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The Warsaw Metro ( pl, Metro Warszawskie) is a
rapid transit Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT), also known as heavy rail or metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport generally found in urban areas. A rapid transit system that primarily or traditionally runs below the surface may be ...
underground system serving the Polish capital
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 ...
. It currently consists of two lines, the north-south Line M1 which links central
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 ...
with its densely populated northern and southern districts, and the east-west Line M2, of which the westernmost segment is in construction. A third line ( M3) is still being planned. The system is operated by Metro Warszawskie sp. z o.o., a company owned by the city, and managed by Zarząd Transportu Miejskiego w Warszawie (ZTM Warszawa). The first section was opened in 1995 and gradually extended until it reached its full length in October 2008. There are additional plans to construct two more stations on this north-south line omitted during initial construction due to costs. The contract for the construction of the initial central section of the second line, running east-west was signed on 28 October 2009 and construction began on 16 August 2010. The initial segment of Line M2 was opened on 8 March 2015. This section was long (including a tunnel under the
Vistula The Vistula (; pl, Wisła, ) is the longest river in Poland and the ninth-longest river in Europe, at in length. The drainage basin, reaching into three other nations, covers , of which is in Poland. The Vistula rises at Barania Góra in ...
river) with seven stations, one of which ( Świętokrzyska) includes a transfer between the two lines. The line is currently being expanded. In 2009, the Warsaw Metro won two "Metro Award" prizes in the categories of "Special Merit Award for Commitment to the Environment" and "Best Maintenance Programme". These were followed by the Most Improved Metro award in 2011. The system consistently receives very high ratings among its passengers; a survey conducted in September 2014 indicated that 98% of the respondents rated it as good or very good.


