Monday, September 16, 2024 will become a historic date for Krakow's transportation infrastructure. After almost nineteen years since the opening of the Bus Station, and almost six years during which there was a constant breakdown, the famous escalator connecting the station's lower floor to Bosacka Street was put into service.
The Krakow Bus Station (Wasko-Projekt) is not a pearl of architecture. There are forty departure booths on two levels, passengers are provided with a relatively small building with two waiting rooms. Navigating the Krakow Transportation Center, which includes the Regional Bus Station and the Railway Main Station, can be problematic for travelers. Trying to get to the station's apron from the side of Pawia Street, where the cab stands are located, visitors are forced to wade through two not-so-friendly spaces beforehand: the crowded and noisy Galeria Krakowska and the underground Railway Station, hidden behind it. And that's just the beginning of the crossing.
1 + 1 + 1 = 2
The station's real problem, however, has long been vertical communication. According to the original concept, one could travel between the lower and upper slabs in three ways - elevators, "traditional" stairs and escalators. For years, however, this was only theory. The longest escalator in Poland, as it was called a dozen years ago, caused problems from the beginning. The city spent hundreds of thousands of zlotys on endless repairs. Finally, in November 2018, the stairs came to a standstill. Courses between the upper and lower slabs were therefore made only with the help of steep, three-run stairs and cramped elevators, which did not always work.
The escalators at Krakow Bus Station are finally working
photo: Przemyslaw Ciępka
a revolution on the scale of the last century
The topic of repairing the staircase has returned many times, becoming a symbol of the ineptitude of the Cracow authorities. Each time, the plans remained only on paper, and the projected costs increased. The immovable structure became a legend comparable to the one earned by the Skeletor, which had been under construction for 45 years. Eventually, the staircase failure at Krakow Bus Station outlived the presidency of Jacek Majchrowski. With the changing of the guard, however, a "revolution" came to Krakow's train station.
The escalator at Krakow Bus Station is finally up and running.
photo: Przemyslaw Ciępka
Demolition of the previous stairs began as early as February this year. Work continued at the station throughout the summer. The operation, costing more than 4 million zlotys, succeeded in installing a completely new stair mechanism and renovating the traditional stairs located right next to it. The new escalator was hidden under a skeletal glass canopy. It blends in blandly with the (otherwise questionable) aesthetics of the station space. Against the backdrop of the aging architecture of the entire complex built in warm tones, they look rather futuristic, more like a fragment of the International Space Station than a structure near the historic center of the city.
The escalator at Krakow Bus Station is finally up and running
photo: Przemyslaw Ciępka
The escalators at Krakow Bus Station are working
However, appearance is not the most important thing here - the escalators at Krakow Bus Station are finally working. They have civilized the space of Krakow's bus station, making the facility a bit more accessible. City authorities are apologizing for the years without escalators - and they have whom. People with disabilities were a particularly disadvantaged group. The new stairs probably won't benefit wheelchair users, but the restriction on free movement should be understood as a spectrum. It includes people with temporary or permanent problems, with different difficulties and degrees of severity. This can include injured people and those with musculoskeletal diseases, but also the elderly and pregnant women, for whom climbing forty flights of steep stairs can be quite an effort. The accessibility of the space is evidenced not only by elevators - low curbs and exits, handrails, and - as the example of the Krakow train station shows - also escalators are needed for easier and truly accessible movement.
