Szybka Kolej Miejska (Warsaw)
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Szybka Kolej Miejska (SKM), approximate English translation Warsaw Rapid Urban Rail, 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 c ...
and
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 ...
system in the
Warsaw metropolitan area The Warsaw metropolitan area (known in Polish as: ''aglomeracja warszawska'' or ''Miejski Obszar Funkcjonalny Warszawy'') is the metropolitan area of Warsaw, the capital of Poland. The metropolitan area covers ten counties in the Masovian Voivo ...
, established on the existing
national rail network In United States railroading, the term national rail network, sometimes termed "U.S. rail network", refers to the entire network of interconnected standard gauge rail lines in North America. It does not include most subway or light rail lines. F ...
within the city, constituting a part of the city's integrated
public transport Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typical ...
system organized by the Warsaw Transport Authority.


History

The Warsaw SKM was initially proposed in 2002, stipulating to use the existing infrastructure of the
Warsaw Railway Junction The Warsaw Railway Junction ( pl, Warszawski Węzeł Kolejowy) is a set of seven major railway lines centred on the city of Warsaw. It serves the capital of Poland, as well as cities belonging to its agglomeration of over 2.5 million inhabitants. ...
, especially the
cross city line The Cross-City Line is a commuter rail line in the West Midlands region of England. It runs for from Redditch and Bromsgrove in Worcestershire, its two southern termini, to Lichfield, Staffordshire, its northern terminus, via Birmingham New ...
with its over 2 km long tunnel running under the
city center A city centre is the commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart of a city. The term "city centre" is primarily used in British English, and closely equivalent terms exist in other languages, such as "" in Fren ...
and conveniently located underground station, as a cheap substitute for a badly needed second metro line. In order to implement this the then-
Mayor of Warsaw The city mayor of Warsaw, or more literally the ''city president of Warsaw'' (the official title in Polish is ''"prezydent miasta stołecznego Warszawy"'', literal translation ''"president of the capital city of Warsaw"'') is the head of the exe ...
Lech Kaczyński Lech Aleksander Kaczyński (; 18 June 194910 April 2010) was a Polish politician who served as the city mayor of Warsaw from 2002 until 2005, and as President of Poland from 2005 until his death in 2010. Before his tenure as president, he prev ...
established in 2004 the municipally-owned company Szybka Kolej Miejska Sp. z o.o. The company was originally incorporated as a joint venture between the City of Warsaw with 50% shares and the companies Metro Warszawskie Sp. z o.o. with 49% shares and Tramwaje Warszawskie Sp. z. o.o. with 1% shares, both owned entirely by the city and responsible respectively for the Metro and Tram system. As such the company is notably completely independent from the national rail operator
PKP Group PKP Group ( pl, Grupa PKP) is a Polish corporate group founded in 2001 from the former state enterprise, Polish State Railways. The purpose of this change was to separate infrastructure management and transport operations. It consists of the follo ...
, unlike
Koleje Mazowieckie Masovian Railways, in Polish Koleje Mazowieckie, is a regional rail operator in the Masovian Voivodeship of Poland. History The company was founded in 2004 as a joint venture of the Masovian Voivodeship, with 51% shares, and the, then governmen ...
established by the
Masovian Voivodship The Masovian Voivodeship, also known as the Mazovia Province ( pl, województwo mazowieckie ) is a voivodeship (province) in east-central Poland, with its capital located in the city of Warsaw, which also serves as the capital of the country. The ...
at around the same time. The newly formed company was equipped with six Newag 14WE
EMUs Emus may refer to: * Emu The emu () (''Dromaius novaehollandiae'') is the second-tallest living bird after its ratite relative the ostrich. It is endemic to Australia where it is the largest native bird and the only extant member of the g ...
which were extensive modernization of the
PKP class EN57 EN57 (manufacturer's designation: Pafawag 5B/6B) is an electric multiple unit used by the Polish railway operator ('' PKP''). It was built for suburban and long-distance services. Presently it is used by Przewozy Regionalne (Polregio), Łódzka ...
EMUs, with a modern looking body but retaining the old mechanical components. A year and a half after being established the SKM initiated its operation with its first trains, opening a single line from
Warszawa Zachodnia Warszawa Zachodnia station, in English Warsaw West, is a railway and long-distance bus station in Warsaw, Poland on the border of Ochota and Wola districts. The railway station is the westernmost terminus of the Warsaw Cross-City Line. It serves ...
along the cross city line to Warszawa Wschodnia and along the Vistula river to Warszawa Falenica. The new service failed to deliver on its promise to serve as a viable replacement due to the poor state of the rail infrastructure. Passengers within the city center preferred the more accessible trams system and few people wanted to use the trains in the southeastern districts of the city. Additionally, while the integrated fare system of the Warsaw Transit Authority offered a large convenience the modern look and relative cleanness of the rolling stock sharply contrasted with the standard found in the Polish railroad, during rush hours most of the slots on the tracks were taken up by regional traffic and the new EMUs suffered from the same technical problems as the ones they were based on. Due to the initial low popularity of the line the original concept was somewhat altered in 2006 with the line extended outside the administrative borders of the city through the
Ursus Ursus is Latin for bear. It may also refer to: Animals * ''Ursus'' (mammal), a genus of bears People * Ursus of Aosta, 6th-century evangelist * Ursus of Auxerre, 6th-century bishop * Ursus of Solothurn, 3rd-century martyr * Ursus (''praefectus ...
district into the town of
Pruszków Pruszków ( yi, ‏פּרושקאָוו) is a city in east-central Poland, situated in the Masovian Voivodeship since 1999. It was previously in Warszawa Voivodeship (1975–1998). Pruszków is the capital of Pruszków County, located along t ...
to the west and diverted to the district of the
Wesoła Wesoła () is one of the districts of Warsaw, and has been as such since October 27, 2002. Wesoła is located in the south-eastern part of city. Wesoła received town privileges on December 17, 1968. Then, the town included Wola Grzybowska, W ...
and the town of
Sulejówek Sulejówek is a town in Poland, about 18 km east of Warsaw city centre and part of its metropolitan area. It is located in Masovian Voivodeship, in Mińsk County. Its population numbers 19323 (2011). The town is well known in Poland as t ...
to the east, turning the service into a suburban commuter network which allowed people in the
metropolitan area A metropolitan area or metro is a region that consists of a densely populated urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories sharing industries, commercial areas, transport network, infrastructures and housing. A metro area usually com ...
to quickly reach the city center and conveniently transfer within the city's public transit system. The revised formula proved to be very successful leading the city to take the purchase of all the shares of the company and purchase two more Newag 14WE EMUs. The popularity of trains run the SKM was also instrumental in the city negotiating a deal with the Masovian Voivodship to have Koleje Mazowieckie honor long term tickets of the Warsaw Transit Authority, first along the route of the SKM and eventually within the entire area served by the city's public transit system. In 2010 the company purchased four brand new
Newag 19WE 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; i ...
EMUs and opened a new line to the town of
Otwock Otwock is a city in east-central Poland, some southeast of Warsaw, with 44,635 inhabitants (2019). Otwock is a part of the Warsaw Agglomeration. It is situated on the right bank of Vistula River below the mouth of Swider River. Otwock is hom ...
. Additionally, the Warsaw Transit Authority signed a contract with the Koleje Mazowieckie to operate a line between Warszawa Gdańska station on the Warsaw Circumferential Line and the town of
Legionowo Legionowo is a city in Masovia ( pl, Mazowsze), east-central Poland. Location Legionowo is located to the north-east of the center of Warsaw and only to the south of Zegrze Reservoir ( or ), near the Warsaw-Gdańsk railroad and Warsaw-Suwał ...
under the branding of the SKM, and since 2012 taken over by the company. In 2011 13 new PESA 27WE 'ELF' EMUs (2011–2012) were purchased. In 2012 a new
airport rail link An airport rail link is a service providing passenger rail transport from an airport to a nearby city by mainline or commuter trains, rapid transit, people mover, or light rail. Direct links operate straight to the airport terminal, while o ...
was created running through the Służewiec office district and a newly opened 1.5 km rail tunnel 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 th ...
. In 2012 the company purchased 9 Newag 35WE units. In 2020 SKM has awarded Newag a contract to supply 21 Impuls 2 EMUs. The trains feature air-conditioning, a passenger information system, ticket vending machines and validators,
Wi-Fi Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols, based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by radio wave ...
, USB sockets and an AED defibrillator. In January 2022 Newag has delivered the first two Impuls 2 EMUs As of July 2022, SKM operates on three routes (S1, S2, S3), serving 51 stations in Warsaw and neighboring towns.


