Polish Trams 5 –
Toruń, Elbląg & Olsztyn
This DVD, the fifth in
our series of Polish Trams takes us to three of the smaller systems, those in
the cities of Toruń, Elbląg and Olsztyn.
Our independent transport videos cameras begin in first of
the cities, Toruń. Situated some 200 km
northwest from the capital, Warsaw, Toruń began operating electric trams in
1899. Today the system runs on 22.5 km
on metre gauge track and is operated by MZK Toruń. The fleet is made up of Konstal 805Na and
805NaD types dating from 1989 of which a number have been rebuilt or have had a
modernised front fitted. Newer low-floor
trams are made by PESA and are of the Swing type in two different
lengths (30.1 m and 19.4 m) and the Swing Duo, which is the double-ended version at 30.1 metres. Our filming takes place at the city centre at
the busy Wały Gen. Sikorskiego junction and along Odrodzenia. Our cameras travel onboard PESA Swing Duo, 315 on Line 1 to Olimpijska
and return to the city centre. A further
ride is taken on tram 3017 a PESA Swing 121NbT (19.4 m) on Line 3 to
Henryka Sienkiewicza, returning on 271 a Konstal 805Na on Line 3 that completes
our visit to Toruń. The second city on
this DVD programme is Elbląg. Situated
in northern Poland just 60 km southeast of Gdańsk, Elbląg began operating
electric trams in 1895. Today Tramwaje
Elbląskie ZKM Elbląg operates five routes on metre gauge track. The older trams are still painted in a cream
and red livery, but new and rebuilt trams are in a smart bright green and
yellow scheme. At the time of filming in
June 2018 the fleet was made up of Konstal 805Na trams dating from 1980, PESA Tramicus
121N, MAN (Modertrans) M8CN (Ex. Augsburg, Germany) and three Duewag M8C
(Ex. Mülheim an der Ruhr, Germany), still in their former operators yellow
livery. They also operate a historic
Konstal N1 tram in red and cream livery, and on our visit we see it in action
towing modified Konstal 805Na, 063, which had broken down! Our filming takes place in the city centre at
Rycerska, 1 Maja, Grobla świętego Jerzego and Plac Słowiański.
The final visit on this programme is to Olsztyn,
which is situated 180 km north of Warsaw and is not far from the border with
Russia. The first generation tram system
opened here in 1907 but was closed in 1965.
The second-generation system, which we see on this programme, has
nothing to do with the past. This system
was opened in 2015 and is operated by MPK Olsztyn on standard gauge
track. The fleet is comprises of fifteen
Solaris Tramino S111 trams.
Finished in a smart bright green and silver livery they operate on three
routes. Our filming takes place in the
city centre at various locations. These
include Kościuszki and Piłsudskiego, Skwer Wakara and Dworzec Głowny. Our cameras take a ride on tram 3008 on Line
2 to its southerly terminus at Kanta.
From here we travel on tram 3001 on the Line 1 service to the city
centre terminus of Wysoka Brama. A
further ride is filmed on board tram 3000 on Line 2 from Dworzec Głowny to
Skwer Wakara, which completes our visit to Poland’s newest tram system in the
city of Olsztyn.
