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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.
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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.
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.
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.
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.
In 2011 the city expects to start laying two completely new tram routes. The first in the northern part of the city across the tentatively named Northern 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.
| Image | Tram Car Type | Amount | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Konstal 13N | 240 cars | The first "modern" tram used in Warsaw. Produced by Konstal in Chorzów from 1959 to 1969, a Polish copy of the Czechoslovakian Tatra T1 produced by ČKD which supplied most of the trams in the Eastern Bloc. Presently used in sets of two. | |
| Konstal 105Na and derived, HCP 123N |
590 cars | The most commonly used in Warsaw. Produced from 1973 to 2007. Based on the electrical systems used in 13N placed in a lighter body, later replaced with more efficient ones. Most commonly used in sets of two, however sets of three and single units also appear. | |
| Konstal 112 Konstal 116N/116Na |
30 sets | A single prototype Konstal 112N partially low-floor two segment articulated tram based on 105Na, built in 1995. Additional units extended to three segments, designated 116N/116Na, produced between 1998 and 2000 | |
| PESA 120N/120Na | 73 sets further 128 on order |
Produced in 2007 (120N) and from 2010 (120Na) by PESA in Bydgoszcz a modern fully low-floor five segment articulated tram. The initial 15 sets (120N) were purchased specifically for a modernized tram line in Aleje Jerozolimskie. Further 186 sets (120Na) purchased to operate a planned new line and to replace some of the oldest trams are scheduled to be delivered by 2013. |
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