History

Plans to build an underground rail system 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 ...
date as far back as 1918, when the idea was first proposed after Warsaw regained its status as Poland's capital city. An underground railway system was expected to solve the transport difficulties of the densely built city centre. Proper preliminary planning and boring work were initiated by the Warsaw Tramway Authority in 1925, with construction expected to start in the late 1920s. The Great Depression buried those plans as
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
and the world were gripped by economic hardship. In 1934, with the election of a new mayor of Warsaw,
Stefan Starzyński Stefan Bronisław Starzyński (19 August 1893 – between 21 and 23 December 1939) was a Polish statesman, economist, military officer and Mayor of Warsaw before and during the Siege of 1939. Early life, studies and career Stefan Bronis ...
, work was to resume on the metro. The mayor dusted off the plans from the mid-1920s, and with some minor adjustments, construction of the metro was planned to start by the late 1930s, with a projected finishing date of the first of two projected lines scheduled for the mid-1940s. By then, the subway network was to consist of two lines. Line 1 (north–south line, long) was to follow a route similar to the present-day line and was to link the southernmost borough of
Mokotów Mokotów , is a ''dzielnica'' (borough, district) of Warsaw, the capital of Poland. Mokotów is densely populated, and is a seat to many foreign embassies and companies. Only a small part of the district is lightly industrialised ('' Służewiec ...
with the city centre and the northern borough of Żoliborz. This line was to be connected with the newly constructed
Warszawa Główna railway station Warsaw Main Railway Station ( pl, Warszawa Główna) was the name of two different railway stations in Warsaw, Poland, both now defunct. A smaller terminus station with two platforms again named Warszawa Główna opened on March 14, 2021. The ...
and the railway tunnel crossing the city from west to east. Line 2 (east-west, long) was to start beneath the westernmost borough of
Wola Wola (, ) is a district in western Warsaw, Poland, formerly the village of Wielka Wola, incorporated into Warsaw in 1916. An industrial area with traditions reaching back to the early 19th century, it underwent a transformation into an office (co ...
, proceed along the Chłodna street to the pivotal station beneath the
Saxon Square The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...
and then further eastwards to the
Vistula The Vistula (; pl, Wisła, ) is the longest river in Poland and the ninth-longest river in Europe, at in length. The drainage basin, reaching into three other nations, covers , of which is in Poland. The Vistula rises at Barania Góra in ...
river escarpment. There, the line was to go overground, cross the river through a newly built bridge and proceed to the easternmost railway station of Warszawa Wschodnia. Altogether, in 35 years, 7 lines were to be built. The works finally started in 1938, but
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 ...
brought an end to the ambitious undertaking. The short trace tunnels made in 1938 serve as a wine cellar today. The city suffered heavily during World War II. Although the majority of pre-war projects perished during the war, most of the engineers behind their creations survived and returned to their city to take part in its rebirth. However, the new Communist authorities of Poland envisioned a city completely different from what it had been before the war. As the "ideal" communist city, Warsaw was to be decentralized and the need to commute to the city centre was reduced. Thus, the Office for the Reconstruction of Warsaw (BOS) commissioned several engineers to prepare a project for a fast urban railway ( SKM) crossing the city in a deep cutting. Although to a large extent it was to follow line 1 of the pre-war plans, only the central stations were to be located underground. However, by the end of the decade, the project was cancelled. Instead, in 1948 communist planners developed a different concept with the new SKM morphing into a rapid transit line at a depth of up to . The suggested north-south direction, with three parallel branches of the same line in the city centre, corresponded to the planned development of the city along the Vistula. The works, however, never started and this project was also abandoned. In the 1950s, as the Cold War raged on, Soviet strategic plans required that a secure transport link across the river Vistula be built. One of the ways to achieve this was to create a deep metro system in Warsaw (up to beneath the ground), which would be interlinked with the rail network and could serve as an underground conduit for transporting troops. Plans assumed that the first line (about long) would lie along a north-south axis, with a branch of the same line crossing the Vistula river in the city centre. The construction works started almost simultaneously at 17 different points on both sides of the river. By 1953 only of tunnels had been built; after the death of
Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretar ...
and the start of a period of
détente Détente (, French: "relaxation") is the relaxation of strained relations, especially political ones, through verbal communication. The term, in diplomacy, originates from around 1912, when France and Germany tried unsuccessfully to reduce ...
, all work was halted under the pretext of technical difficulties. In the following years, only one junction tunnel and one shield-driven tunnel were continued. These works were undertaken experimentally, to discover the best driving methods suitable for the ground conditions beneath Warsaw (
pliocene The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.333 million to 2.58clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay par ...
formations layer spread beneath quaternary soils). Finally, in 1957, all work was halted. Since 1955, planners returned to the old idea of a shallow metro network. However, the planning phase proceeded at a very slow pace and the economic situation prevented all successive governments from actually starting serious work. Finally, in 1983, the program was approved by the government and the first tunnels were built. Lack of funds, technical difficulties, shortage of materials and outdated tunnelling methods meant that the work progressed very slowly, sometimes at a speed no greater than per day. The Metro was opened on 7 April 1995 with a total of 11 stations. The initial line, Line M1, has 21 stations over a route distance of . The station names on the M1 line are announced by Ksawery Jasieński.


