the town was launched. Post World War I After World War I and the Silesian Uprisings, in 1922 the region (and the tram network) was divided between newly independent Poland and Germany, and international services appeared (the last one ran until 1937). In 1928 further standard gauge systems were established in Sosnowiec, Będzin and Dąbrowa Górnicza (the so-called Dabrowa Coal Basin - a region adjoining the Upper Silesian Coal Basin). Between 1928 and 1936 most of the original narrow gauge network was converted to standard, which allowed a connection with the new system in Sosnowiec. By 1931, 47,5% of the narrow-gauge network was reconstructed, with 20 km of new standard-gauge track built. During World War II, the German authorities decided to merge all the systems and administrations and they have remained as one united network to the present day (though the old boundaries are still easily traceable). In 1951, the tram system was taken over by a state-owned company WPK Katowice and until the 1970s it was widely extended and partly modernised reaching its maximum length at the end of the 1970s (ca. 235 km). The last and only remaining narrow gauge line was decommissioned in 1952 between Siemianowice Śląskie and Chorzów. Since the late 1960s, the classic rolling stock has been replaced by modern cars based on PCC streetcar technology. In the 1980s some of the non-modernised, rural lines were abandoned (the longest one from Bytom to Wieszowa with a branch to Stolarzowice). Between 1976 and 1986, the first wave of tram line decommissioning began in Silesia. Six lines in total were decommissioned in a ten-year period. Aging tram cars and infrastructure as well as dwindling passenger numbers saw passengers switch to buses. In addition, the future of a seventh line was being contested. In 1979, line no. 38 was suspended in Bytom, however it returned to service on 10 February 1982 after citizens of Bytom petitioned for the line to reopen. Post-communism decline The end of the 1980s brought changes in Poland (the Round Table talks and the fall of communism). Unfortunately, that did not improve the tramway service in the region – on the contrary, the condition of the tram company had been steadily deteriorating since the middle of the 1990s. In September 1991, the state-owned WPK Katowice was liquidated. As a result, PKT was created. PKT started to operate on behalf of KZK GOP, a Silesian