13 February 1897 - An agreement signed between Łódź
Magistrate and a group of industrialists about conditions of creating and
exploiting a tram network in Łódź. A company called "Łódź Electric Railway
Consortium" is created.
23 December 1898 - Official opening of the passenger
transport. The first trams appear on the streets of Łódź.
13 January 1900 - The company
is transformed into a shared-stock company called "Łódź City
Rail Roads Society”.
July 1901 - The old name, slightly modified,
is reintroduced: "Łódź Electric Railway Society" (K.E.Ł.).
14 July 1908 - Shared-Stock Society of Łódź
Narrow-Gauge Electric Commuters' Railway is created (Ł.W.E.K.D).
5 November 1948 - K.E.Ł. and Ł.W.E.K.D. are combined to
create one company: "City Transport Company".
1 January 1951 - he name changed to "City Transport
Company in Łódź".
26 October 1992 - The establishing act is signed for
"City Transport Company - Łódź" Ltd. (MPK - Łódź Spółka z o.o.)
1 April 1994 - The Disabled Transportation Division is
created within MPK - Łódź Spółka
z o.o.
* * *
23 December 1898 was the day when the passenger transport was officially launched. At 1.00 p.m. the first tram left the depot at Tramwajowa Street
- and trough Dzielna (today Narutowicza), Piotrkowska, Nowy Rynek (Plac
Wolności) and Średnia reached the then culture and recreation park
"Helenów". The total length of the route was 2.8 km.
The return route led through Nowy Rynek, Piotrkowska Street
to "Paradyż" inn. The total length of the route was 3 km.
Soon, new lines were built and open in the city, adding the following
four routes:
- from Plac Kościelny, through
Nowy Rynek, Piotrkowska Street to Górny Rynek (Plac Reymonta).
- from
the cemeteries at Cmentarna and Ogrodowa streets, through Średnia to Nowy
Rynek.
- From "Helenów" park,
through Średnia to Nowy Rynek.
- From
Piotrkowska, through Dzielna to Fabryczna Railway Station and the depot at
Nowowysoka (Tramwajowa).
In 1900 another 9 km of lines were
built in Łódź, which gave a total of 24.73 km tram lines. Lines running towards Widzew - along Główna - as well as on
Andrzeja, Długa and Milsza (Kopernika) streets.
At that time 9 working tram lines were to be found in Łódź. This
structure remained basically unchanged for a number of years, with only minor
changes as the lines were gradually elongated.
A public transport connection was created, as demanded by the flow of
passengers from Górny Rynek in the southern part of the city, along Piotrkowska street
to the northern districts. The north-south connection along Piotrkowska was to
become the spine of the city transport.
In the years 1904-1905 new sections of lines were built long the
following streets: Zarzewska (Przybyszewskiego) to Rynek Geyera (Pl. Reymonta), Widzewska
(Kilińskiego), Długa (Gdańska), Pańska (Żeromskiego) and Radwańska
(Świerczewskiego from Żeromskiego to Piotrkowska).
Just before the outbreak of World War I, there were 12 tram lines in
Łódź
In the area of Kaliska Railway Station, and to be exact: to the corner
of ul. M. Kopernika and Al. Włókniarzy, trams appeared only in October 1913.
On the square in front of the station, trams appeared in 1933, but a
terminus was created only in 1947.
An important step in the regulation of the city transport in Łódź was
taken when a license agreement was signed between The City Commune of Łódź and
the Shared-Stock Company of Łódź Electric Railway. The agreement concerned
extensions to and exploitation of the already existing tram network in Łódź. The
agreement was in force from 1 June 1923 and meant to be
valid for 40 years, i.e. until 31 December 1962.
Following an agreement signed in 1924, a few suburban lines were created:
- ul.
Rzgowska - from Górny Rynek to Chojny railway Station - 2,252 m length.
- ul. Brzezińska - from Pl.
Kościelny to Al. Cmentarna - 2,325 m length.
- ul. Łagiewnicka - from Pl.
Kościelny to Bałucki Rynek and around it - >647 m length.
- The
second rail on ul. Kopernika
and Konstantynowska - 617 m length.