Timeline


Lines


Rolling stock

Initially, all of the trains were Russian-built. They first arrived in Warsaw in 1990 as a "gift" from the
USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
, five years prior to the Metro's opening, from the
Metrovagonmash Metrowagonmash, also Metrovagonmash (russian: ОАО "Метровагонмаш", OAO "Metrovagonmash"), is an engineering company in Mytishchi, Russia. Metrowagonmash (MWM) is one of the leading enterprises in Russia operating in the ...
plant in
Mytishchi Mytishchi ( rus, Мыти́щи, p=mɨˈtʲiɕːɪ) is a city and the administrative center of Mytishchinsky District in Moscow Oblast, Russia, which lies 19 km northeast of Russia's capital Moscow on the Yauza River and the Moscow–Yarosla ...
near Moscow (model 81-717.3/714.3 - 10 carriages). Subsequent trains arrived from
Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
's Yegorov Plant in 1994 (81-572/573 - 32 carriages) and an additional 18 81-572.1/573.1 carriages in 1997. In 1998, 108 new carriages were ordered from the French company Alstom. These were all delivered by 2005 (24 were produced in
Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
and the remainder in Chorzów). In 2006, additional carriages were ordered from Russia, with deliveries taking place up to 2007. In February 2011, an order was signed with German manufacturer Siemens for 35 complete trains from their new Inspiro line. A large number of these were to be manufactured in
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
by
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; it ...
. The first 5 of these trains were put into service in 2013. However, in November 2013 a fire broke out in one of the carriages and for safety reasons all five trains were withdrawn from operation until the cause of the fire was determined. Once the investigation was completed the five new Inspiro trains were placed back into service in March 2014. As of 2020, the majority of the operating rolling stock is Siemens-built ( Siemens Inspiro type). In January 2020, Skoda Transportation was awarded with a new contract for 37 new, single-space trains. The first EMU arrived in Warsaw on April 25, 2022, in October the first unit entered regular passenger service on M1 line. File:C12 W 33.jpg, Nowy Świat-Uniwersytet Station, M2 File:C11 W 37.jpg, Świętokrzyska Station, M2 File:Warsaw Station 5.jpg, Ratusz Arsenał Station, M1 File:Stacja metra Dworzec Gdański.JPG, Dworzec Gdański Station, M1 File:2020 Warszawa Metro Płocka, 1.jpg, Płocka Station, M2 File:Stacja metra Bemowo 2022.jpg,
Bemowo Bemowo is a district of Warsaw located in the western part of the city. Its territory covers the western belt of the former district of Wola, which was incorporated to Warsaw in the year 1951. The name of the district derives from the surname o ...
Station, M2 File:Metro Służew - 2 May 2008.webp, Służew Station, M1 File:2020 Warszawa Metro Stare Bielany.jpg, Stare Bielany Station, M1


Stations


Depots

A single depot is located south of the Kabaty station. There is a single-track connection between the depot and Warszawa-Okęcie station on the PKP rail network. This link is not electrified, and used only for an occasional rolling-stock transfer.


Plans

The first line was a compromise between earlier route proposals further east and west (one of which belonged to the planned Line 4) and as such does not go to some important areas of the city. For example, it does not pass directly under the old town, Warsaws main tourist attraction, which has few public transport links, passing it about to the west. It also does not directly connect to the central railway station, with the nearest stop being over to the east (the second line also avoids it, with the closest station about to the north). Until the opening of the second line in March 2015, the Metro system was confined to the western bank of the Vistula river, thus doing nothing to ease traffic problems on Warsaw's bridges, a major bottleneck between the city center and the eastern
Praga Praga is a district of Warsaw, Poland. It is on the east bank of the river Vistula. First mentioned in 1432, until 1791 it formed a separate town with its own city charter. History The historical Praga was a small settlement located at ...
district. Plans for the third line to
Warsaw Chopin Airport Warsaw Chopin Airport ( pl, Lotnisko Chopina w Warszawie, ) is an international airport in the Włochy district of Warsaw, Poland. It is Poland's busiest airport with 18.9 million passengers in 2019, thus handling approximately 40% of t ...
have been abandoned for the foreseeable future, with the airport served by a new railway station instead. Transport planners have suggested that the WKD, a light rail line that runs to the western suburbs, could be integrated with the city's tram system, or be more closely tied to the Metro and a future suburban rail network, or both. The first such plans were prepared in the late 1930s and the railway tunnel running below the city centre was to be shared by both the railways and the metro. In the mid-1990s the WKD, PKP and Warsaw Metro systems were temporarily integrated and Warsaw city travel cards were valid also in the suburban railways. This idea was, however, dropped in 1999 due to financial problems.


