Warszawska Kolej Dojazdowa

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

You have new messages (last change).

Type EN95 train at Warszawa Śródmieście WKD station

Podkowa Leśna Główna station

Type EN94 train at Podkowa Leśna Zachodnia station

Type EN95 train at Podkowa Leśna Główna station

Historic type EN80 train

Warszawska Kolej Dojazdowa (Warsaw Suburban Railway, WKD) is a suburban light rail line in Poland's capital city of Warsaw. The line, together with its two branches, links Warsaw with the municipalities of Michałowice, Pruszków, Brwinów, Podkowa Leśna, Milanówek and Grodzisk Mazowiecki to the south-west of Warsaw.

1 History
2 Route
3 Operation
4 References
5 External links

[edit] History

The line was opened in 1927 as Elektryczna Kolej Dojazdowa (Electrical Suburban Railway), and was renamed to its current name in 1951. It was the first electric railway in Poland.

Previously a part of Polskie Koleje Państwowe (Polish State Railways, PKP), the line was acquired in late 2004 by a consortium made up of the city of Warsaw, the Masovian regional government and the six municipalities served by the line.^[1]

[edit] Route

Starting from an underground terminus adjacent to the mainline Warszawa Centralna station, the line initially runs to the west alongside Warsaw's main east-west railway line before turning to the south-west on its own right of way. The stations are^[2]:

Warszawa Śródmieście WKD
Warszawa Ochota
Warszawa Zachodnia
Warszawa Reduta Ordona
Warszawa Aleje Jerozolimskie
Warszawa Raków
Warszawa Salomea
Opacz
Michałowice
Reguły
Malichy
Tworki
Pruszków WKD
Komorów
Nowa Wieś Warszawska
Kanie Helenowskie
Otrębusy
Podkowa Leśna Wschodnia
Podkowa Leśnia Główna
Podkowa Leśna Zachodnia

Here the line splits into two branches. The stations on the Milanówek branch (line 48) are:

Polesie
Milanówek Grudów

The stations on the Grodzisk Mazowiecki branch (line 47) are:

Kazimierówka
Brzózki
Grodzisk Mazowiecki Okrężna
Grodzisk Mazowiecki Piaskowa
Grodzisk Mazowiecki Jordanowice
Grodzisk Mazowiecki Radońska

[edit] Operation

The WKD is standard gauge and electrified at 600 Volts DC on the overhead system. Train service is provided by two classes of train sets:

Type EN94 six-axle articulated electric units, built from 1969 and normally operated in pairs. The line owns 40 of these units.
Type EN95 ten-axle low-floor articulated electric units, built from 2004 and normally operated singly. The lines owns, or has on order, 13 of these units.

The line also possesses a historic type EN80 four-axle electric unit, built by English Electric at Preston in 1927, and a small diesel shunter, obtained second hand from PKP.^[3]^[4]

On the main line, trains operate every 15 minutes at peak periods and every 30 minutes at other times, with a service gap between midnight and 05:00. For most of the day, one train an hour runs through to Milanówek Grudów, with most of the other trains running through to Grodzisk Mazowiecki Radońska. All trains stop at all stations on their route, and a journey from Warszawa Śródmieście to Grodzisk Mazowiecki Radońska takes just under one hour.^[5]

The company's headquarters and the main technical depot are in Grodzisk Mazowiecki.