"The largest in decades." Warsaw opens a new major tram line

At 4:33 AM on Tuesday, the first tram departed from Miasteczko Wilanów, with trams also heading in the opposite direction from Bielany and Ochota. Early in the morning, there were only a few passengers. Shortly after 5 AM, a journalist from tvnwarszawa.pl was accompanied mainly by the voice of Maciej Knapik, a Fakty TVN reporter announcing the stops. Knapik took over this role from his late father, Tomasz, who for many years was the main voice of Warsaw’s public transport.

The passenger information system displaying tram departure times was already active at the stops, though with a note indicating that "system calibration" was underway, leading to minor errors. However, the trams themselves ran smoothly.

Just before 8 AM, Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski met with journalists, arriving by tram. "Today, we are finally starting the tram service from Wilanów to the center of Warsaw. We’ve been waiting for this for many years, as it’s been 70 years since a complete, new tram line was introduced in Warsaw. I’m very pleased," he said.

He described the project as "the largest in decades," noting that this year saw the addition of 10 kilometers of new tram routes, including the Wilanów line along Spacerowa Street and the new line on Kasprzaka Street in Wola. He confirmed that by "mid-next year," the network will extend with a branch of the Wilanów line to Stegny. "This shows how seriously we take public transport," he emphasized.

The mayor pointed out that the project was completed despite challenges such as the pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and "how the budget of the capital city of Warsaw was treated by the previous government." He added that Wilanów residents will now be able to reach the city center significantly faster - twice as fast as by bus, he estimated. Additionally, as he noted, trams can carry a greater number of passengers than buses.

The route to Miasteczko Wilanów is served by two tram lines: 14 (from Ochota) and 16 (from Bielany). Additionally, a branch of this line heading towards the Stegny terminus will feature trams numbered 19, which is expected to be launched in the summer of next year, according to recent announcements.

Line 14 travels from Miasteczko Wilanów to Plac Zbawiciela, where it turns toward Plac Politechniki. From there, it runs along Filtrowa, reaching the loop at Banacha in Ochota. During peak hours, it will operate every 8 minutes, every 12 minutes during off-peak times, and every 15 minutes on weekends.

Trams numbered 16 will run every four minutes during peak times, every six minutes during off-peak hours, and every 7.5 minutes on weekends. They will travel from Miasteczko Wilanów to the city center along Marszałkowska Street and continue toward Rondo "Radosława," passing through Żoliborz to reach the Piaski terminus in Bielany. Half of the trips will terminate on Stawki Street in Muranów, where a turnaround has been created.

With the launch of the tram line, significant changes will occur in the bus routes in Mokotów and Wilanów. These changes will be implemented gradually, but on November 1, bus number 522 will be discontinued, and bus 519 will have its route altered. Tram line 35 has also become history, concluding with its last trip on Monday.

The segment from the intersection of Belwederska, Gagarina, and Spacerowa to the terminus on Branickiego street is approximately 6.5 kilometers long. It features 12 tram and bus stop clusters. At the end of the route, there is no classic loop, which is why it is served exclusively by bi-directional trams from the Korean brand Hyundai Rotem.

There is still much work to be done along the tram tracks, which means difficulties, especially for pedestrians and drivers. Currently, priority for trams has not been implemented at intersections, so the journey from Śródmieście to Wilanów will take longer than the originally declared half-hour. Officials announced that, according to the current schedule, road layout work is expected to be completed by the end of the third and the beginning of the fourth quarter of 2025. Until then, trams will be operating through the construction site.

To recap: work on the new line began in the summer of 2022 and was initially scheduled to be completed by the end of 2023. This deadline was later pushed to September 2024, but that date could not be met either due to issues with resin-based materials that stabilize the tracks and reduce the noise. The total cost of the investment exceeds one billion zlotys.

On Tuesday morning, Warsaw Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski also announced another major tram investment. As he reported on the X platform, at exactly 4:06 AM, the first tram from line 4 departed from the new depot in Annopol.