Warsaw Tramway Information

The Warsaw Tramway (Polish: Tramwaje Warszawskie) is a 120-kilometre (75 mi) (240-kilometre (150 mi) of single track) system serving a third of Warsaw, Poland, and serving half the city's population.^[1] It operates 863 cars, and is the second-largest system in the country, after the Silesian system.^[2] There are about 30 lines^[3], forming a part of the city's integrated public transport system organized by the Warsaw Transport Authority. Since 1994 the system is operated by the municipal-owned company Tramwaje Warszawskie Sp. z.o.o.

History

Horse tram

The history of tram transport in Warsaw dates back to 1866 when a 6-kilometre (3.7 mi) long horsecar line was built to transport goods and passengers between the Vienna Railway Station and the Wilno and Terespol stations across the Vistula river. This was in order overcome limitations placed by the occupational Russian authorities which, for strategic reasons, prevented the construction of a railway bridge. In 1880, a second line was constructed with Belgian capital, this time intended as public transit within the city. The Belgian company quickly expanded its own lines, and in 1882 took over the line between the railway stations, which has lost most of its original purpose after a railway bridge was built in 1875. In 1899, the entire tram system, by then 30 kilometres (19 mi) of tracks with 234 tram cars and 654 horses operating 17 lines, was purchased by the city. By 1903, plans were drafted to convert the system to electric trams, which was done by 1908.

Interbellum

The development mostly stagnated for the next 10 years with only a few short stretches built. After World War I, the network developed rapidly handling increased traffic and extending to the outskirts of the city with the network reaching the length of 60 kilometres (37 mi) and 757 tram cars in 1939. In 1927, a privately owned light rail line called EKD (today Warszawska Kolej Dojazdowa) was built, connecting several neighboring towns with the center of Warsaw using electric railcars similar to trams, only larger and more massive, with frequent stops and tracks running along the streets in city; however the system was incompatible with the Warsaw trams as it used standard gauge tracks while the city network still used broad gauge left from Russian times. In 1925, the company operating the Warsaw trams decided to construct a rapid transit system. Preliminary boring started, but the Warsaw Metro was postponed because of the Great Depression; the idea resurfaced in 1938, but was again buried with the outbreak of World War II.

Second half of the 20th century

The tram system remained operational, although gradually deteriorating, during most the Nazi occupation until the Warsaw Uprising in 1944, after which all the infrastructure was systematically destroyed. After the war it was rebuilt relatively fast. As the system was practically built from scratch the occasion was used to convert it to standard gauge. During the 1950s and 1960s, the network was extended to newly built districts of soviet style panel houses and industrial plants and newer trams based on the design of Presidents' Conference Committee were introduced. Due to the city's lack of a metro system and restriction on car ownership, the tram system remained the backbone of Warsaw's transport system. In the 1960s, however, a political decision was made to increase the dependency on oil imported from Russia, while Polish coal was to be exported to Western Europe in exchange for hard currency; as a result, newly developed districts were connected with the city center by buses rather than trams, and some of the existing tracks were closed.

Present situation

After 1989, the tram system in Warsaw initially received little investment with a large part of the city's budget spent on the construction of the first Warsaw Metro line. However, since 2005, the situation is changing with the purchase of new rolling stock, modernization of key tram lines, deployment of a passenger information system. Plans also include an "intelligent" traffic management system which is to prioritize trams on traffic lights and plans to extend the network. In August 2008, a tender for delivery of 186 completely low-floor, air-conditioned trams was launched. It will allow for a dramatic change of the outlook of the tramway system.

As of the 2012 city is in the process of laying two completely new tram routes. The first in the northern part of the city across the Maria Skłodowska-Curie Bridge presently being erected over the Vistula River, linking a quickly growing remote residential district on the north eastern outskirts of the city with the existing network at the terminus of Warsaw's first metro line. The second in the western part of city, a short segment linking two existing lines in order to order to create a direct connection between two districts.

Rolling stock

Route list

This is a list of Warsaw Tramway lines. Please note, currently there are several track closures all over the tramway system, due to the building of works of the second underground line. This list shows routes which are open as of 29th May 2012 and on the routes they currently operate. ^[4]

References

1. ^ "Tramwaje Warszawskie Sp. z o. o. - Informacje ogólne: Stan inwentarzowy taboru". Tw.waw.pl. http://www.tw.waw.pl/drupal/node/17. Retrieved 2011-05-04.
2. ^ "Tramwaje Warszawskie Sp. z o. o. - Informacje ogólne: Wskaźniki eksploatacyjne". Tw.waw.pl. http://www.tw.waw.pl/info/eksploat.htm. Retrieved 2009-06-12.
3. ^ "Tramwaje Warszawskie Sp. z o. o. — Mapa strony". Tw.waw.pl. http://www.tw.waw.pl/sitemap/sitetras.htm. Retrieved 2009-06-12.
4. ^ http://www.ztm.waw.pl/rozklad_nowy.php?c=182&l=1

External links

• Official website of Tramwaje Warszawskie (Polish)
• Tramwar - a private website about trams in Warsaw (Polish)

Categories:

• Transport in Warsaw
• Tram transport in Poland

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