Warsaw. The tram depot in Annopol is being commissioned

The facility in Annopol is being commissioned, where the first trams arrived in autumn, on the opening day of the tram route to Miasteczko Wilanów. Tram drivers are considering the concept of building a second access to the depot from the north.

– I came back from Brussels last night and I'm talking about this for two reasons. First of all, because the most important thing is agency, and from the very beginning we have been able to obtain EU funds for Warsaw and Poland. And the tram depot where we are currently located is a perfect example of this type of efficiency, because almost 80 percent of the costs of this investment were financed by the European Union. And the second issue is the fact that this facility is not only modern, but also very environmentally friendly. This is not an abstraction, these are very specific solutions that serve the people of Warsaw – said Rafał Trzaskowski, mayor of Warsaw, on Wednesday during a press conference in Annopol.

The Annopol depot covers nearly 12 hectares, on which 14 buildings were built, 16 kilometers of track and a hundred switches were laid. Trams are serviced, repaired, painted and washed here.

Ultimately, they will employ 430 people

– The Annopol depot is primarily the workplace of our employees, people thanks to whom efficient and safe trams run on the tracks every day, providing reliable transport to the residents of Warsaw. This facility is an example of modernity in every detail. We have an ecological washing and painting shop, and we are able to park as many as 152 trams, 33 meters long, under a roof, in conditions that significantly increase the durability of the vehicles – described the investment by Małgorzata Kaleta, member of the management board of Tramwaje Warszawskie for legal and financial matters.

Ultimately, as many as 430 people will work at the depot, and there are already 190 employees there.

Tram depot in Annopol

Start-up of the depot

The first 25 trams left the depot on October 29 – on the opening day of the new tram route to Wilanów. Currently, 38 brigades are assigned to the facility – mainly servicing tram lines 1, 3, 4 and 25. Without this depot, Tramwaje Warszawskie would not be able to service the increased number of trams – after the route to Wilanów is launched, 456 vehicles hit the tracks every day, i.e. 29 more than before. Gradual start-up of the plant and employee training are underway. According to the assumptions, the commissioning of the facility is to be completed in the first quarter of 2025.

In June, tram drivers announced that the depot is to be fully operational in September, but the route was delayed. – The first trams entered Annopol on the opening day of the tram route to Wilanów, i.e. October 29. And now the depot is being gradually commissioned, which involves calibrating devices and systems and training employees. We estimate that it will be completed in the first quarter of 2025. The number of trams served by the depot will be gradually increased next year – explained Witold Urbanowicz, spokesman for Tramwaje Warszawskie.

Only one access

Currently, there is only one access to the depot: from Prague through Bródno. Urbanowicz said that Tramwaje Warszawskie commissioned a technical and economic study for the construction of a second one – from the Białołęka side. – We are checking the possibilities of building another access route from the north. This does not mean that we will implement such a connection. It's just about checking the technical and economic possibilities of such a connection in terms of further expansion of the tram network – explained the TW spokesman. In his opinion, this would facilitate the operation of the northern part of the tram network and shorten the departure distance of trams.

When asked whether in the event of a breakdown and blocking of the only access route, it would not lead to paralysis (“Gazeta Stołeczna” drew attention to this potential problem), he replied: – The tram route to the depot has been modernized. There are also garages on site for the track network maintenance services, so the track emergency service will always be on site to quickly get in place in case of an emergency and to ensure access to the depot.

Green tracks and elevations

The Annopol depot is located at Warszawskie Tramwajarzy 5. It is managed by an intelligent system that identifies each entering and leaving tram. Switches and semaphores are controlled automatically – without the involvement of tram drivers. In total, more than 70 percent of switches are moved remotely.

Great emphasis was placed on ecology. In addition to heat pumps and solar panels, rainwater is collected in special tanks and used for domestic purposes – flushing toilets, washing vehicles and watering green areas.

The biologically active area occupies approximately 20%. depot area (vertical vegetation on the facades of five buildings, planting of acoustic screens, tracks with green buildings on the access section to the depot, planting of greenery).

They went back to the old idea

The last tram depot – R-4 Żoliborz in Bielany – was opened in 1963. Back in the 1960s, there were plans to build another depot – in Annopol. However, the concept was postponed due to the change in assumptions regarding the capital's transport services and the liquidation of some tram routes (including on Żelazna, Powązkowska, Radzymińska, Młociny and Wilanów).

“In recent years, we have been observing a real renaissance of tram transport, as evidenced by the new facilities in Annopol. Tramwaje Warszawskie signed a contract for the design and construction of a new depot at the end of 2021. The contractor was a consortium of ZUE and Yörük Yapi Inşaat. The current value of the contract is PLN 715, PLN 8 million gross,” the city hall reported.