History of the Project

The tramway to Mistrzejowice is a project of strategic importance for the city’s development. The planned tram route will connect two existing lines in the northern part of Krakow, in District III Prądnik Czerwony and District XV Mistrzejowice. These districts are a residential area of the city with many offices, shops and heavy traffic.

The aim of the project is to reduce car traffic and improve air quality in the inner city and reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the city by providing alternative transport options.

The first stage of public consultation took place at an earlier stage of planning the project – in 2015. At that time, it was decided to choose an approximately 4.5-kilometers-long route, running almost its entire length along existing streets, crossing three roundabouts that are important for Krakow’s transport system and joining the existing track to Nowa Huta at the junction of Meissnera Street and Jana Pawła II Avenue.

On 21 December 2020, a public-private partnership agreement was signed between the City of Krakow and the Private Partner for the design and construction of the tram line, together with its operation and maintenance. The route of the line was reviewed and modified in connection with the construction of the tunnel and optimisation of its length in order to reduce land occupation and improve traffic flow through the Polsad roundabout.

A second phase of public consultation took place in 2021. – both in the form of in-person (with the sanitary regime in place at the time), online and on-call telephone consultations by the designer. The final stage was public consultation as part of the issuing of the environmental decision.

The application for a Road Construction Consent (in polish: Zezwolenie na Realizację Inwestycji Drogowej – ZRID) was submitted to the Municipality of Krakow in March 2022. On 9 May 2023, the ZRID decision was issued and construction has been underway since 3 July. The investment is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2025.

In addition to the design and construction of the tram line and its operation for a period of 20 years, the project involves the following changes to the local transport infrastructure:

• Reconstruction of Meissnera and Młyńska Streets to allow the tram line to run between the carriageways,
• Redevelopment of the Młyńskie roundabout,
• Redevelopment of the Bareja roundabout to create a junction with traffic lights,
• Modification of the intersection of Dobrego Pastasterza, Alina and Krzesławicka streets,
• Redevelopment of Krzesławicka Street,
• Redevelopment of the intersection of Bohomolca, Kniaźnina and Krzesławicka streets.

Also, the following will be constructed/extended:

• pavements,
• cycle paths,
• street lighting
• traffic lights,
• fibre optic network for Local Traffic Control,
• video surveillance,
• information boards,
• traffic signs,
• switch control and heating,
• overhead line with two substations,
• reconstruction of urban infrastructure (electricity grid, heating pipes, water pipes, etc.),
• reconstruction of the transformer station,
• restoration of greenery, including green elements of the tramway track,
• local architectural details, etc.

Krakow was the first Polish city to introduce a sustainable transport policy in 1993. The city decided to develop tram transport as a more environmentally friendly means of transport, especially for connections to the city centre.

The investment falls within the framework of the updated Transport Policy of Krakow (2016-2025) and meets four of the five main objectives of the policy, namely:

Ensuring that users of the transport system can travel conveniently,
To develop and promote sustainable forms of travel,
Improving the environment, reducing transport nuisance for residents and increasing safety,
Improving land use and transport efficiency.

The investment is in line with the Strategy for Sustainable Transport in Krakow and the Strategy for the Development of the Public Transport System, the aim of which is to improve service to individual city districts through the rapid tramway network.

The construction of a tramway line is one of the measures outlined in the City of Kraków’s Climate Change Adaptation Plan 2030.

Our project has been assessed as complying with the EU taxonomy of environmentally sustainable economic activities, which means that it meets the requirements for green financing.

The project uses solutions that are adapted to climate change and that will contribute to its mitigation. On the basis of the projections developed, it is estimated that the newly designed tram line will contribute to a reduction in CO2 emissions of around 55 per cent compared to a scenario in which this investment would not have been built.

The investment also assumes a neutral impact on noise emissions through the use of noise barriers on selected sections of the track. In areas particularly exposed to noise, the designers envisaged the use of pavements with reduced acoustic parameters, i.e. so-called quiet asphalt, perimeter inserts, vibration insulating mats or green track, track lubricators. These solutions will make it possible to reduce noise in the urban space and thus the negative impact on residents.