Warsaw Central was constructed as a flagship project of the Polish People's Republic during the 1970s economic boom, and was intended to replace the inadequate and obsolete Warszawa Główna railway station.

The station's design was innovative, but construction was plagued by continuous alterations to the scope of work which in turn hurt functionality and operations upon completion.

These problems were partially a result of a hasty completion schedule, with the opening date set to coincide with Leonid Brezhnev's 1975 visit to Warsaw.

[9] Some elements of the Warsaw press (e.g. Gazeta Wyborcza and Architektura Murator, 2012), as well as Swiss architect and journalist Werner Huber, have argued against demolition, claiming that the current Warszawa Centralna is a great example and a masterpiece of modernism in Poland.

[12] From the station one can also easily access Złote Tarasy shopping centre, Centrum LIM, the Palace of Culture and Science and Varso Tower.