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Communication revolution in Pomerania

Update: 2010-07-05

Hybrid trams, railway station in Rebiechowo or 15 minutes drive from Tczew to Gdańsk - those are only some of many changes planed in Pomeranian public transport. Until 2015 the modernization of all parts of E65 Gdynia - Warsaw railway line is to be completed and modern Mertropolitan Railway is to operate in Pomerania.

Problem with traffic jams

For many people travelling by car is the most comfortable form comfortable mean of transport. It is proven by increasing number of vehicles on Pomeranian roads. Unfortunately, heavy traffic is a major drawback of this convenient mean of transportation Majority of world's great cities face the problem of jammed streets. The solution of the problem may be provided by well developed network of public transport, which being a reliable and easily accessible mean of transportation partly eliminates the use of car. For inhabitants of Gdańsk, Sopot and Gdynia, in the peak hours, the most suitable way of transport is the Fast Urban Railway (Szybka Kolej Miejska - SKM). In the next five years, it will be supplemented by a network of new railway lines, creating the Pomeranian Metropolitan Railway system (Pomorska Kolej Metropolitarna - PKM).

New railway links

In the beginning of 2010 Pomorskie Voivodeship authorities created the company, which will coordinate the construction process of Pomeranian Metropolitan Railway. The total value of the investment is estimated for over 700 mln PLN.

The Pomeranian Metropolitan Railway project will be realized in several stages. First of them concerns construction of the railway line directly linking Gdańsk with Lech Walesa Airport in Rębiechowo. New connections in Gdańsk will start from Wrzeszcz Station and will be carried on the 15-kilometer railway embankment of former Gdańsk - Kokoszki line, which was destroyed in the end of II Word War. Metropolitan Railway will also provide a direct link from the Rębiechowo Airport to Gdynia, which is already well connected to Kościerzyna. Gdynia - Kościerzyna line will also be thoroughly modernized for the investment.

Implementation of the project will improve the quality of public transport in Tri-City metropolitan area: it will provide great transport potential, high efficiency and reduction in travel time due to transfer of transport circulation outside the crowded street system. Probably the first passengers will travel on the selected Metropolitan Railway fragments as soon as 2012. The whole route can be completed in 2014 - explains Krzysztof Rudziński, manager of Voivodeship's Projects Coordination Department in Pomorskie Voivodeship Marshal's Office. Further stages of the investment are planned for the years 2013-2020. They are designed to reactivate the railway routes to Kartuzy and Bytów. In the future it is also planned to create a direct link to Gdynia's airport located in Babie Doły district. The line will cross the Obłuże district. What is more Gdańsk's authorities plan to implement hybrid tram-railway vehicles on the rails of Metropolitan Railway between Gdańsk's Morena and Strzyża. The vehicles will move on train tracks as well as on tram rails.

Linking the whole region

Tri-City's development forces the modernization of present railway network, not only in the area of agglomeration but also outside its borders. The modernization of existing infrastructure and construction of new railway routes will improve access to the region's capital from the Kashubia, Kociewie and Żuławy Wiślane. In Pomorskie Voivodeship, apart from the construction of Metropolitan Railway, the main planned and realized infrastructure investments consist of: modernization of E65 Warszawa - Gdynia railway line, revitalization and modernization of Hel's corridor (line number 213 Reda - Hel) and Kościerzyna corridor (line number 201 Kościerzyna - Gdynia section).

E65 Gdynia -Warszawa railway route

E65 railway route is a section of pan-european transport corridor linking baltic regions with Adriatic Sea areas and the Balkans. Modernization of E65 route is the largest investment currently realized in Pomorskie Voivodeship. Specialists estimate that after the completion of the works time of travel between polish capital and Tri-City will be shortened to around three hours - explains Ewa Szymonowicz-Ginter, spokesman of Polish Railway Lines (Polskie Linie Kolejowe S.A. - PKP) Regional Department in Gdańsk.

The first "Park and Ride" in Pomerania

Although rail transport plays a very important role in pomeranian communication system, it wouldn't be an attractive mean of transportation without synchronization with car and bus transport. The "Park and Ride" (PAR) is the element merging the whole system. It is designed to integrate the individual communication with public transport. In practice, PAR depends on assumption that passengers traveling in borders of agglomeration by cars leave them on free or cheap parking lots usually situated in the peripheries of the city. There they switch to chosen mean of public transport (e.g. train or bus) going deeper into the Tri-City metropolis. The first Pomeranian "Park and Ride" will be constructed in Tczew (town located about 30 km south of Gdańsk) in the year 2012.

Until the pre-war period Tczew was an important railway junction located on the crossing of main transport routes. It is still one of the most important interchange stations of the region. The Tczew railway station is used not only by inhabitants of Tczew poviat but also Starogard, Malbork and Kwidzyn poviats. Additionally a junction closing the Fast Urban Railway of Tri-City is located in Tczew - points Mirosław Pobłocki, Deputy President of Tczew.

On the area of 5 hectares there will be constructed a new ground parking lot with 252 parking places and new street system with tunnel, which will guarantee a safe coordination of traffic. Additionally 12 platforms will be erected, where buses will commence their courses, 16 parking places for buses and 11 for minibuses. Tczew Communication Junction is to handle at least eight railway and bus operators.