Rolling stock


Lines


Line S1 (Otwock – Warszawa Śródmieście – Pruszków)

The line was established in October 2005, running from Warszawa Falenica to
Warszawa Zachodnia Warszawa Zachodnia station, in English Warsaw West, is a railway and long-distance bus station in Warsaw, Poland on the border of Ochota and Wola districts. The railway station is the westernmost terminus of the Warsaw Cross-City Line. It serves ...
and suspended indefinitely in July 2006 with all of the rolling stock directed to the newly created line S2. In September 2010 the line was re-established and extended towards the town of
Otwock Otwock is a city in east-central Poland, some southeast of Warsaw, with 44,635 inhabitants (2019). Otwock is a part of the Warsaw Agglomeration. It is situated on the right bank of Vistula River below the mouth of Swider River. Otwock is hom ...
, south east of Warsaw, but only reaching Warszawa Wschodnia, which required most of the potential passengers to transfer there to trains running on the line S2 or regional trains operated by Koleje Mazowieckie to reach the city. The line was extended through Warszawa Śródmieście and
Warszawa Zachodnia Warszawa Zachodnia station, in English Warsaw West, is a railway and long-distance bus station in Warsaw, Poland on the border of Ochota and Wola districts. The railway station is the westernmost terminus of the Warsaw Cross-City Line. It serves ...
to
Pruszków Pruszków ( yi, ‏פּרושקאָוו) is a city in east-central Poland, situated in the Masovian Voivodeship since 1999. It was previously in Warszawa Voivodeship (1975–1998). Pruszków is the capital of Pruszków County, located along t ...
in December 2010.


