Transport in Kraków

Transport in Kraków is based around a fairly dense network of tramway and bus lines operated by a municipal company, supplemented by a number of private minibus operators. Local trains connect some of the suburbs. The bulk of the city’s historic area has been turned into a

pedestrian zone with golf buggies, rickshaws and horse buggies; however, the tramlines run within a three-block radius.^[1]

Rail connections are available to most

Old Town District

and is well-served by public transport.

There is an international airport 11 km (7 mi) west of the city. Direct trains cover the route between the main railway station and the airport in 18 minutes.

International Airport

Kraków's airport, (John Paul II International Airport Kraków-Balice, Polish: Międzynarodowy Port Lotniczy im. Jana Pawła II Kraków-Balice) is 11 km (7 mi) west of the city. Direct trains cover the route between Kraków Main station and the airport in 16 minutes, but the service is unreliable because the railway track into the airport is an old military line that has not been upgraded.^{[citation needed]} The annual capacity of the airport is estimated at 1.3 million passengers; however, in 2007 more than 3.042 million people used the airport, giving Kraków Airport 15 percent of all air passenger traffic in Poland. The passenger terminal is undergoing extension and is being adapted to meet the requirements of the Schengen Treaty.^[3]

Kraków Main railway station

Kraków Main railway station (

railway station in Kraków

. The building, constructed between 1844 and 1847 (architect: P.Rosenbaum), is parallel to the tracks. The station was initially a

trainshed

via an archway in a brick wall at the northern end of the station.

The station opened on 13 October 1847, with the first train leaving for Mysłowice (the point where the Austrian, German and Russian Empires adjoined during their military partitions of Poland).

When the railway line was extended eastwards by the Galician Railway of Archduke Charles Louis (the first section, to Dębica, then Dembitz in the Habsburg Empire, opened in 1856). The increasing traffic resulted in the station being modernized and enlarged in stages between 1869 and 1894. The next substantial expansion took place in the 1930s. At that time the northern brick wall and trainshed were demolished, the latter replaced by individual platform roofs.

A new

transport interchange

was developed which included a coach station and an underground fast tram line. A new shopping center (Galeria Krakowska, Kraków Gallery) opened in September 2006. The construction of the Galeria Krakowska and remodeling of the area in front of the main station building means that taxis are no longer able to drive up to the station building, instead they can drive to the parking situated directly above railway tracks and connected by lifts and steps with platforms and underground ticket hall.

Tram system

Kraków Fast Tram line 50

Legend

					Kurdwanów P+R
					Witosa
					Nowosądecka
					Piaski Nowe
					Dauna
					Bieżanowska
					Kabel
					Dworzec Płaszów Estakada
					Lipska
					Gromadzka
					Kuklińskiego
					Klimeckiego
					Zabłocie
					Rondo Grzegórzeckie
					Rondo Mogilskie


					Dworzec Główny Tunel
					link to Kraków Main station
					Politechnika

					Dworzec Towarowy
					Prądnicka
					Bratysławska
					Krowodrza Górka

The

Dębniki and Osiedle Piastów in the district of Mistrzejowice

Works on a tunnel for trams in the main railway station area started in 1974 and the 1.538 kilometer-long tunnel was finally opened on 12 December 2008.

Dworzec Główny Tunnel is an underground station directly connected to the platforms of the main railway station and to the Galeria Krakowska shopping mall.^[4]

Politechnika is an underground station located near the campus of the

Cracow University of Technology.^[5]

In July 2010, MPK placed an order for a further 24

Bombardier Flexity Classic trams.^[6]

Kraków's tram network

References

^ Marek Strzala, "Krakow. Varied Means of Transportation". Retrieved 2007-05-12.
^ (in Polish) Magiczny Kraków, city's official website. "International railway connections from Krakow". Archived from the original on 2007-10-13. Retrieved 2007-09-15.
^ World Airports Guide. "Kraków Airport". Archived from the original on 2007-12-19. Retrieved 2007-05-12.
^ Panoramic view of the Dworzec Główny Tunel station
^ Panoramic view of the Politechnika station
^ "Railway Gazette: Kraków orders 24 Flexity trams". Retrieved 2010-07-23.

Bibliography

Encyklopedia Krakowa. Warszawa-Kraków: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN. 2000.
Demel, Juliusz (1954). Początki kolei żelaznej w Krakowie. Towarzystwo Miłosników Historii i Zabytków Krakowa.
Station history at Magiczny Kraków, the city's official webpage

External links

Media related to Transport in Kraków at Wikimedia Commons

mpk.krakow.pl Miejskie Przedsiębiorstwo Komunikacyjne SA w Krakowie
krakow-info.com Getting around in Kraków
[1] Taxi Krakow airport

[1] Marek Strzala, "Krakow. Varied Means of Transportation". Retrieved 2007-05-12.

[2] (in Polish) Magiczny Kraków, city's official website. "International railway connections from Krakow". Archived from the original on 2007-10-13. Retrieved 2007-09-15.

[3] World Airports Guide. "Kraków Airport". Archived from the original on 2007-12-19. Retrieved 2007-05-12.

[4] Panoramic view of the Dworzec Główny Tunel station

[5] Panoramic view of the Politechnika station

[6] "Railway Gazette: Kraków orders 24 Flexity trams". Retrieved 2010-07-23.

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