The journey lasted for 35 kilometers and 244 meters and lasted 118 minutes. The vehicle stopped at 59 stops. It was the longest tram line in Poland and one of the longest in Europe. The legendary “46” was connected by Łódź, Zgierz and Ozorków over 100 years. The last tram traveled on this route on February 2, 2018. The reason for the “46” liquidation was the fatal condition of the track and traction outside Łódź. However, there is a chance that the legendary tram will return, but in a limited form.
Tram 46 connected Ozorków with Łódź from April 9, 1922 to February 2, 2018. It was the longest line in Poland and one of the longest in Europe, over 35 kilometers. Several thousand passengers a day used the means of transport. At the beginning of 2018, however, a decision was made to liquidate the legendary “46”. The reason was the terrible condition of the track and traction outside of Łódź. Last year of their functioning, trams were able to go in Zgierz and then in the Zgierz commune and in Ozorków to go at a speed of 15 kilometers per hour. The passengers, when traveling by tram, felt like at sea. It was shaking and rocking. The derailment and breaking of a used traction network have been derailed and this threat to passengers. After closing the lines, the inhabitants of Zgierz, the communes of Zgierz and Ozorków, the Z46 bus carried the bus for about 2 years. Later, passengers to Ozorków began to transport bus line No. 10 served by the Municipal Communication Services in Zgierz.
Both bus “10” and earlier tram “46” became victims of local government communication policy, characteristic of all of Poland. According to the estimates presented in the book “I will not make it” by the reporter Olga Gitkiewicz, in Poland communication exclusion may cover up to 14 million people. Lines such as “46” or railway lines in the 1990s and 2000 began to operate less passengers, because some switched to car transport. Investments followed – the money went mainly to the expansion of road infrastructure. However, it was not invested in a new rolling stock, whether it was a railway, or as in the case of “46”, which actually served as a suburban queue, tram. The frequency of courses was also reduced, which started a spiral difficult to stop: less investments -> fewer passengers -> fewer courses -> fewer passengers -> liquidation of the line.
In the neighboring Aleksandrów Łódzki, tram No. 44 connecting the city with Łódź was liquidated immediately in the early 1990s.
The route that tram 46 to 2018 went when it was liquidatedGoogle Maps
He drove away. Next? In 49 minutes
The frequency of running buses on the route Zgierz – Ozorków is low, which is overwhelmed by the inhabitants mainly towards Ozorków the extended district of Zgierz – Proboszczewice.
– These buses rarely run, definitely too rare – one of the women waiting for “10” at Zgierska in Ozorków tells us. – You, it's good that something goes at all, because I would not have to get to the hospital in Zgierz – added another one. – I would like the tram to come back, but there is probably no money for it, their (trams) to travel more than now these buses and it did not happen. He was driving sideways all the time. Now it is different with it – says Mr. Mirosław.
The legendary tram 46 will return to the tracksRadio Łódź
– Who disturbed it, couldn't everyone get along somehow and get money for the renovation of this line? – Marek asks. – I doubt it would come back, no one has such money to put the new tracks and traction – I do not believe in the return of this tram to Ozorków – the man added.
A moment later a bus arrives, in which a dozen or so people drive, the next one according to the timetable is to be only in 49 minutes.
For the inhabitants of the northern district of Zgierz, Proboszczewice, bus No. 10 is the only means of public transport that you can get to the center of Zgierz and change to e.g. tram 45, going to the capital of the Łódź voivodship.
Destroyed track in Zgierz, for which the tram 46Tvn24
– If “46” came back, I would not have to go somewhere to the center of Zgierz and change there, I would go straight to Łódź to the university, for me it makes sense that this tram would come back here – Mrs. Ola told us. – I'm in favor. That would be a huge convenience for us. The bus runs rarely, too rarely. As if they were still releasing here, it will definitely solve many problems, because let's face it – after lines 46 to Ozorków closed, we are excluded communication – Mr. Stanisław told us the bus waiting at the bus stop.
– Now there is this bus, he rarely rides, but let's not forget that the railway was put. For example, the Łódź Agglomeration Railway has two stops in Ozorków, there are also a few in Grotniki and there are still a few in Zgierz, from the very sentiment it cannot be rebuilt for thick millions of tram lines. As long as she rode it, and as she threatened and the tram drove 5 kilometers per hour, no one even hesitated to close it. It is a pity, but as the saying goes, this is life – commented Mrs. Maria, who traveled to Łódź by tram 46 for nearly 30 years.
The “46” tram will come back
Indeed, there is hope that “46” will return to the tracks, but in a limited form. According to the authorities of Zgierz, he would only commute to the city limits. Further, passengers would deliver buses to Ozorków. The Vice President of Zgierz, Bohdan Bączak, confirmed that as part of the Łódź Metropolitan Area (Łom), PLN 32 million was secured for this investment for the city.