Line S2 (Warsaw Chopin Airport – Warszawa Śródmieście – Sulejówek)

The line was established in July 2006 running from
Pruszków Pruszków ( yi, ‏פּרושקאָוו) is a city in east-central Poland, situated in the Masovian Voivodeship since 1999. It was previously in Warszawa Voivodeship (1975–1998). Pruszków is the capital of Pruszków County, located along t ...
through Warszawa Śródmieście to Sulejówek Miłosna. In December 2010 the line was shortened to
Warszawa Zachodnia Warszawa Zachodnia station, in English Warsaw West, is a railway and long-distance bus station in Warsaw, Poland on the border of Ochota and Wola districts. The railway station is the westernmost terminus of the Warsaw Cross-City Line. It serves ...
in the West, with the line S1 taking over the route from
Pruszków Pruszków ( yi, ‏פּרושקאָוו) is a city in east-central Poland, situated in the Masovian Voivodeship since 1999. It was previously in Warszawa Voivodeship (1975–1998). Pruszków is the capital of Pruszków County, located along t ...
to
Warszawa Zachodnia Warszawa Zachodnia station, in English Warsaw West, is a railway and long-distance bus station in Warsaw, Poland on the border of Ochota and Wola districts. The railway station is the westernmost terminus of the Warsaw Cross-City Line. It serves ...
and further to Warszawa Śródmieście. In June 2012 the line was extended from Warszawa Zachodnia through the Służewiec office district and a newly opened rail tunnel to an underground station at the
Warsaw Frédéric 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 ...
.


Line S3 (Warszawa Zachodnia – Warszawa Gdańska – Waliszew/Radzymin)

The line was established in June 2012 connecting the
Warsaw Frédéric 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 ...
through the city center with the town of Legionowo north east of Warsaw. The line goes through the Warszawa Centralna railway station which usually serves long-distance trains. Currently line S3 runs from Warszawa Zachodnia (platform 9) via Warszawa Gdańska to Waliszew and Radzymin.https://www.skm.warszawa.pl/szybka-kolej-miejska-w-warszawie-trasa-s3-schemat/


Line S9 (Warszawa Zachodnia – Legionowo)

The line was established in March 2010, running between Warszawa Gdańska and
Legionowo Legionowo is a city in Masovia ( pl, Mazowsze), east-central Poland. Location Legionowo is located to the north-east of the center of Warsaw and only to the south of Zegrze Reservoir ( or ), near the Warsaw-Gdańsk railroad and Warsaw-Suwał ...
with some trains reaching
Wieliszew Wieliszew is a village in Legionowo County, Masovian Voivodeship, in east-central Poland, in the bifurcation of the Vistula and Narew Rivers. It is the seat of the gmina (''commune'' or ''municipality'' as administrative district) called Gmina ...
. It was initially operated by
Koleje Mazowieckie Masovian Railways, in Polish Koleje Mazowieckie, is a regional rail operator in the Masovian Voivodeship of Poland. History The company was founded in 2004 as a joint venture of the Masovian Voivodeship, with 51% shares, and the, then governmen ...
and, from 5 September 2011, gradually taken over by SKM. Since December 2011 the line is fully operated by SKM. From 1 September 2012, the line extended from Warszawa Gdańska to Platform 8 of
Warszawa Zachodnia Warszawa Zachodnia station, in English Warsaw West, is a railway and long-distance bus station in Warsaw, Poland on the border of Ochota and Wola districts. The railway station is the westernmost terminus of the Warsaw Cross-City Line. It serves ...
. As of 2022, S9 services remain suspended until further notice.


See also

*
Warszawska Kolej Dojazdowa Warsaw Commuter Railway ( pl, Warszawska Kolej Dojazdowa, WKD) is a light rail commuter line in Poland's capital city of Warsaw. The line, together with its two branches, links Warsaw with the municipalities of Michałowice, Pruszków, Brwinów ...
(WDK) - Light rail commuter line in Poland's capital city of Warsaw. *
Koleje Mazowieckie Masovian Railways, in Polish Koleje Mazowieckie, is a regional rail operator in the Masovian Voivodeship of Poland. History The company was founded in 2004 as a joint venture of the Masovian Voivodeship, with 51% shares, and the, then governmen ...
(KM) - Regional rail operator in the Masovian Voivodeship of Poland. * Polskie Koleje Państwowe S.A. - Dominant railway operator in Poland. *
Polregio Polregio (formerly ''Przewozy Regionalne'') is a train operator in Poland, responsible for local and interregional passenger transportation. Each day it runs approximately 3,000 regional trains. In 2002 it carried 215 million passengers. The ...
- Polish railway operator; formerly Przewozy Regionalne.


References

*
Official site


External links

* {{Rail Operators Poland Railway companies of Poland Public transport in Poland Rapid transit in Poland Transport in Warsaw Companies based in Warsaw Railway companies established in 2004 Polish companies established in 2004