On October 29, the first tram of route #16 left the Mokotów depot and arrived at the final stop in Miasteczko Wilanów at around 5:00 am. He left at 3:46 and reached Wilanów at 4:26.
The mayor of Warsaw, Rafal Tszaskowski, at the ceremonial opening of the new tram line, noted that this is the first complete new line in the last 70 years, and trams have not run to Wilanów for 50 years. He reminded that in the middle of next year the route will become even longer thanks to branching in the Stegna area.
The new line is two-track and equipped with a grass track almost along its entire length. Photo: Tramwaje Warszawskie
Tram to Vilianuv: new route and changes in city transport
"This shows a serious attitude towards city transport. Despite the pandemic, the reduction of the city budget by the previous government and the war on the eastern border, we are still able to implement such large-scale projects," added Tshaskovsky.
He emphasized that the residents of Vilanuva will now be able to get to the city center twice as fast as by bus, and trams will carry three times more passengers. 40% of the funds for this project were allocated by the European Union.
Tram route
The new route begins at the intersection of Pulavska and Hovorka streets. The tram overcomes a 22-meter height difference in the direction of Nizhny Mokotov through Hovorka and Spatserova Streets. Further, the line runs in a straight line through Belvederska and Sobieski Streets in the direction of Myastechka Wilanów. The final stop for two-way trams is located at the intersection of Rechipospolita and Branytskyi avenues.
Photo: Tramwaje Warszawskie
Lines No. 14 (Vilianów Town – Banaha) and No. 16 (Vilianów Town – Piaski) run on this route, and after the branching to Stegny is completed, line No. 19 will appear here, which will go to Novy Bemov. The opening of the line led to changes in urban transport in the area of the new route – bus lines #200, 501 and 520 were canceled, new routes appeared instead, and some lines changed their route.
Completion of work on the line
On the new tram line, works on the arrangement of small architecture are still continuing, and part of the track needs final work on the laying of the surface.
After the completion of all construction works, priority will be introduced for the tram at the intersections of the route, which will reduce the travel time from the final stop to the city center to 25 minutes (currently the route takes about 30-35 minutes).
Scheme of the new tram line in Warsaw
In addition, the construction of the Stegny tram ring is still ongoing, which will allow a new route with classic one-way trams to be launched in the future.
"The development of the district itself, which began in 2002, is still ongoing - as a result, the total area should be 169 hectares. At one time, Wilianów became a very innovative residential project for Poland: medium-rise buildings, high density, mixed-use. It was designed by different architects and implemented by different developers — but they all act within the framework of a single approved concept, thanks to which the final product looks integral and takes into account the interests of not only the developers themselves," - notes urbanist Viktor Marchenko in his telegram channel National-Urbanism.
See also:
Miasteczko Wilanów & Vlasne Misto. Urban supervision by Guy Perry. (part 1)
Miasteczko Wilanów & Vlasne Misto. Urban Supervision by Guy Perry (Part 2)