Voke (stopping point)

Brief Information

Vokė looks like a small stopping point, but next to it is a place that once split the entire journey in two. The platform stands in the Trakų Vokė area, just 300 meters from the railway bridge over the Vokė River. The stop got its name from this river.

The bridge appeared in 1862 during the construction of the Saint Petersburg–Warsaw line, was blown up in 1915, and restored in 1924. While the crossing was out of service, trains from Vilnius went only as far as a temporary platform by the bridge: passengers crossed the river on a pedestrian bridge and boarded another train on the Landwarów side, today's Lentvaris. So what matters here is not only the platform itself, but its proximity to the bridge: it recalls how the railway temporarily became a route with a break on foot.

What to Notice Right Away

It makes sense to view Vokė as a point between the line, the river, and the bridge. The first detail is the distance to the railway bridge over the Vokė: it explains the stop's name and links it to the former temporary platform by the crossing. The second is its position between Paneriai and Lentvaris: the source directly gives the distances to both stations, emphasizing the intermediate, suburban character of the stop.

The third detail is the logic of the stop itself. In 1939, the 400.68 km point was opened for suburban railcars, which stopped only at a passenger's request. Then, in the 1940 timetables, the unnamed kilometer point quickly becomes Vokė. Later, the Vilnius–Kaunas line through this platform was electrified with alternating current. These several signs show how a technical point on the line acquired a name, regular suburban significance, and a place on an electrified railway.