Once upon a time, the Tashkent railway station, built in 1899 to the design of G. Svarichevsky, was considered one of the most beautiful buildings in the city. On May 1, 1899, the Trans-Caspian Railway was extended to Tashkent, linking the south of Turkestan with Baku via a ferry crossing over the Caspian Sea. On January 1, 1906, the Tashkent–Orenburg railway line opened, providing the city with extensive opportunities for trade with Russia and Europe. The station building featured the city’s first large clock.

 In 1902, the building was damaged by a powerful earthquake and was restored three years later. During World War II, the station received thousands of refugees from frontline areas, many of whom were initially housed in the station square. The building underwent multiple reconstructions.

Between 1957 and 1961, it received a contemporary (for the time) glass-and-concrete design by architects V. Biryukov, L. Travyanko, and V. Rusanov, as well as engineers K. Kan, D. Vantannikov, and S. Ryzhov.

The facade, clad in turquoise tiles, roof canopies, and open inner courtyards reflected local traditions, while fragments of Svarichevsky’s original building were preserved inside. This new station can be regarded as one of the earliest examples of Soviet modernism: the Panoramic Cinema, TSUM, and Chilonzor Shopping Center would appear only in 1964.

After the 1966 earthquake, the station was rebuilt while preserving the core idea of functional minimalism established in the 1957 design. During the years of independence, the building was altered twice to reflect new trends, leaving virtually nothing of the brutalist monument of the modernist era.

In 1984, the “Toshkent” metro station opened next to the railway station. Despite the commissioning of the Southern Station for local trains, the development of the airport, and improved road connections, the station—now called the Northern Station—remains a vital urban transport hub, the main gateway to the capital, and a monument to the architectural history of Soviet modernism.