Łódzka Kolej Aglomeracyjna (Łódź Metropolitan Railway) is a

commuter rail Commuter rail, or suburban rail, is a passenger rail transport service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting commuters to a central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter towns. Generally commuter rail systems are con ...

service operating between the

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

city of

Łódź Łódź, also rendered in English as Lodz, is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located approximately south-west of Warsaw. The city's coat of arms is an example of canti ...

and surrounding towns in the

Łódź Voivodeship Łódź Voivodeship (also known as Lodz Province, or by its Polish name ''Województwo łódzkie'' ) is a province-voivodeship in central Poland. It was created on 1 January 1999 out of the former Łódź Voivodeship (1975–1999) and the Sieradz ...

(province). The company was founded in 2010. It is fully owned by the Łódź Voivodeship government.

Services

The Railway operates services to destinations between Łódź and the following towns and cities:

Koluszki Koluszki is a town, and a major railway junction, in central Poland, in Łódź Voivodeship, about 20 km east of Łódź with a population of 12,776 (2020). The junction in Koluszki serves trains that go from Warsaw to Łódź, Wrocław, Cz� ...

Kutno Kutno is a city located in central Poland with 42,704 inhabitants (2021) and an area of . Situated in the Łódź Voivodeship since 1999, previously it was part of Płock Voivodeship (1975–1998) and it is now the capital of Kutno County. Dur ...

Łowicz Łowicz is a town in central Poland with 27,896 inhabitants (2020). It is situated in the Łódź Voivodeship (since 1999); previously, it was in Skierniewice Voivodeship (1975–1998). Together with a nearby station of Bednary, Łowicz is a ma ...

Sieradz Sieradz ( la, Siradia, yi, שעראַדז, שערעדז, שעריץ, german: 1941-45 Schieratz) is a city on the Warta river in central Poland with 40,891 inhabitants (2021). It is the seat of the Sieradz County, situated in the Łódź Voivodes ...

Skierniewice Skierniewice is a city in central Poland with 47,031 inhabitants (2021), situated in the Łódź Voivodeship (since 1999), previously capital of Skierniewice Voivodeship (1975–1998). It is the capital of Skierniewice County. The town is situate ...

Zgierz Zgierz is a city in central Poland, located just to the north of Łódź, and part of the metropolitan area centered on that city. As of 2021 it had a population of 54,974. Zgierz is situated in the Łódź Voivodeship (since 1999); previousl ...

. On weekends, services operate between Łódź and the

Warszawa Wschodnia railway station Warszawa Wschodnia, in English Warsaw East, is one of the most important railway stations in Warsaw, Poland. Its more official name is ''Warszawa Wschodnia Osobowa'' (translated as ''Warsaw East Passenger''). It is located on the eastern side of th ...

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

. The main termini stations of the network are Łódź Kaliska, Zgierz and Łódź Widzew. Services are operated on railway tracks owned by

PKP Polskie Linie Kolejowe PKP Polskie Linie Kolejowe S.A. is the Polish railway infrastructure manager, responsible for maintenance of rail tracks, conducting the trains across the country, scheduling train timetables, and management of railway land. The company was found ...

, which are shared with other rail operators. The central sections of ŁKA form a circular line encircling the city of Łódź, running between

Łódź Kaliska railway station Łódź Kaliska is one of the two main railway stations in the central Polish city of Łódź. It is located west of the center of the city, in the district of Polesie, and it consists of six platforms. The first complex of the station, designed b ...

and the Widzew railway station in the Łódź suburb of Widzew, the town of Zgierz, and concluding at Łódź Kaliska railway station. Although the system timetables depict a Circular Line, in reality, there is not a service that runs continually around the city. Instead, commuters must catch trains travelling to an outlying destination, and change at one of the three main stations to continue travelling around the circular line.

