Poznań Fast Tram (, PST, informally: PeSTka, ''pestka'' – drupe, stone fruit) is a stretch of
grade-separated
In civil engineering (more specifically highway engineering), grade separation is a method of aligning a junction of two or more surface transport axes at different heights ( grades) so that they will not disrupt the traffic flow on other tr ...
tram
A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which Rolling stock, vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some ...
/
light rail
Light rail (or light rail transit, abbreviated to LRT) is a form of passenger urban rail transit that uses rolling stock derived from tram technology National Conference of the Transportation Research Board while also having some features from ...
line of the
tram system
A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some include seg ...
in
Poznań
Poznań ( ) is a city on the Warta, River Warta in west Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business center and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John's ...
,
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
. The tracks are set in a cutting or on an
overpass
An overpass, called an overbridge or flyover (for a road only) in the United Kingdom and some other Commonwealth countries, is a bridge, road, railway or similar structure that is over another road or railway. An ''overpass'' and '' underpa ...
,
switch
In electrical engineering, a switch is an electrical component that can disconnect or connect the conducting path in an electrical circuit, interrupting the electric current or diverting it from one conductor to another. The most common type o ...
es allowing to drive on adjacent tracks. The stops, resembling railroad stations, have a different color scheme each. This tram line was created as an alternative to a more expensive
metro
Metro may refer to:
Geography
* Metro City (Indonesia), a city in Indonesia
* A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center
Public transport
* Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urban area with high ...
. The PST, opened in 1997, links the densely populated northern districts of
Winogrady
Winogrady is a part of the Stare Miasto district of the city of Poznań in western Poland. It is situated north of the ''Cytadela'' park (the former Poznań citadel). The name refers to the vineyards which formerly existed in the area – histo ...
and
Piątkowo with the city center.
System
* Length:
* Number of
stops: 9
* Maximum speed:
* Capacity: 5000 persons per hour
* Trams run every 2.5 minutes during the rush hours, otherwise every 5 minutes
Background
Poznań is a city with about half a million inhabitants, with slightly over a million in the entire metropolitan area. Most of the city's office buildings are located in the center, while most light industry is located uptown or in the suburbs around the city. Hence most trips by public transport are to and from the center.
History
The first Poznań public transport company started its business activity in 1880, with a few horse-pulled trams. At that time, the town had about 70,000 inhabitants, and was not growing due to building restrictions imposed by the Prussian military administration creating ''
Festung Posen'' ("Poznań Stronghold"), see
Poznań in the Kingdom of Prussia (1793–1918).
Soon after the company was established, the construction limitations were lifted, and the town grew very fast to about 200,000 inhabitants in 1920s. By that time there were some early ideas of creating a segregated line that would link the center with one of the northern districts. Neither technology nor the budget allowed for a construction of such a tram line, and metro, would have been too ambitious and unnecessary, so the plans were shelved.
In the 1960s and 1970s, Poland's communist government built
blocks of flats
A tower block, high-rise, apartment tower, residential tower, apartment block, block of flats, or office tower is a tall building, as opposed to a low-rise building and is defined differently in terms of height depending on the jurisdiction. ...
in the north and east of the city. This created a high population density and thus a high demand for transportation. However, these districts were poorly served by public transport: it took up to 45 minutes by bus to travel to the city center. A corridor was left for the construction of a tram line.
Original plans envisioned a 27 kilometer line completely separate from the existing tram network, conceptually similar to the
WKD light rail line in
Warsaw
Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...
. The line was to run from the main railway station in the city center to
Winogrady
Winogrady is a part of the Stare Miasto district of the city of Poznań in western Poland. It is situated north of the ''Cytadela'' park (the former Poznań citadel). The name refers to the vineyards which formerly existed in the area – histo ...
,
Piątków,
Morasko and the village of
Owińska outside the city limits, with several branches. Ultimately however the project was limited to only a 6 kilometer line in the northern part of the city, joining the existing network in the city center.