In 1925 tram rails were built in the Widzew district - from ul.
Konstantynowska to the railway line, and on ul. Srebrzyńska - from the
cemeteries to the railway.
Year 1927 - another stage of the network's development. New major sections are
built on Kilińskiego - from Główna to Przejazd; on Przejazd - from Piotrkowska
to Przędzalniana; on Zielona - to Pl. Hallera (Pl. 9
Maja) as well as the second rail on ul. Rzgowska and other streets.
Year 1928 - this is the year of great new rail investments. Apart
from opening of a new depot at ul. Dąbrowskiego, about 22 km of new rails are built in the following places:
- on ul.
Brzezińska - extension of the rail to the cemeteries
- on ul. Pomorska - from Helenów
to ul. Zagajnikowa, which in the next year were extended
to ul. Morska
(Tamka)
- on ul. Przejazd - from ul.
Przędzalniana to ul. Zagajnikowa, and along Zagajnikowa to ul. Rokicińska
(Piłsudskiego)
- on ul. Napiórkowskiego
(Przybyszewskiego) - from ul. Kilińskiego to ul. Tatrzańska
- on ul. Kilińskiego - from ul.
Napiórkowskiego to ul. Dąbrowska (depot)
- on ul. Dąbrowskiej (J.
Dąbrowskiego) - from ul. Rzgowska to ul. Kilińskiego
- on ul. Kątna (Wróblewskiego)
- on ul. Kilińskiego - from ul.
Narutowicza to ul. Brzezińska (Wojska Polskiego)
In 1929, 17 lines of the total length of 46 km> carried an average of 238,000 passengers a day.
In 1933 the city trams had 47 km of rails and 14 lines. This year a short section of new rail is built
on ul. Kilińskiego
- from ul. Przejazd to ul. Narutowicza, also turning into ul. Składowa - from ul. Kilińskiego to ul. Skwerowa (POW).
The next years, up until the outbreak of World War II, did not witness
any major extension to the tram network. In 1934 short sections of new
rails are built: extension of ul. Narutowicza - from ul. Tramwajowa to ul.
Zagajnikowa, and on ul. Łągiewnicka - from
Rynek Bałucki to ul. Biegańskiego.
It was only in the years 1945-1946 that the city tram lines were
extended, according to the city's inhabitants' demands, to the suburbs:
Zdrowie, Ruda Pabianicka, Żabieniec and Julianów.
After W.W.II, further development of the public city transport in Łódź took
place. New
lines were opened: to Stoki, Nowe Złoto, Karolew, on Łagiewnicka, Warszawska
and Wojska Polskiego. In 1951 trams appeared
along the whole of Al. Kościuszki and ul. Zachodnia, which took some of the
traffic away from the heavily crowded Piotrkowska. This even allowed for tram
traffic to be totally stopped between Pl. Wolności and ul. F. Żwirki.
In the meantime, MPK received its first 7 buses and on 11 October 1948 launched the city's first bus line - "A" - between Pl.
Niepodległości and Józefów, and later from the railway to Józefów along ul.
Rzgowska.
In 1951 another bus line is opened: on ul. Piotrkowska - between
Pl. Wolności and Pl. Niepodległości. The tram line there was extended to
Zagrzew.
Bridges and overpasses build below and above the railway lines around
Łódź made city traffic easier to manage, and tram lines reached even the most
remote suburbs: e.g. Chojny, Retkinia, Kurak, Teofilów and Widzew.
In 1986 the tram depot at ul. Telefoniczna was opened - one of
the most modern depots in the country. Also the bus transport flourished - 3
new depots were built.
Since the late 1970s we have, however, observed not development
but decline of city and suburban tram lines - due both to economic situation
and changes in the organisation of the city traffic in Łódź. It all started
with the closing of the Tuszyn line in 1978.
in 1991 the line
to Aleksandrów and in 1993 the line to Rzgów were closed.
To
illustrate the total length of the city public transport operated by MPK - Łódź
Spółka z o.o., we can compare it to the distance between Świnoujście on the
Baltic coast and Ustrzyki Dolne in the Bieszczady Mountains.