History

The company was established in May 2010 by the Łódź Voivodeship Government. The Voivodeship undertook a major rail upgrade program worth €72m, 50% of which was funded by the European Union. The program involved upgrading rail tracks and existing railway stations, constructing new railway stations at a number of regional locations, and undertaking a major reconstruction of the existing station in Widzew. A new train maintenance depot was also constructed in Widzew. The program also involved improving bus connections, building

park and ride A park and ride, also known as incentive parking or a commuter lot, is a parking lot with public transport connections that allows commuting, commuters and other people heading to city centres to leave their vehicles and transfer to a bus, Rail t ...

facilities, ticket facilities, and purchasing a fleet of 20 new trains. The Railway commenced operation on June 15, 2014. The Voivodeship Government has indicated that it intends to purchase 14 more trains and extend services to

Radom Radom is a city in east-central Poland, located approximately south of the capital, Warsaw. It is situated on the Mleczna River in the Masovian Voivodeship (since 1999), having previously been the seat of a separate Radom Voivodeship (1975–1 ...

Piotrków Trybunalski Piotrków Trybunalski (; also known by #Etymology, alternative names), often simplified to Piotrków, is a city in central Poland with 71,252 inhabitants (2021). It is the second-largest city situated in the Łódź Voivodeship. Previously, it wa ...

Bełchatów Bełchatów () is a city in central Poland with a population of 55,583 as of December 2021. It is located in Łódź Voivodeship, from Warsaw. The Elektrownia Bełchatów, located in Bełchatów, is the largest coal fueled power plant in Euro ...

and

Złoczew Złoczew (german: 1939-45 Schlötzau) is a town in Sieradz County, Łódź Voivodeship, Poland, with 3,340 inhabitants (2020). The city is south of Sieradz and north of Wieluń. History The first known historical reference to the town of Złoc ...

. On 11 December 2018, the company launched a new route between Skierniewice and Łowicz (extended to Kutno on 15 December 2019), and on 10 March 2019 it launched new routes from Łódź Fabryczna station to Piotrków Trybunalski,

Radomsko Radomsko is a city in southern Poland with 44,700 inhabitants (2021). It is situated on the Radomka river in the Łódź Voivodeship (since 1999), having previously been in Piotrków Trybunalski Voivodeship (1975–1998). It is the county seat ...

and

Tomaszów Mazowiecki Tomaszów Mazowiecki (, yi, טאָמעשעוו or ''Tomashuv'') is a city in central Poland with 60,529 inhabitants (2021). The fourth most populous city in the Łódź Voivodeship and the second with free public transport. In Tomaszów Mazowiec ...

Rolling stock

ŁKA began operations with an order of 20 Stadler FLIRT two-car EMUs, which entered service starting in 2014 and were delivered through early 2015. In September 2016, Stadler was named the preliminary winner of a contract to supply 14 three-car EMUs, but after a legal challenge from

Newag Newag S.A. ronounced: nevagis a Polish company, based in Nowy Sącz, specialising in the production, maintenance, and modernisation of railway rolling stock. The company's products include the 14WE, 19WE, 35WE types electric multiple units; ...

, the latter was in February 2017 awarded the contract for its Impuls II EMU, the first of which entered service in December 2018. Also, 10 of 20 FLIRT EMUs are scheduled to be elongated into three-car form.

Lines

ŁÓDŹ CIRCULAR LINE (Purple)

ŁÓDŹ - KUTNO (Red)

ŁÓDŹ - SIERADZ (Orange)

ŁÓDŹ - ŁOWICZ (Blue)

ŁÓDŹ – KOLUSZKI - SKIERNIEWICE - WARSZAWA (Green)

SKIERNIEWICE - KUTNO LINE (Dark Blue)

ŁÓDŹ – KOLUSZKI - PIOTRKÓW TRYBUNALSKI - RADOMSKO (Yellow)

ŁÓDŹ – TOMASZÓW MAZOWIECKI (Pink)

Tickets

References

External links

* Łódzka Kolej Aglomeracyjna Home Page (Polish) http://lka.lodzkie.pl/ * UITP.org http://www.ceec.uitp.org/%C5%82ka-new-rsr-operator-poland {{DEFAULTSORT:Lodz Kolej Aglomeracyjna Railway companies of Poland Transport in Łódź Companies based in Łódź Railway companies established in 2010