The Konstal 13N was an electric tram built by

Konstal Alstom Konstal is a company based in Chorzów, Poland producing rail vehicles, in particular metro cars and trams, as well as components for trains. In 1864, the plant was founded as part of the Royal Steelworks in Chorzów and in 1917, it was ...

in Chorzów between 1959 and 1969 and used in Warsaw until 2012. The design borrowed heavily from the

PCC PCC may refer to: Science and technology * Pearson correlation coefficient (''r''), in statistics * Periodic counter-current chromatography, a type of affinity chromatography * Portable C Compiler, an early compiler for the C programming language ...

-derived

ČKD ČKD (Českomoravská Kolben-Daněk) () was one of the largest engineering companies in the former Czechoslovakia and today's Czech Republic. It is famous for the Tatra T3, a tramcar that sold 13,991 units worldwide. History ČKD was formed i ...

Tatra T1 The T1 was the first tramcar based on the American ''Presidents' Conference Committee'' concept, produced by Czechoslovakian company ČKD Tatra. 287 multiple T1 units were built between 1952 and 1958. Most of them were used in Czechoslovakia, but ...

History

After 1945, the tram networks in most Polish cities relied on small, slow, and outdated Konstal N trams. The N-class trams were intended as a temporary measure to quickly improve the disastrous state of public transport in the aftermath of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, and were in fact based on a wartime German design, but all attempts at designing a better tram in Poland ended in failure. In 1955, two

trams were bought by the Warsaw Transport Authority. In 1956, these were sent to the

works in Chorzów for analysis, and formed the basis for the first Konstal prototype called ''11N''. The prototype was then modernized with a redesigned interior, Belgian ACEC electrical equipment, different wheels, and transmission. In 1959, the prototype was put into production as the ''13N''.

Passenger service

Konstal 13N was a single-module unidirectional tram with three doors on the right side. It held 122 passengers and was capable of reaching 68 km/h. They were most often used in sets of two, though in peak times, and on particularly busy routes, sets of three were sometimes seen. Although early units suffered from reliability issues, these were soon rectified. The ''13N'' remained in production for 10 years, and in that time, 842 units were built – 838 of those served in

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 ...

, and the other four in the Upper Silesian network. The ''13N'' (together with the later 105Na) went on to form the backbone of the Warsaw tram network for over 50 years. Due to their shape, they were nicknamed ''parówka'' (sausage) and given stock numbers 1-500 and 503-840 (the original Tatra T1 cars were numbered 501 and 502). In the 21st century, with the need for more energy-efficient, easier-to-access low-floor trams, the ''13N'' units were phased out and replaced by PESA 120Na. The last day of passenger service on a ''13N'' was 31 December 2012.

Later development

Konstal 13N also forms the basis for the company's other trams seen in all Polish cities with tram networks. Konstal 102N (produced 1967–1969) and the subsequent 102Na (1970–1973) are both articulated versions of the 13N, and the Konstal 105N started out as 13N in a more modern, lighter body.

Today

No 13N trams remain in regular passenger service after 2012, but several serve as museum cars in Warsaw (#795 since 1996, #503, the first 13N ever built, since 2018 and modernised, called "Żaba" #821 in composition with #818 since 2013), and

Silesia Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is split ...

(ex #366, now #308 since 2013). Due to their sturdiness, a number of 13Ns have also been rebuilt as track maintenance vehicles (#388 amongst others).

Gallery

File:PL Warsaw Konstal 13N tram.jpg, Konstal 13N in passenger service in Warsaw (2010) File:33 na przystanku dw. Centralny (3).jpg, One set of 13N (#821+818) was facelifted in 1994; plans for further development were abandoned File:Warsazwa - Węzeł przesiadkowy Młociny.jpg, A ''13N'' leaving the Metro Młociny terminus File:13N Poznań RB3.JPG, Former Warsaw #115 as a museum tram in Poznań File:Konstal 13N podczas parady tramwajów.jpg, Former Warsaw #366 as a museum tram in Chorzów File:Ostatnio w mieście mym tramwaje wokół nocy błądzą.jpg, Konstal 13N at Służewiec terminus File:Tramwaj remontowy Warszawa.jpg, A number of 13Ns were rebuilt as maintenance vehicles (#12 shown here)

References

External links

Old photographs of 13N
(PL)

(PL)

(PL)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Konstal 13n Tram vehicles of Poland