The Vladivostok railway station that we know today was built in 1912 to the design of Nikolai Konovalov. The building is a masterpiece, drawing on motifs from old Russian architecture. A year after it was opened, the station was officially recognized as the best in Russia. Construction lasted for three years, from 1909 to 1911, under the supervision of the famous engineer F. Niklevech. The walls and foundation of the old station building built in 1894 by the military engineer P. Bazilevsky were used during construction. The interior of the building was decorated in the most luxurious style by the architect V. Planson, who served at the Ussuri Railway.
The ceremonial laying of the foundation stone of the station building took place on May 19, 1891. The stone was laid by the heir to the Russian imperial throne, Grand Duke Nicholas Alexandrovich, who would later become Emperor Nicholas II of Russia. The fact that such a monument appeared here, at the outer edges of Russia, was symbolic in its own right, testifying to the inseparability of Vladivostok from central Russia, from the traditions of Russian culture. The eastern side of the building bears the coat of arms of the capital, as a symbol of the connection with Moscow, while the western side bears the coat of arms of Primorskaya Oblast.
The first train departed from Vladivostok railway station in 1893 to Ketritsevo (now Ussuriysk) station. While the service to Khabarovsk was launched in 1897, it was not until 1913, with the completion of the Trans-Siberian Railway, that the city would receive a direct transport link to the country’s western regions. In 1936, the interiors of the station received a new coat of paint courtesy of artist G. Grigorovich, and 20 years later, V. Gerasimenko painted the ticket hall with his mural "Our Great Motherland." The functional importance of the station has increased since 1961, when the Russian Far East’s first commuter and intra-city electric train services were launched. Twenty years after that, the track layout was completed, and the station was connected by a promenade to the main square in Primorsky Krai, where the Monument to the Fighters for Soviet Power in the Far East stands. In 1994 – 1996, the station building was overhauled by the Italian firm Tegola Canadese under the direction of Russian architect A. Melnik, and now it is without a doubt the most beautiful building in the city located on the eastern shore of the Golden Horn Bay.
