 In 1868, the Compagnie des Chemins de Fer Orientaux (CO), Orient Railway Company, received a concession to build a railway to Vienna, Austria via Edirne.In 1871, the line reached Edirne but in order to avoid building a bridge across the Maritsa River, the station was built in Karaağaç in 1873.Edirne was a former capital in the Ottoman Empire, noted for grand architecture, and in 1914 the larger station was built that stands today, designed by Ahmet Kemaleddin in the Turkish Neoclassical style, similar to Sirkeci railway station in Istanbul.