The passenger building was designed in the first half of the 1800s by Eng. Enrico Pohlmeyer, author of the plan, and by the Lucchese architect Giuseppe Pardini, who was the creator of the elevations: the building was inaugurated on 29 September 1846. The elegant and refined façade has a double order of arches which lightens the structure. Some changes over the years have not affected the original nineteenth-century construction.
Since 1884, the terminal station of the Lucca–Ponte a Moriano tramway had stood in the square in front of it, the urban penetration section of which used a gallery built under the walls called the Cairoli sortie, which is still visible today. This tram station, called Porta San Pietro due to its proximity to the homonymous access work to the city, was in turn equipped with a masonry building serving the "Tranvia Lucchese" company and a central canopy. The system was completed by a water tank for supplying the tram locomotives. A siding with the railway freight yard, not connected to the state network, completed the plant. The tramway to Ponte a Moriano was closed in 1932.
The electrified metric gauge track of the Lucca-Monsummano tramway, inaugurated in 1907 and definitively suppressed in 1957, also passed in the immediate vicinity of the station, with a dedicated stop.
From 22 May 2023, works have begun for the construction of a new cycle-pedestrian underpass that will connect the cycle-pedestrian path around the walls at the height of Piazzale Ricasoli to the station, this new underpass should improve the safety of pedestrians, cyclists, and improve traffic flow.
From 3 July 2023, the restoration work on the main building of the Lucca station began, with consequent changes to circulation and parking.
Station yard
The station yard has six tracks, including five loops used for passenger service, and three sidings.
Track 1 has a platform for trains to and from Media Valle del Serchio, Garfagnana and Lunigiana. Track 2 is for passing Freight trains. The passenger trains stopping at the platform facing track 3 are from Florence and heading towards Viareggio. The platform facing track 4 is for trains from Viareggio towards Florence. Tracks 5 and 6 are used by trains heading to the hill towns, to Pisa and to Florence.
Siding tracks 1 and 2 west are used as the terminus of the lines to Pisa and Viareggio. Siding track 3 east is the terminus of the line to Florence.
Passenger and train movements
Passenger traffic is very heavy at all hours of the day, especially in the morning and evening, when the station is crowded with commuters. In summer, the station is often the focal point of the entire province of Lucca for tourists and people heading to Viareggio.
All trains passing through the station are bound for various regional destinations, of which the most important are Florence, Aulla, Viareggio and Pisa. The station also has one train a day for Livorno, and a daily bus to Pisa Aeroporto.
The station has a daily passenger traffic of 4018 units (1,500,000 per year) ( data from unspecified year )