Szybka Kolej Miejska (Tricity)
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| Ltd. | |
| Industry | Rail transport |
| Founded | December 22, 2000 (as a separate company) 1951 (as a part of PKP) |
| Headquarters | Gdynia, Poland |
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Key people
|
Maciej Lignowski |
| Revenue |
 93 832 300 zł (2006) |
|
1 920 100 zł (2006) |
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|
Number of employees
|
820 (2013) |
| Website | www.skm.pkp.pl |
PKP Szybka Kolej Miejska w Trójmieście Sp. z o.o. (Polish pronunciation: [ˈʂɨpka ˈkɔlɛi̯ ˈmjɛi̯ska]; Fast Urban Railway), or SKM, is a railway transportation system in Poland's Tricity area (Gdańsk, Sopot and Gdynia), which also reaches Słupsk, which is 110 km west of Gdynia, and Tczew, which is 31 km south of Gdańsk.
The SKM functions as a commuter rail service for the Tricity, operating frequent trains on the central section between Gdańsk and Gdynia, and less frequently to outlying sections. The SKM route has 27 stops covering the Tricity between Gdańsk, Gdynia and Wejherowo.
The SKM was established after World War II ended in 1945, when the cities of the Tricity, which had previously been divided under Polish and non-Polish administrations, all became part of Poland. For the first 24 years, from the start of SKM service in January 1952 until December 1976, SKM trains used cars built in the 1930s for the Berlin S-Bahn. These cars had been taken from Germany to Poland in 1945 as war reparations.
In December 1976 the ageing Berlin cars were retired, and replaced by cars built in Poland. The collapse of Communism in Poland in 1989-1990 brought little improvement or investment to the SKM, whose ridership dropped by some 50 percent as underfunded public transportation had to compete with a growing fleet of private automobiles.
Poland's increasing prosperity since joining the European Union in 2004, together with European Union funding for infrastructure improvements has improved the condition of much of Polish transport. In 2014 nearly one-third of the SKM fleet was rebuilt in a way which has produced almost brand-new cars. An order for new cars is on the horizon, and the SKM is entering a phase of modernization and improvement.
The SKM route has 27 stops covering the Tricity between Gdańsk, Sopot, Gdynia and Wejherowo, all located along one continuous line parallel to the coast of the Baltic Sea. SKM service has been extended to Wejherowo, Lębork and Słupsk, 110 km west of Gdynia,.and Tczew, 31 km south of Gdańsk. The entire line is electrified, and service is operated by electric multiple unit trains at a frequency of 6 to 30 minutes between trains (depending on the time of day) on the central section between Gdańsk and Gdynia, and less frequently on outlying sections. It is similar to a subway service or light rail in other European cities. The Tricity area is suited for this method of transport, as it occupies a relatively narrow north-south corridor between Gdańsk Bay and the Tricity Landscape Park.
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Wikipedia