Horse tram on Marszałkowska Street, 1867Electric tramway construction, Warsaw, Marszałkowska Street and Jerusalem Avenue intersection, 1907[2]Electric trams on Marszałkowska Street, 1914Restored type A, K and N trams running during a Night of Museums in 2021Restored Konstal N tram car from the 1950s running on a special tourist lineKonstal 13N tram cars from the 1960s, retired in 2012
The Warsaw tram network is a 125.3-kilometer (77.9 mi)[1][note 1] tram system serving a third of Warsaw, Poland, and serving half the city's population.[3] It operates 726 cars,[4] and is the second-largest system in the country (after the Silesian system).[5] There are about 25 regular lines,[6] 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 municipally-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 horse tram line was built to transport goods and passengers between the Vienna Railway Station and the Petersburg and Terespol railway stations across the Vistula River. This was in order to circumvent limitations imposed by Russian authorities, which prevented the construction of a railway bridge for strategic reasons. In 1880, a second line was constructed with the help of 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 had lost most of its original purpose after a railway bridge was finally 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 motor coaches similar to trams, only faster, 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 Russian gauge left from Russian times. In 1925, the company operating the Warsaw trams decided to construct an underground system. Preliminary boring started, but the work was suspended 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 of 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 has been changing with the purchase of new rolling stock, modernization of key tram lines, and deployment of a passenger information system. Plans also include extension of the network and an "intelligent" traffic management system which is to prioritize trams at traffic lights. In August 2008, a tender for delivery of 186 low-floor, air-conditioned trams was launched, allowing for a dramatic overhaul of the look of the tramway system.
In 2014 a first entirely new line since a quarter century was opened, connecting Tarchomin, a quickly growing remote residential district on the north-eastern outskirts of the city, with the existing tram network and the M1 metro line. The route is undergoing further expansion with the latest 1 km (0.6 mi) long segment finished in September 2021 after multiple delays.[7] Two more new lines are being planned: one with 4 km (2.5 mi) of new tracks to Gocław, and another almost 20 km (12 mi) to the southern suburb of Wilanów.[8] The construction of the tram route to Wilanów was launched in August 2022[9] and is set to be completed by early 2024. It is unclear when work will start on the line to Gocław.[10]
The renovation carried out to restore the composition of elements characteristic of this particular one, e.g. Black lighting fixtures, painting with characteristic city crests on the sides or the typeface of rolling stock numbers used by Konstal. The wagon also has full glazing of the door.
The car set is/was used on lines
15, 35, 36 and 78
The most commonly used model in Warsaw. Produced from 1973 to 2001.
An evolution of the earlier Konstal 13N, the city's first modern tram, a copy of the PCC streetcar derived Czechoslovak Tatra T1 widely used throughout the Soviet Bloc. First cars were based on the electrical systems from the 13N placed in a lighter body, later ones had them replaced with more efficient ones.
Most commonly used in sets of two, however, single units also appear. Sets of three had been used in the past, but they were replaced by new low-floor trams.
At the request of the city, the last 6 units were manufactured as bi-directional, designated 120NaDuo, to allow using them on a partially-built line with no balloon loop.
In 2013 50 bi-directional trams of a new design were purchased from PESA to be delivered in 2014, planned to allow operating on possible new lines during their construction and sections of existing tracks during maintenance works that made balloon loop inaccessible.
There is a single fare system for every mode of transportation. Tickets can be purchased at ticket machines and newsagents all over the city, as well as using a mobile app.[14]
Warsaw tram line 22 in 1940
Route list
This section needs to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(September 2021)
This is a list of Warsaw Tramway lines. As of 2015, there were several track closures all over the tramway system, due to the construction of the second metro line. This list shows tram lines operating as of 30 October 2023 and the routes they operate on as of the same date.[6]
Winnica (Metro Marymont)(Tarchomin) ↔ PKP Służewiec Nowodwory - Światowida – Kuklińskiego – Most Skłodowskiej-Curie – Marymoncka – Słowackiego – Popiełuszki – aleja Jana Pawła II – rondo Zgrupowania AK „Radosław” – aleja Jana Pawła II – rondo ONZ – aleja Jana Pawła II – Chałubińskiego – aleja Niepodległości – Rakowiecka – Boboli – Wołoska – Marynarska
Kielecka ↔ Metro Młociny Rakowiecka – aleja Niepodległości – Chałubińskiego – aleja Jana Pawła II – rondo ONZ – aleja Jana Pawła II – rondo Zgrupowania AK „Radosław” – aleja Jana Pawła II – Broniewskiego – Wólczyńska – Nocznickiego
The standard headway is every 8 minutes during peak hours and every 12 minutes off-peak, but the trams on lines 1, 9, 17, 31, and 33 run every 4–6 minutes. Line 2 has the most frequent service with trams running every 2 minutes during peak hours.
^ abThe figure given in the source is 303 km (188 mi) of single track, it is assumed that the length of all routes (nearly all of them being double track) is about half that figure.
^Barrow, Keith (2014-01-21). "Warsaw Tramways orders Pesa Jazz LRVs". International Railway Journal. International Railway Journal. Retrieved 2014-01-22. WARSAW Tramways signed a Zlotys 167.9m ($US 54.8m) contract with Pesa, Poland on January 15 for 30 type 134N Jazz low-floor LRVs, which will be used on lower-density routes in the city.
^"Tramwaje". Klub Miłośników Komunikacji Miejskiej w Warszawie (in Polish). 31 December 1999. Retrieved 23 January 2018.