The station, located at the crossing of the Zagorodny Avenue and the now-vanished Vvedensky Canal, was inaugurated in the presence of Nicholas I of Russia on 30 October 1837 when the first Russian train, named Provorny, departed from its platform for the imperial residence at Tsarskoe Selo.

However, it was Sima Minash's [ru] opulent Art Nouveau interior that established the building as the most ornate of St Petersburg stations.

Minash was responsible for the sweeping staircases, foyer with stained glass and spacious halls boasting a series of painted panels that chronicle the history of Russia's first railway.

Apart from the replica of the first Russian train, curiosities of the Vitebsk Station include a detached pavilion for the Tsar and his family and a marble bust of Nicholas I.

Services from the station run to Central Europe, the Baltic States, Ukraine, Belarus and the southern suburbs of St Petersburg, such as Pushkin and Pavlovsk.