Poznań Fast Tram

Transcription

"Low floor vehicle"channel Where in Poland run the fastest trams? For the answer to this question, I went on a tour to see the Poznan Fast Tram (PST) track. More than 8 km long route without any collision course with cars, coming through overpasses and in 6-meter excavation, allows to achieve by trams the maximum speed of 70 km/h. Let's get to know closer the phenomenon of this route. In the assumptions, PST supposed to be a 27-kilometer light rail system with its own depot, fully independent from the rest of the tram network. Prolonged construction and lack of prospects for more money from urban investment department, were factors that decided to include the route to existing layout of standard tram and urban structure already near the Theatrical bridge, near the city center. Hence, trams since 1997 raced to the north housing of John III Sobieski. However, how long residents waited for a fast connection with the main train station? September 2013 brought the solution to this puzzle, when the PST route was extended to West Railway Station, which is, in principle, the Main Station. At the 2-kilometer stretch were putted to operation 2 stops. One is only temporary, located near Theatrical bridge, and will exist until the Kaponiera rondabout reconstruction finish. The new section of PST ends with a loop after platform 7 of train station and links with the tracks in the Głogowska street. 108-meter hall of Western Station stop, covered by arched glass roof with a maximum height of 8.4 meters, makes a great impression on visitors. Stop platform with tracks have a width of 17 meters. There is also a passage towards Poznan Main Station, provided by a pedestrian tunnel. So what are the operational parameters of this route? Suffice to say, that in an hour 6000 passengers could travel via PST. That's as much as you would put in 15 Pendolino trains or as much as inhabited city Karlino in West-Pomeranian province of Poland. On PST route runs 6 day lines - including two only during peak hours - and one night line. During peak hours between 7 to 9 and 15 to 18 trams on average stops at the platform every two minutes. Even more courses are made at 8 am - a total of 38 per hour. So on average, trams ride almost every 1.5 minutes! In the Saturday and Sunday run mainly four lines, each with a frequency of 20 minutes. This results in a 5-minute rhythm of running trams. We already know how often trams are running. The question remains, how long trams ride the entire PST route - from the Sobieski housing to the West Station? It take them only thirteen minutes, with the average travel speed of 35 km/h. That speed takes into account the stopping and waiting time at stops. For comparison, on standard lines with multiple car crossings, this speed is only 18 km/h. Fast Tram stations are located approximately every kilometer and there are a total of 8 stations. Tram hubs are integrated with Poznan bus network and neighboring municipalities. To get to the bus stop you just need to go by stairs to the viaduct crossing the route near the station. Sadly, many stations are neglected: there is on them just dirty and dark. With the naked eye is seen immediate need of investments in renewal of the stops. The tram route was tailored to the number of people living near the route in immediate vicinity. In total, that is more than 70,000 citizens of Poznan. This number is increased by residents of the surrounding municipalities. The route is serviced by standard fleet available in Poznan and in the vast majority by Solaris Tramino, Siemens Combino and bonded Konstal 105Na tramcars. Prohibition to service the route was assigned in January 2010 to all 10 Czech Tatra trams, ironically purchased to support fast tram track. Every third broken tram on PST route was of this brand. The ban was removed for Tatra trams after its modernization by the Poznan Modertrans facility. The local press have repeatedly mention PST route in articles. A common theme is congestion and too low frequency of trams. Loudly echoed was topic of homeless woman who is living nomadically for more than one and half a year near fast tram route on Piątkowo. On the last PST stop there is a bus station. Roofed building with bicycle parking is the initial stop for 13 bus lines, including suburban lines to Chludowo, Murowana Goslina, Rokietnica and Suchy Las. Transfer from tram to bus is possible by pedestrian walkway of 120 to 200 meter long. In Poznan, light rail character has also tunnel of the route from Lech housing to Franowo. Are fast tram routes only in this city in Poland? Well, no, this type of transport is also in Krakow. Sections of its route, however, are shorter and the trams are moving slower. To the group of fast tram owners will soon join another Polish city. In the spring of 2015 will be opened first a 4-kilometer stretch of Szczecin Fast Tram from Mining Pool (Basen Górniczy) to Turquoise loop. Fast Tram is an alternative to the construction of subway in the big cities. This investment can be more than 10 times cheaper. With preserved field it can be built in a trench or in a more expensive tunnel. Undoubtedly, it is not able to provide such a high regularity and capacity rate as the metro. Fast tram, however, can easily be incorporated into a standard tram track system, eg. within the city center; and it can be serviced by standard vehicles. PST route is an example for the larger cities, how the tram can become a viable alternative during travel to the city center. If you liked it, necessarily subscribe the channel and look at my other materials. In the meantime, thank you for your attention.