Hi! I'm Antek and I will tell you about my greatest passion,
which is public transportation, streetcars in particular.
I will also try to answer the question:
"Does transport development affect city's development?"
My interest began with a story about my grandfather.
That's the man you can see in the photo with me.
It was like this:
One day, when I came home from school with my grandfather,
I said, "I wish there were a line no. 7."
That's the one that just came up to my mind.
However, my grandpa said that this line exists.
After a while, another number came up to my mind and I asked my grandpa again.
He said that line exists too,
and he told me where and from where it heads for.
Then I thought up many other numbers,
but it would turn out
that each of the line numbers existed.
After a while,
when I got very bored and stayed at home,
I decided to turn on the computer and check everything out.
The more I checked, the more gripping I found it.
In fact, it has continued so until today.
Maybe first I should tell you what it was like with those streetcars in Krakow.
In the second half of the 19th century, Krakow began to develop rapidly.
People had to walk further and further, or pay a lot for droskies.
Then came the first vehicle designed for collective transport,
omnibus, which you can see in this picture.
The name omnibus is derived from Latin
and means "for all."
Of course it wasn't for all.
There were even some places on the roof.
Cool, isn't it?
Omnibuses weren't very popular, because they were expensive
and plodded along the cobblestone streets.
To prevent this, in 1882 the horse-drawn streetcar was introduced.
It moved on even tracks,
which enabled it to travel at higher speeds
and be much more convenient.
The first streetcar line in Kraków
connected the railway station and the Podgórski Bridge.
There were 32 carriages running on monorail tracks,
16 of which were summer-type and the other 16 were winter-type.
However, the city continued to develop
and needed new means of communication.
Such a step was taken in 1901, when electric streetcars were introduced.
However, not everyone liked the idea
of introducing new means of communication.
The newspaper "Naprzód" reported:
"The municipality will have to build a new hospital in the nearest future
and a new facility for the mentally ill.
A hospital for those injured and wounded by a streetcar,
and the other one for residents of the streets along which streetcars run,
and for those who travel by streetcar,
because they inevitably must go crazy as a result of streetcar bells."
(Laughter)
There were also some problems with the Floriańska Gate,
because the streetcar couldn't squeeze through it.
The authorities considered widening the gate opening,
but the defenders of monuments wouldn't permit to do so.
Eventually, the street level was lowered.
As you can see, streetcars were available in various places at that time,
somewhere where now you would never see them.
Let's start a small contest.
Who can guess the location of the streetcar in the photo?
For example here.
(Overlapping replies)
Yes. This is the Main Square.
Now something harder.
But, please don't look at the title.
(Answers from the audience)
This is the Main Station,
but I think somebody did have a look at the title.
(Laughter)
One more photo.
This is the first streetcar depot established in 1903.
Does anybody know, what's there now and where?
(Overlapping replies)
Yes, the Museum of Municipal Engineering on Świętego Wawrzyńca Street.
I showed you how communication means grew along with the city's development.
Now, I'd like to show how communication affects the city's development.
I prepared this scheme:
First, communication is formed.
Then it develops slowly and goes slowly beyond the city limits.
Thanks to communication, people can build and want to build houses in distant areas.
They build houses further and further away,
as there is not enough space in the city anymore,
and they expect that communication will reach their houses.
Communication reaches those regions and so on.
It makes the city develop.
Now I'll show you the tramway rolling stock
that moved along the streets of Krakow at the beginning of the twentieth century,
and the one we have now.
The first one is SW1 on the line no.3 near the Main Post Office.
The second one is Sanok SN1 on the same line,
but in another place, namely on Grodzka street.
In the background, you can see the Saint Andrew's church.
Another one is a post-war product,
the well-known Polish Konstal 102Na,
here, on Basztowa Street.
The next one is SGP/Lohner E1,
photographed at the Cichy Kącik loop.
A gift from our partner city, namely Nuremberg.
Their great advantage back then was silent running.
Many Cracovians wondered,
how it was possible for the streetcar to move so quietly.
And here we come to the most recent urban vehicles:
Bombardier NGT6-2 of the third supply
and the latest Bomardier NGT8.
With these streetcars, Krakow comes into the 21st century.
Now, I would like to present you my idea for future communication.
The first streetcar is propelled by magnetic levitation,
so it can run at higher speeds
and needs no traction.
The second one is a very colorful and stylish streetcar.
It's colorful, but not because of labeled adverts.
I think everyone would like to take a ride on such a streetcar,
at least on cloudy days.
Another one is very long, because, as you can see, it ends here.
It can move on tracks located on large concrete pillars,
so it can avoid traffic jams
and other problems with moving on the ground.
At the end I will tell you,
why the streetcar is so important for Kraków.
The reason is that it's more convenient
and can take more people than a bus.
If there were no streetcars,
we wouldn't be able to transport people who need to.
I think you will agree with me,
that public transportation and streetcars do affect city's development.
Thank you very much for attention.
Have a pleasant ride on Kraków's streetcars.
(Applause)