet. The staircase at Krakow’s Central Railway Station has finally been repaired and put into operation after years of disruption.
The original stairs were installed here in 2008 as part of the construction of the Małopolska Bus Station (MDA Krakow). Since then they have broken down on average several times a year. They required constant repairs, which was an expensive process. More difficult for passengers were those days when heavy luggage had to be carried using the traditional ones. The stairs at this location are crucial, as they act as a link between the bus and train stations.
By 2018 alone, numerous repairs to the stairs had cost the city more than £360,000. The stairs were failing due to corrosion of the structural elements. They were negatively affected by rain and snow. The question arises, why were the stairs not covered from the beginning? Reflection on this issue has only now come, and the new staircase has been given a watertight roof and lighting.
In 2023. The Cracow City Roads Board announced a tender for the reconstruction of the structure and construction of the canopy, the completion of the works was announced by the Cracow City Roads Board on Monday, 16 September 2024, and they were opened for passengers on that day at 6 p.m. Thus, the residents of Cracow have waited six years (since their immobilisation in 2018) for a functioning staircase. By comparison, the world’s tallest skyscraper, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, was built in less than five years…
We already wrote about the stairs in Krakow in 2022, this is what they looked like then:
The construction of the canopy and new stairs cost more than £4m. The Otis brand stairs were manufactured in China and have a five-year warranty. The canopy and side walls are to protect the stairs from adverse weather conditions. The canopy was made of glass and placed on a steel structure. The new staircase features heated handrails and a creep function to reduce the risk of failure in autumn and winter.
source: Krakow City Roads Authority
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