Recently completed extensions

On 11 March 2016, a 1 billion (€225 million) contract was awarded to the Italian company Astaldi to build the first phase of the North-East second subway line extension with of track and 3 stations: Szwedzka, Targówek and Trocka. On 30 April construction on Szwedzka station started, and on 2 May the other two stations started construction. Construction of this phase took 3 years and it opened on 15 September 2019. Initially, this extension was to be built at the same time as the west extension which was due to be completed in 2020. However, due to delays, it was decided that each extension will be built at its own pace. On 28 September 2022, the extension of M2 consisting of three new stations: Zacisze, Kondratowicza and Bródno was opened to the public.


Future extensions

* Plac Konstytucji and
Muranów Muranów ( , Polish: ) is a neighbourhood in the districts of Śródmieście (Downtown) and Wola in central Warsaw, the capital of Poland. It was founded in the 17th century. The name is derived from the palace belonging to Simone Giuseppe Bel ...
, two stations omitted from the original plan to reduce cost were to be built by 2009, but construction has not yet started, and will not start in the near future. * Line M2: the first, central section now consists of eighteen stations:
Bemowo Bemowo is a district of Warsaw located in the western part of the city. Its territory covers the western belt of the former district of Wola, which was incorporated to Warsaw in the year 1951. The name of the district derives from the surname o ...
, Ulrychów, Księcia Janusza, Młynów, Płocka, Rondo Daszyńskiego, Rondo ONZ, Świętokrzyska, Nowy Świat, Centrum Nauki Kopernik, Stadion Narodowy, Dworzec Wileński, Szwedzka, Targówek Mieszkaniowy, Trocka, Zacisze, Kondratowicza and Bródno. It passes under the Vistula river between the Centrum Nauki Kopernik and Stadion Narodowy stations. Most of the funding for building this section was secured from the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...
and construction started in August 2010. The original plan to finish this section in time for
Euro 2012 The 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2012 or simply Euro 2012, was the 14th European Championship for men's national football teams organised by UEFA. The final tournament, held between 8 June and 1 ...
was too optimistic, with final completion occurring in March 2015. This line was built using a different boring technology that allowed for much faster construction compared to the first. The rest of Line M2 and its branches, totaling 28 stations, will be built in the future. A tender was opened for 35 trains (most to be used on Line M2, some on Line M1);
Škoda Transportation Škoda Transportation a.s. is a Czech engineering company that continues the legacy of Škoda Works' rolling stock manufacturing that started at the end of 19th century in Plzeň. Following the first world war, the Works commenced locomotive p ...
and
Metrovagonmash Metrowagonmash, also Metrovagonmash (russian: ОАО "Метровагонмаш", OAO "Metrovagonmash"), is an engineering company in Mytishchi, Russia. Metrowagonmash (MWM) is one of the leading enterprises in Russia operating in the ...
submitted the lowest price but Siemens/
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; it ...
scored more points and were chosen to provide the trains. * The final Warsaw Metro plan calls for four lines incorporating of track.


Network map


See also

* Transport in Poland * Zarząd Transportu Miejskiego w Warszawie * List of metro systems


References

;Inline citations ;Bibliography *


External links

* *
Warsaw at UrbanRail.net

Warsaw Metro Map

Warsaw Metro fan site and discussion forum

pictures of Warsaw Metro

Stations as Canvas: Painting the Warsaw Metro
;Videos
Television TVPW
- The Information Movie about Warsaw Metro system (production: TVPW)
Television TVPW
- Relation of opening the "Słodowiec" station (production: TVPW)
Television TVPW
- The movie about building the metro in Warsaw from the beginning to the end (production: TVPW)
Television TVPW
- The interview with Robert Jaryczewski - the best metro driver of the world in 2008 (production: TVPW)
Television TVPW
- The movie about signaling in metro in Warsaw (production: TVPW) {{Underground rapid transit in the European Union and the United Kingdom Railway companies of Poland Railway lines opened in 1995 1995 establishments in Poland Transport in Warsaw Railway infrastructure companies Underground rapid transit in Poland