Following the Croatian–Hungarian Settlement of 1868 the Free State of Fiume was given a special status in Croatia's personal union with Hungary, as well as forcing the expansion of the Port of Rijeka in the form of making it the main commercial port of the Kingdom of Hungary.

[1] In 1873 the railway routes coming from Budapest via Zagreb and Karlovac as well as from Vienna via Ljubljana & Pivka to Rijeka were finished and the station was opened on the 25 June 1873.

In 1882 one of Europe's first oil refineries was founded in Rijeka, and during the 1880s the port and station were expanded with new warehouses.

After the first world war the city was annexed by the Kingdom of Italy and the station became a border station under ownership of the Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane who electrified the Rijeka-Pivka line with a 3000 V DC system.

Media related to Rijeka railway station at Wikimedia Commons