Kalush Railway Station

On January 1, 1875, the Archduke Albrecht Railway was put into operation and the Kalush station was opened. The land for the track was purchased by the ex-Duke Albrecht.

The railway station, or “palace”, as it was once called, in Kalush was built in the period called the “era of railway prosperity” – from the middle of the 19th century to the 20th century. This era enriched architecture with the achievements of public transport construction throughout Europe, and in our territory in particular. Palace and manor-type stations were characteristic, leaving a trace of this complex and dynamic era. The middle Alpine stations had a representative appearance, consisting of massive proportions with an elongated facade of nine windows, grouped in three bays. An example of such architectural development is the railway station building in our city. Most of the stations and railway stations were built according to the designs of the engineer Ludwik Wieżbitski in the then fashionable arcade style (in German - Rundbogenstil). He developed typical designs for station and station buildings, which was an innovative solution at that time. The buildings consisted of the same structural elements, although they often differed in size. In addition to the stations and station buildings, railway workshops and other utility rooms were designed according to the design of Ludwik Wieżbitski. Roman Gostkovskyi at that time worked as an inspector on the Archduke Albrecht Railway. Roman Baron Gostkovskyi managed traffic on the Archduke Albrecht Railway.

The Archduke Albrecht Railway (German: Erzherzog Albrecht-Bahn) connected Lviv with Stryi (via Mykolaiv) and Stryi with Ivano-Frankivsk (via Dolyna). Its total length was 181 km.

Prince Calixtus Poninsky created the "Privileged Society of Archduke Albrecht" for the construction of this railway, the concession for the construction of the railway was issued on November 22, 1871. The concession concerned two routes: Lviv - Stryi - Skole - Beskyd station, and Stryi - Stanislaviv (now Ivano-Frankivsk). The concession was received by a group of influential Polish and Austrian industrialists and public figures, as well as the Galician National Bank (Galicyjski Bank Krajowy). The office of the Archduke Albrecht Railway, at the insistence of the Galician Sejm, was located not in Vienna, but in Lviv. Construction on the section from Stryi to Stanislaviv began in November 1872 and was completed on January 1, 1875, almost six months late. The length of this section was 107.8 km.

To carry out the economic activities of the Archduke Albrecht Railway, it was necessary to take out significant loans from banks. Therefore, the only way to save the enterprises was to buy them out by the state. On December 14, 1877, the Austrian parliament passed a law on the sequestration of loss-making railways that were of strategic importance. Using this law, on July 17, 1880, the Archduke Albrecht Railway became the property of the state, and on August 1, it became part of the Imperial and Royal State Railways. On August 22, 1891, the railway became the property of an organization called the Austrian State Railways.

Since 1885, it has become a part of the Galician Transversal Railway.

Today, the old Archduke Albrecht Railway is actively used for passenger and freight transportation.