A nine-person delegation from Georgia and Armenia visited a transport node in Młociny. The guests are visiting objects co-financed from European funds.
Workers of Georgian Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure and Armenian Ministry of Territorial Administration came to Poland after being invited by Ministry of Regional Development. They are taking part in a program co-financed by Ministry of Foreign Affairs. During the visit they were visiting objects whose construction has been co-financed from European funds. On 18th November they came to Warsaw. The key point of their program on that day was a visit to the biggest transport node in Młociny.
They were shown round in the impressive object by a transport activity coordinator from ZTM – Andrzej Franków. He gave a presentation in Russian not only about the node itself and its significance in the transport system of the capital city but also about the history, present times and plans for the development of the Park and Ride system in Warsaw.
Although officials from Georgia and Armenia do not deal professionally with transport issues on a daily basis but are occupied with documents and strategic projects for the regional development of their countries, they appreciated an extensive transport network in Warsaw. They were impressed by the transport node in Młociny and Warsaw underground.
Georgia and Armenia in times of USSR were one of the best developed socialist republics. For example, in Georgia 100% of railways was electrified. In several dozens of cities trolleybuses were operating. Two lines of underground were built in Tbilisi and one in Yerevan. After the collapse of USSR, both republics plunged into various wars which became the cause of a complete economical breakdown. Through many years, providing electricity was a significant problem which had a negative influence on the functioning of tram and trolleybus transport. People quit their jobs in transport and the infrastructure fell into ruin. Not-renovated tram and trolleybus lines were closing one by one. Private competition in the form of buses appeared. As a result, in the last years all tram and trolleybuses lines closed down. An exception to this is Yerevan where the situation was so stabilized that municipal authorities decided to buy a new rolling stock. In the place of liquidated trams and trolleybuses developed bus transport using second-hand vehicles imported from Europe. A conductor or a driver collects fees for travelling during passengers’ getting off. In the underground passengers purchase a token which they insert into a gate.
Published 18 November 2010
Last modified 3 June 2019
