Trams in Łódź
Introduction The '''Łódź tram system''' is a tramway network located in Łódź, Poland that has been in operation since 1898.The system is operated by MPK Łódź Sp. z.o.o. There are 24 tramlines with a total linelength of . The system operates on  (narrow gauge) track.
History Share of the ''Kolej Elektryczna Lódzka Sp.A. '', issued 1901Tram in Łódź, 1900.By the 1890s, Łódź had over 300,000 inhabitants. Łódź was a large industrial city characterized by textile industry, and a lack of wide streets, ring roads and a reliable public transport system. All passenger and freight traffic was concentrated in the city center, especially on Piotrkowska Street. Up to one thousand cabs and carriages drove around the city centre. Both the city government and local industrialists wanted to provide a solution to this situation, and therefore took up the construction of a tram past the city centre. In 1883, the first attempt to build a horse tram was made, which in the end was abandoned. The project was tendered, but ultimately, never completed.A project with electric trams was then started, which would carry passengers by day and cargo by night. The Electric Railway Consortium Lodz (KEL) won a tender for construction the line. Julius Kunitzer signed the contract in St. Petersburg in front of Nicholas II on behalf of the KEL. He was backed by the German company AEG, which then started construction in the summer of 1897.Line 4 in 1981Trams in Łódź made their first appearance on 23 December 1898.Łódź was the first city to have electric trams in what was then Congress Poland. Initially, there were two fairly short tram lines that both served the city centre area; by February 1899 their number was doubled. In 1901, the first suburban tram lines started – the Pabianice and Zgierz lines. Both of these initiatives were the result of the activities of private companies in which German manufacturers dominated.The experiment with electric trams in Łódź fared even better than expected. Trams quickly paid off the cost of line construction, and the project brought considerable profits to its shareholders, whereas traffic in the center of the city decreased. Between 1910 and 1931, suburban tram lines connected many important places around the city. In the first half of the 1990s, some of those lines were closed down.After World War II, the network of suburban and urban trams was nationalized and transferred to the  (MPK Łódź), which, as the city expanded, expanded the number and length of both urban and suburban lines. Currently MPK operates 18 urban and 5 regional (or suburban) lines. The longest of these, and in fact the longest of all of Poland, is number 46, which has a length of .While Łódź is acknowledged to be the first city in Poland to have a fully electrified tram system, it is less well known that unusually Łódź once boasted a small cemetery where tram drivers were buried. Sadly, nothing remains of this graveyard, which was situated on Lindley Street near the aptly named Tram Street (ul. Tramwajowa). Today, the cemetery plot where old tram drivers would have been laid to rest is occupied by the Lodz University Press and a language school.In 2008, a teenager, described by his teachers as an "electronic genius", was arrested after using a remote control device he had assembled to cause several derailments and other accidents in the Łódź tramway system.
Lines interactive version)Legend: '''existing routes''', '''dismantled routes'''There are 24 lines on the network; 3 lines are currently not in operation (as of 2023), on which replacement buses operate.Lines are divided into colours to refer to the location on the main communication artery. Tram Line Stops Notes'''1'''Dw. Łódź Chojny ↔ Helenówek22temporary suspension, replacement buses'''2'''Dw. Łódź Dąbrowa ↔ Kochanówka35'''3A'''Chojny Kurczaki ↔ Kościuszki Mickiewicza13/14'''3B'''Chojny Kurczaki ↔ Powstańców 1863r.26'''4'''Dw. Łódź Dąbrowa ↔ Dw. Łódź Fabryczna15'''5'''Chojny Kurczaki ↔ Dw. Łódź Żabieniec33/34'''6'''Widzew Augustów ↔ Zgierz, plac Kilińskiego46/47'''7'''Widzew Augustów ↔ Dw. Łódź Żabieniec36/37'''8A'''Cm. Zarzew ↔ Teofilów33/34'''8B'''Cm. Zarzew ↔ Kochanówka35'''9'''Olechów ↔ Zdrowie34'''10A'''Widzew Augustów ↔ Retkinia25'''10B'''Olechów ↔ Retkinia32'''11A'''Chojny Kurczaki ↔ Helenówek35weekdays only'''11B'''Chocianowice Ikea ↔ Helenówek38'''12'''Stoki ↔ Retkinia31'''13'''Dąbrowa Niższa ↔ Teofilów33'''14'''Dw. Łódź Dąbrowa ↔ Karolew (Retkinia)20/25extended to Retkinia on weekends and holidays only, ends on Karolew otherwise'''15'''Chojny Kurczaki ↔ Stoki35'''16'''Niepodległości Square ↔ Teofilów25/26'''17'''Chocianowice Ikea ↔ Telefoniczna Zajezdnia33'''18'''Retkinia ↔ Telefoniczna Zajezdnia26weekdays only'''41'''Niepodległości Square ↔ Pabianice Wiejska30'''45'''Północna ↔ Zgierz Plac Kilińskiego22temporary suspension, replacement buses
Types of vehicles The following table shows the vehicles used for tram communication in Łódź (as of the 4th of April 2023). A tram on Nowomiejska street'''Tramway type''' '''Number''' 14px '''Picture''' Moderus Gamma LF 06 AC6 (30)14px120px PESA 122NaL3414px120px PESA 122N1014px120px Bombardier Cityrunner1514px120px 14120px Konstal 805N64 120px Konstal 805Na 140120px Konstal 805N 2120px Konstal 805Na135120px 35 14px120px 9120px '''total'''458
References ===Bibliography===*
External links *  MPK Łódź homepage, in English