Site of the Former Shanghai North Railway Station

Site of the Former Shanghai North Railway Station

The site of the former Shanghai North Railway Station is a cultural heritage site protected by Jing’an District.

The site of the former Shanghai North Railway Station is located at No. 200 Tianmu East Road. In April 1908, after three years of construction, the Shanghai–Nanjing Railway was fully opened to traffic. Stretching approximately 311 kilometers from Shanghai North Station to Xiaguan Station in Nanjing, the Shanghai–Nanjing Railway became the first major railway trunk line built in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions south of the Yangtze River. After the inauguration of the Shanghai–Nanjing Railway, the Qing government’s “Railway Corporation” selected a reed marsh north of Jielu (now Tianmu East Road) and west of the Shanghai Station on the Songhu Railway (now Baoshan Road and Donghua Road) to begin building the Shanghai–Nanjing Railway station. The station was completed in July 1909 and named the Shanghai–Nanjing Station. The station site covered an area of about 105,000 square meters, with a plaza spanning over 1,000 square meters. The main structure of the Shanghai–Nanjing Station was a Renaissance-style main station building that also served as the office building of the Shanghai–Nanjing Railway Administration. It faced east and occupied an area of 1,950 square meters, featuring a four-story reinforced concrete structure, marble colonnades, and arched windows. The ground floor exterior walls were constructed with Qingdao bluestone, while the upper levels had red brick walls adorned with light-colored stone trim, making it the largest and most magnificent railway station in the country at the time. In December 1916, when the Shanghai–Hangzhou–Ningbo Railway connected and shared the same station with the Shanghai–Nanjing Railway, it was renamed the Shanghai–Nanjing and Shanghai–Hangzhou–Ningbo Joint Station. To distinguish it from the Shanghai South Railway Station on the Shanghai–Hangzhou–Ningbo line, it became known as the Shanghai North Railway Station. During the January 28th Shanghai Incident in 1932, the North Station and its building were destroyed by Japanese military fire. From May to August 1933, the damaged building was repaired into a two-story structure. In the August 13th Shanghai Incident of 1937, the North Station and its building were heavily bombed by Japanese aircraft and largely razed. In October 1945, it was taken over by the Beijing–Shanghai Railway Administration. Between 1946 and 1947, major renovations and expansions were carried out on the station. After these repairs, there were no significant changes until the establishment of the People’s Republic of China. In 1947, the Shanghai North Station was elevated to the status of Shanghai General Station. After the liberation of Shanghai in 1949, it was taken over by the Shanghai Railway Administration. In March 1950, the Shanghai General Station reverted to its original name, Shanghai North Station. In August 1950, it was officially renamed Shanghai Station and designated as a first-class special station, handling passenger transport and less-than-carload freight. In February 1987, after the new Shanghai Railway Station began operations, it was decommissioned and repurposed as the Shanghai Station Passenger Rolling Stock Maintenance Base. In August 2004, the Shanghai Railway Museum was built on the original site.

The site of the former Shanghai North Railway Station is a cultural heritage site protected by Jing’an District.