Warsaw

:For other uses, see Warsaw (disambiguation) and Warszawa (disambiguation).

Transport

Although Warsaw was heavily damaged during World War II and reconstruction in the fifties widened many streets, the city is currently plagued with traffic problems. Public transportation in Warsaw is as efficient as it is ubiquitous, serving the city with buses, tramways, and a recently opened metro.

Related Topics:
World War II - Fifties

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Roads and highways

Warsaw lacks a good circular road system and most of the East-West traffic goes directly through the city center. Currently two circular roads are under construction. The first (called OEW, or Obwodnica Etapowa Warszawy) is to lead the traffic approximately 10 kilometres from the city center through the city streets and two newly-built bridges (http://www.zdm.waw.pl/obwodnica/obwodnica.jpg). The other is to become a part of both the A-2 (Berlin-Moscow) and the A-7 (Gda?sk?Kraków) motorways and run through a tunnel under the southern area of Ursynów. It is to become available between 2008 and 2010.

Related Topics:
Berlin - Moscow - Gda?sk - Kraków - Motorway - Ursynów - 2008 - 2010

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Airports

Warsaw has one international Airport, Warsaw Frederic Chopin Airport, located just 10 km away from the city center. With over 60 international and domestic flights a day and with over 5 million passengers a year it is by far the biggest airport in Poland. Immediately adjacent to the main Frederic Chopin Airport terminal complex is the Etiuda terminal which serves both domestic routes and the international routes flown by low-cost carriers.

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There are also plans for a second international airport to be built, mostly for service to other European Union countries. It is to be located either just outside of the city limits at the site of one of the former military airports or in one of the suburbs to the North or to the West.

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Mass transit

The public transportation system in Warsaw consists of three branches (buses, streetcarss and metro) united in the ZTM (Zarz?d Transportu Miejskiego or the City Transportation Office). Additional lines are operated by private companies and the state-owned railways.

Related Topics:
Bus - Streetcars - Metro

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Buses

Bus service covers the entire city, with 176 routes totalling 2,603 kilometres in length, and with 1,659 vehicles in service. The central bus stop is located next to Warszawa Centralna railway station and the Centrum Metro station. Between midnight and 5 am the city is served by 14 night lines. The first digit of the line's number indicates its type:

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• 1** - normal line (operates all day, seven days a week, stops at every bus stop on the route)
• 2** - special line (only on special occasions, e.g. the cemetery lines on November 1, or as a replacement for a metro or streetcar line that is temporarily out of order)
• 3** - period line - normal (operates only at selected hours and on certain days, usually during peak hours, stops at every stop on the route)
• 4** - period line - fast (operates only at selected hours and on certain days, usually during peak hours, stops only at selected stops)
• 5** - fast line (operates all day, seven days a week, stops only at selected stops)
• 6** - night line (operates at night only, all stops are on-demand)
• 7** - suburb line (operates all day, seven days a week, goes outside the borders of Warsaw)
• 8** - suburb period line (operates only at selected hours and on certain days, usually during peak hours, goes outside the borders of Warsaw)
• E-* - express line (stops only at major stops)

Streetcars

The first streetcar line in Warsaw was opened on 11 December 1866. On 26 March 1908, all the lines, previously horse-powered, were electrified. In the interbellum the tramway was nationalized and the net was extended significantly. After the Defence War of 1939 the service was halted for approximately three months due to war losses. Heavy aerial bombardment during the siege of Warsaw and requisition of all modern cars by the new German authorities postponed the reintroduction of service. However, by 1940 the trams were back on track. In 1941 the present colors of the cars were introduced (yellow and red, in accordance with the Flag of Warsaw colors. This was done to demoralize the Poles in the city by attempting to wipe out all traces of the white and red colors of Poland. Up until this point, the trams were painted either in a white and red mixture, or entirely red).

Related Topics:
Streetcar - 11 December - 1866 - 26 March - 1908 - Defence War of 1939 - 1940 - 1941 - Flag of Warsaw

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Following the Warsaw Uprising the tram net was consistently destroyed by the Germans until the liberation of the ruins in January 1945. The streets were filled with rubble, the tram stations destroyed and the cars either burnt or transported to Germany. However, the first streetcar line was opened again for the public on 20 June 1945.