The construction work commenced in 1975, progressed very slowly, finally stalling at 60%
[Andrzej KRYCH SZYBKI I SZYBSZY TRAMWAJ - EWALUACJA IDEI I APLIKACJI NA PRZYKLADZIE POZNANIA] in 1990, after the fall of
communism
Communism () is a political sociology, sociopolitical, political philosophy, philosophical, and economic ideology, economic ideology within the history of socialism, socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a ...
. Construction resumed in 1993, and the entire project was ready by the end of 1996.
The line opened on February 1, 1997. Travel times between the northern districts and the center decreased from about 40 minutes to some 10–15 minutes. This, combined with limited and paid parking space in the center, contributed to the huge success of the line, with overcrowding at peak times.
The tracks originally served three routes, in 1999, a fourth one was added, reaching the limits of the lines capacity with trams run every 2.5 minutes at peak times. As the line has not been fitted with a
train protection system
A train protection system is a railway technical installation to ensure safe operation in the event of human error.
Development
Train stops
The earliest systems were train stops, as still used by the New York City Subway, the Toronto rapid ...
, smaller intervals are not allowed for safety reasons.
The trams suffered from vandalism and from a lack of security. These problems, however, diminished when surveillance cameras were installed. The project has had a very positive impact on the communities it serves, making them more attractive for investors, and stopping depopulation.
Some institutions and companies served by the tram, listed by station, include:
(those marked by a plus (+) have moved in the general area after the opening of the line):
* Słowiańska (green) — student dormitories, Courts of Law (+)
* Al. Solidarności (previously Serbska; yellow) — 3 supermarkets (+), a large office building (+)
* Lechicka/Poznań Plaza (previously Lechicka; blue) — a supermarket (+),
Poznań Plaza shopping mall (+)
* Kurpińskiego (orange) — a bank (+), a small supermarket, a clinic
* Szymanowskiego (red) — a supermarket (+), and a large development of modern apartment blocks
* Osiedle Jana III Sobieskiego (terminus) —
Adam Mickiewicz University
Adam is the name given in Genesis 1–5 to the first human. Adam is the first human-being aware of God, and features as such in various belief systems (including Judaism, Christianity, Gnosticism and Islam).
According to Christianity, Adam si ...
campus

In 2011 work began on a previously cut 2 kilometer long extension of the line to the
Poznań Główny railway station
Poznań Główny, Anglicisation (linguistics), anglicised to Poznan Main, is the chief railway station for the city of Poznań, Poland's fifth-largest city, and capital of the Greater Poland Voivodeship. The station is located at a junction of Wa ...
in the city center, sandwiched between the preexisting tram line running in the city streets and railway tracks. The extension was opened in 2013 with its own
turning loop
A balloon loop, turning loop, or reversing loop (Glossary of North American railway terms, North American Terminology) allows a rail vehicle or train to reverse direction without having to Shunting (rail), shunt or stop. Balloon loops can be u ...
, which allows for operating longer trams sets that could partially alleviate congestion.
Current lines
Future development
Similar fast tram networks exist in other parts of the world — namely in
Vienna
Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
,
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...
, and
Brussels
Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...
— while several other cities, beginning with
Karlsruhe
Karlsruhe ( ; ; ; South Franconian German, South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, third-largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, after its capital Stuttgart a ...
, have used
mainline railway tracks to expand their tram networks. However, those cities are much larger and have gone further towards the development of trams into metro-style, heavier vehicles. It was therefore important for the Poznań administration to find out on their own how successful the program would be.
As the program had proved successful, another new tram line started in early 2005, connecting the city center with eastern district of
Rataje. It is not truly a fast tram, but the success of the first program has prompted the authority to convert an existing line into a faster one.
See also
*
Trams in Poznań
The Poznań tram system is a tramway operated by (MPK Poznań; ''Public Transport Company in Poznań Ltd.''). It currently has 18 daytime lines, 2 night lines, and 3 tourist lines served by historical vehicles. The tram system consists of about ...
*
List of town tramway systems in Poland
This is a list of town tramway systems in Poland. It includes all tram systems in Poland, past and present; cities with currently operating systems, and those systems themselves, are indicated in bold and blue background colored rows. Those tram ...
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Poznanski Szybki Tramwaj
Transport in Poznań
Tram transport in Poland
Rapid transit in Poland