Public Transport Authority of Warsaw (ZTM), Transport Association Berlin – Brandenburg (VBB) and PKP Intercity and DB are going to introduce one, common ticket valid on trains Berlin – Warsaw Ekspres and public transport of both capital cities. Today (3rd November) a letter of intent was signed by: Leszek Ruta – director of ZTM, Hans Werner-Franz – president of VBB and Katarzyna Zimnicka – Jankowska – member of the management board of PKP Intercity. They were accompanied by the President of Warsaw – Hanna Gronkiewicz-Watlz and member of the management board of PKP JSC – Jacek Prześluga.
Both cities together with train operators want to design a solution enabling a travel between the capital cities on the basis of an integrated ticket, valid on PKP Intercity and DB Fernverkehr trains as well as on the public transport of ZTM an VBB. At present, a passenger who gets off the train in Berlin or Warsaw and is going to continue his journey by means of public transport, has to buy a separate ticket.
A joint ticket will eliminate ticket zone boundaries between Berlin and Warsaw which have hampered contacts with neighbors – says VBB president Hans Werner-Franz.
A joint ticket will make travelling by bus and railway in every city much easier. It will not be necessary to have EUR or PLN currency to buy a ticket; language barrier will disappear, passengers will not have to search for ticket and validating machines. A passenger will be able to get off the train in Warsaw and change for a bus, Fast City Rail (SKM), underground or a tram. A joint ticket eliminates doubts and encourages passengers to change for the public transport.
I am sure that one joint ticket for Berlin and Warsaw is not only crossing the countries’ borders but also consciousness limitations. The travel simply gets easier. One does not have to worry about where to buy a ticket, what ticket to buy and if he will manage to do it. I hope that in this way we will join other European cities – says Leszek Ruta, director of ZTM. The initiative of VBB and ZTM is even more precious because its realization will take place in 2011 when Poland will be taking presidency in the European Union.
I am glad that our common efforts concerning transport are getting more extensive and help residents of Berlin and Warsaw, who have so much in common, to travel in comfortable conditions.
Public Transport Authority of Warsaw (ZTM) is the biggest in Poland and one of the biggest in Europe organizers of public transport. It operates not only in Warsaw but also in 28 nearby communes. Due to ZTM, every day, during rush hours, 1400 buses, 400 trams, over 30 underground trains and 14 trains of SKM operate on Warsaw streets. Warsaw public transport carries daily over 2m people. Warsaw is in possession of the biggest network of ticket sale in Poland. Tickets are available not only in ZTM points but also in at newsagents’, all post offices and also in Strefa points or ticket machines. ZTM is also a pioneer in implementing new technologies in public transport. As the first organizer of the public transport in Poland, ZTM introduced an electronic ticket carrier – Warsaw City Card (WKM). It has also began the process of installation of the most modern ticket machines on the streets of Warsaw. Next milestone in the development is enabling passengers to buy a ticket by mobile phone and on the Internet.
PKP Intercity is the biggest Polish railway operator specializing in both domestic and international long-distance transport. At first PKP Intercity offer included only fast trains with seats reservation but in 2005 PKP Intercity launched first economic category trains – TLK. PKP Intercity overtook also express trains from PKP Przewozy Regionalne (Regional Transport) by increasing the number of connections by 381. The longest domestic route of Intercity is 1111 km and leads from Przemyśl through Kraków, Wrocław, Poznań, Piła and Słupsk to Gdynia. The longest international route: Warsaw – Amsterdam has 1631 km. The company is a holder of the national record of speed of a conventional train. During the tests conducted in 2009 on the section Psary – Góra Włodawska section of Central Main Railway Line (CMK), PKP Intercity train consisting of Eurosprinter engine and three coaches travelled with the speed of 235 km/h. The fastest trains run by Intercity move with the maximum speed of 160 km/h. PKP Intercity activates over 300 trains on a daily basis – Express InterCity, EuroCity, EuroNight and TLK. (source – PKP Intercity)
Transport Association Berlin – Brandenburg (VBB) is one of the biggest public transport organizers in Europe. It operates in the area of 30 thousand square meters inhabited by 6 mln people. VBB cooperates with 39 operators. Thanks to VBB, residents of Berlin and Brandenburg have over a 1000 lines of public transport – buses, trams, rail or ferries. The vehicles of public transport in Berlin itself and in Brandenburg make 320m vehicle-kilometers yearly. Every day VBB carries almost 3.5m passengers. It also governs the stations infrastructure. In its administration it has over 13 thousand stops, underground and railway stations.
European Metropolitan Transport Authorities (EMTA). Such a close transport co-operation between Warsaw and Berlin became possible thanks to the membership of ZTM in EMTA. Hans Werener-Franz, president of VBB, was elected president of the association last year. Leszek Ruta, director of ZTM is a member of the board. ZTM has been a member for EMTA since 2008. Thanks to the membership, ZTM has access to the information about organization and functioning of transport in the most advanced urban agglomerations. For example, EMTA data concerning functioning of bus lanes in member cities have been used during drawing a plan of privileging public transport in Warsaw. In total, 31 EMTA entities serve 70m passengers. EMTA’s opinions are taken into account during consulting amendments to European Union law regulating the issues of public transport.
Published 3 November 2010
Last modified 3 June 2019