Related Topics:
Warsaw Uprising - 1945 - 20 June

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Following the Second World War the tram net in Warsaw was in fast development. The track net reached all the principal parts of the city. However, in the sixties the official policy of both Polish and Soviet authorities promoted usage of Soviet oil and exportation of Polish coal. The availability of coal on the home market was decreased and the tramway net was shortened while more buses were bought. Until 1989 only 28 lines were preserved.

Related Topics:
Second World War - Sixties - Soviet - 1989

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Currently the Tramwaje Warszawskie company runs 863 cars on almost 470 kilometres of track. Twenty-nine lines run across the city with additional lines opened on special occasions (such as public holidays or All-Saints Day).

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Trolleybuses

After the World War II most of the communication network in Warsaw was destroyed. The streets were filled with rubble, and the streetcar infrastructure was either transported to Germany by the Wehrmacht or destroyed.

Related Topics:
World War II - Wehrmacht

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However, the city entered the path of quick reconstruction and was in need of a transport network both cheap and efficient. In 1946 several dozens of trolleybuses were brought in from the Soviet Union and first two lines were soon opened. The trolleybuses were using ex-tramway lines and the lines ran from Union of Lublin square (Plac Unii Lubelskiej) to Warszawa Gda?ska train station, and from ?azienkowska depot to the city center (Pi?kna street area).

Related Topics:
1946 - Trolleybus - Soviet Union - Union of Lublin

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In March 1946 a second line was opened (Plac Saski?Bonifraterska), but was closed and replaced by streetcars in December. However, the reconstruction of the tramway was halted, mostly for political reasons, and until 1955 5 new trolleybus lines were opened, covering most of the city center.

Related Topics:
1946 - 1955

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See: trolleybus network map of this period

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1967 started a period of fast decline in both the number of trolleybuses and the trolleybus lines in Warsaw. PZPR policies under Edward Gierek assumed that as much Polish coal as possible be exported while the oil be imported at very low prices from the USSR. It was decided that production of electricity should be lowered in order to spare resources and by 7 July 1973 all trolleybus lines in Warsaw were closed.

Related Topics:
1967 - PZPR - Edward Gierek - USSR - 7 July - 1973

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The last period of Warsaw trolleybus transportation started in 1977, when it was decided that the existing cars could be used as a means of mass transit between Warsaw and the southern suburb of Piaseczno. An additional line was planned through Wilanów (now a part of the city), Powsin and Konstancin-Jeziorna. However, the contemporary economic crisis made construction of the latter line impossible, and only the Piaseczno line was opened on 1 July 1983.

Related Topics:
1977 - Piaseczno - Wilanów - Powsin - Konstancin-Jeziorna - 1 July - 1983

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After the system transformation of 1989 it became apparent that the trolleybuses were in dire need of replacement (those used were built in early 1950s), and that the maintenance costs of running a single line were very high. On 1 September 1995 the Warsaw City Council decided that all services on the 51 and 651 lines be halted. In July 2000 the trolleybus depot in Piaseczno was closed and the remaining cars sold to Minsk, Lublin (where most of them languish in a field behind the main area of a trolleybus depot awaiting refurbishment and return to service; a lack of funds prevents this from going ahead) and to various museums.

Related Topics:
1989 - 1950s - 1 September - 1995 - 2000 - Minsk - Lublin

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See: trolleybus line map of this period

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Metro

For detailed info on the Warsaw underground railway see: Warsaw Metro.

Related Topics:
Underground railway - Warsaw Metro

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Railway

The first railroad reached Warsaw in 1848 (the Warsaw-Vienna line). Nowadays

Related Topics:
1848 - Vienna

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Warsaw is one of the main railway nodes and exchange points in Poland. Cheap and fairly efficient, the PKP (Polskie Koleje Pa?stwowe, or Polish State-owned Railways) are one of the principal means of transport in Poland.

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The main train station is Warszawa Centralna. Both the domestic and the international connections run from there to almost every major city in Poland and Europe. There are also 5 additional major train stations and a number of smaller stations for suburban lines.

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The railway crosses under the city through a tunnel (tunel ?rednicowy). It is approximately 2.2 km long and runs directly under the city center. It is a part of an east-west line connecting the Warszawa Zachodnia, Warszawa Centralna and Warszawa Wschodnia train stations through the tunnel and a railway bridge over the Vistula river. There are plans for converting this line into metro.

Related Topics:
Vistula - Metro

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The principal train stations are:

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• Warszawa Centralna
• Warszawa Gda?ska
• Warszawa Wile?ska
• Warszawa Zachodnia
• Warszawa Wschodnia