Warsaw Metro

The Warsaw Metro (Metro Warszawskie) is one of Europe's youngest metro systems. Not surprisingly it consists of only one line, which is still under construction. Plans to build an underground rail system in the Polish capital date back to 1925 when the first plans of such a system were drawn up. The works started in 1938, but World War II brought an end to the ambitious undertaking. The short trace tunnels made in 1938 serve as a wine cellar today.

In the 1950s, as the Cold War raged on, Soviet strategic plans required that a secure transport link across the river Vistula be built. One of the ways to achieve this was to create a metro system in Warsaw, which would be interlinked with the rail network and could serve as an underground conduit for transporting troops. Plans assumed that the first line would lie along North-South axis and a second line would cross the Vistula river in the city center. However, in 1956 détente brought an end to the plans and all works were halted under the pretext of technical difficulties.

Finally, in 1984, the program was given a green light by the Communist government and the first tunnels were built. Lack of funds, poor planning, and tedious bureaucracy meant that the work went forward very slowly. The Metro was opened in 1995 with a total of 11 stations. The line now has 16 stations along a distance of approximately 15 kilometres, and is to be completed with a total of 21 stations by 2007.

Perhaps alone among world metro systems, tickets are not available from the transport company itself, but from private-run kiosks; however, all stations have a kiosk located not more than 5 metres from an entrance. Another interesting feature of the Warsaw Metro is that the whole system serves as an atomic shelter: all stations are guarded by massive gates, which can be automatically closed upon receiving an atomic alert.

Future plans

A second line, crossing the city from east to west (heading north from central Praga on the east bank of the river) is planned, along with a short third line from central Praga going south; both of these are truncated versions of earlier plans for the lines to approach the city limits at each end. However, construction has not yet commenced and is thought unlikely before the first line is completed. Recent estimates (as of January 2005) suggest the second line might only be completed in around 2025.

The first line was a compromise between earlier route proposals further east and west (one of which belonged to the planned Line 4) and as such does not go to some important areas of the city. For example, it does not pass directly under the old town, Warsaw's main tourist attraction, which has few public transport links, passing it about 600 m to the west. It also does not go to the central railway station, and the nearest stop is over 400m to the east (the planned second line will also avoid it, with the closest station also about 400 m to the north). Furthermore, the first line, and thus the Metro system for the immediate future, is confined to the western side of the Vistula river, thus doing nothing to ease the traffic on Warsaw's bridges, a major bottleneck between the city centre and the eastern Praga district. Plans to extend the metro to Okęcie airport were abandoned. Instead, there are plans to use an existing rail line to develop a rail-based rapid transit connection to the airport; no work has yet begun.

It is likely that the future extent of the Metro will remain unclear until issues surrounding ownership and future strategy of the PKP, Poland's national railway, are settled. The PKP runs an extensive suburban railway network that could strongly complement the Metro if it were brought up to modern standards. Decades without significant investment mean that ridership is low, despite forecasts that the lines could potentially be profitable and could contribute enormously to improving Warsaw's public transport. Political resistance to restructuring, however, is strong.

Similarly, transport planners have suggested that the WKD, Poland's first electric railway, a light rail line that runs to the western suburbs, could be integrated with the city's tram system, or be more closely tied to the Metro and a future suburban rail network, or both. The first such plans were prepared in late 1930's and the railway tunnel running below the city centre was to be shared by both the railway and the metro. At present it terminates at a station that is at least a five-minute walk or one tram stop from Warsaw's central station, and a two-minute walk from the nearest Metro stop (it should be noted that before World War II it had a somewhat more central terminus). Although it now has its own management structure, the WKD has yet to be modernized, thanks in part due to the lack of a coordinated transport strategy. In mid-1990's the WKD, PKP and Warsaw Metro systems were temporarily integrated and Warsaw city travel cards were viable also in the sub-urban railways. This idea was, however, dropped in 1999 due to financial problems of the earlier companies.

List of Stations

Template:Commons (South to North along the single existing line):

• Kabaty train yard (closed to public)
• Kabaty
• Natolin
• Imielin
• Stokłosy
• Ursynów
• Służew
• Wilanowska
• Wierzbno
• Racławicka
• Pole Mokotowskie
• Politechnika
• Centrum (opened 1998)
• Swiętokrzyska (opened 2001)
• Ratusz (opened 2001)
• Dworzec Gdański (opened December 25 2003)
• Plac Wilsona (opened April 8, 2005)

Under construction:

• Marymont (construction started April 9, 2005, opening planned for late 2006) [1] (http://www.metro.waw.pl/page.php?id=145&lng=en)
• Park Kaskada (construction start planned around July, 2005, opening planned for late 2006)

Planned (to open in 2007):

• Bielany
• Wawrzyszew
• Młociny

External link:

• Warsaw Metro website (http://www.metro.waw.pl/?lng=en)pl:Metro Warszawskie

de:U-Bahn Warschau