Destroyed track in Zgierz, followed by tram 46Tvn24
Łom consists of 30 local government units of five poviats: the city of Łódź, Brzezinski, Łódź – East, Pabianice and Zgierz. The main goal of the Association is to support the socio-economic development of the Łódź metropolitan area. The crowbar also serves as a relationship in Łódź (integrating territorial investments). – The whole section in Zgierz is nearly four kilometers, but it is known that this will have to be staged, because for this money it is impossible to build four kilometers of this route, but the requirement is that you need to build a section not less than two kilometers in this money, but we will now, doing documentation, did it all this route – from the Kurak district, to the borders of the city in the district of the city in the district Vice President. Bączak, he added that two -way trams will ride on the renovated line. – We are talking to Łódź about this line, so that later a tariff and “sticking it” into Łódź distributions are unified – he said.
The border of Zgierz and the commune of Zgierz, where the tram 46 will end his rideTvn24
The vice president does not know where the tram from Zgierz would commute (historically 46 arrived from Ozorków to the Łódź Chocianowice, on the other side of Łódź). – It will all depend on what can be determined as part of a bilateral agreement in the city of Łódź. With line 45 (it runs on the route Zgierz – Łódź) it is so that we pay for kilometers to Helenówka (the border of Łódź and Zgierz). Further costs 45 are borne by Łódź, therefore it will be important here how Łódź will want this tram to drive and what part of the boat served. Minimally, 46 will commute to the end at North Street in the center of Łódź – he assured. Line design will start next year, and the tram itself would follow the new route in the next three years. – There is no faster means of communication, like rail transport, because as we know, the tram goes on its track, does not stand in traffic jams, no bus is able to settle it, for example during peak hours, where the road between Zgierz and Łódź is strongly corrected. There is no better solution for residents like a tram – summed up Bohdan Bączak.
Destroyed track in the Proboszczewice district in Zgierz, followed by tram 46Tvn24
Return “46” to a full old route, from Zgierz north through the Zgierz commune and further through the Ozorków commune, but there is no chance.
– The return of the tram is financially unattainable for us, we are not able to bear financial assembly, even with our own contribution – says the head of the Zgierz commune, Wioleta Głowacka. – The city has a short section to be implemented, we have the longest, as much as 9 -kilometer, the Zgierz commune cannot afford this investment at the moment, if there are external funds, one hundred percent, for example, the government will provide us with such financing, we are open – adds the head of the Zgierz commune.
The legendary tram 46 will return to the tracksRadio Łódź
The mayor of Ozorków speaks in a similar tone. – I would be ready to join such a program, only all local governments would have to agree, a subsidy would have to be intended for it and the issue of maintaining this line would have to be resolved, because the price of a bus cartmer's bus is half cheaper than a tram – at the moment we spend a bus 10 three million on the bus, in the case of a tram it would be six million. So first we would have to talk and set the rules for financing this line, but I am open to the proposal, this is my official position – Jacek Socha told us.
Destroyed track in Ozorków, followed by tram 46Tvn24
“The role of this tram will be completely different”
– Undoubtedly, the situation of the priest themselves in Zgierz after the withdrawal “46” deteriorated significantly, there is a parallel road that is congested, this transport ceased to be predictable, stopped reaching the Łódź itself, began to require transfers, buses run much less than how the tram ran. Also the return of the tram even on this short section is a certain step forward from the point of view of the transport system of the entire agglomeration, this is good news – comments Fiszer.
Damaged tram track 46 near the City Hall in ZgierzTvn24
He adds that “the role of this tram will be completely different than it was.” – Is it a pity that this tram will not return to Ozorków? Certainly from a tram perspective yes. Certainly it is some impairment 46 relative to the original assumptions of this line, it was built over 100 years ago to serve Ozorków and towns lying directly at Ozorków, but the fact that this tram will not reach directly to Ozorków, it is not a surprise, because Ozorków consistently declares the desire to resume tram communication, but also does not take real actions in this direction and we know that Along the way there are municipalities of Ozorków and Zgierz, which not only is so that financial effort would exceed it, but also looking from such a pragmatic and local perspective, it is even if these municipalities have somehow collected this money, for example, from the perspective of the Zgierz commune, the investment in the tram – I will allow myself to say – it would not be completely rational, because there is no interior municipalities, does not transport children to schools and so on. And as if that this tram passed through this commune is in the interest of cities – Zgierz and Ozorków than in the interest of the commune itself – sums up Kasper Fiszer.
Source of the main photo: Radio Łódź