Możliwości i dylematy rozwoju miejskiego transportu szynowego w Polsce
Possibilities and dilemmas of urban rail-based transport development in Poland

Summary/Abstract: The purpose of the article is to characterise the possibilities of introducing and developing of urban rail-based transport in Poland. This problem is related to the question whether in order to improve public transport in cities which already have a rail-based (or any electric) transport system, its development should be considered, while in the case of cities without such a transport there is the question if introducing a new means of public rail-based transport is an appropriate solution. In order to answer these dilemmas in the first stage of the present article, new rail-based urban transport systems which have been introduced in European cities in the last decade are characterised, while in the second stage the possibilities of introducing of such means of transport in Polish cities are analysed. The research results demonstrate that rail-based transport may be a proper solution to transport problems of cities, although the possibilities of its development in Polish cities vary depending on many demographic, economic, spatial and political factors. In the largest Polish cities which can be described as metropolises the question is: what sort of rail transport system should to developed ?, in medium-sized towns, however, the challenge is rather to maintain the existing networks. The legitimacy of the implementation of new rail-based urban transport systems depends on the coordination of the activities of many institutions at various levels and from support at the national and European level.

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