Trams in Legnica was a former streetcar system operating in Legnica, Poland, between the years 1898–1968.
Origin Due to its medieval location, Legnica has functioned within the boundary of the city walls, the demolition of which was initiated in 1760 and ended with an intensive action of demolishing after 1860. The effects of the Industrial Revolution: the Berlin-Wrocław Railroad and the creation of the factory district resulted in an influx of workers into the city, which had about 7,000 inhabitants in the early 19th century. After 1860, companies erected quarters of four-story tenement houses for workers around the Old Town (Kartuzy district, outskirts of Tarninowo), which increased the area of the city and enabled the influx of people, and in consequence, triggered the need to organize public transportation.
In 1878–1880, the local government of Legnica rejected proposals for the introduction of passenger and passenger-cargo horse streetcars by private concessionaires, as well as the introduction of freight transport using a steam streetcar in 1880 and a gas passenger streetcar in 1896. Refusals were based on unsatisfactory financial conditions of the offers. On June 22–24, 1896, Felix Singer & Co. from Berlin (which already had a streetcar network in Bamberg at the time) was granted a concession for the parallel construction of a narrow-gauge (1000 mm) electric streetcar and equipping the city with a power network, which Legnica lacked at that time. Felix Singer & Co.'s special-purpose subsidiary „Gesellschaft Elektrizitäts-Werk Liegnitz” (using the acronym EWL) has gained a monopoly on the sale of electricity in the city in exchange for the obligation to provide city transport and transfer part of the ticket revenues to the municipal budget. The construction of streetcar lines and equipping the city with electricity was part of the policy of the long-time mayor Ottomar Oertel, who focused on the development of the municipal infrastructure in his early years.
After 1945, there was a widespread opinion in press articles and publications that the horse streetcar project was realized in 1882. More recent research has shown that these claims were wrong.
1898-1945 (The original street names used at the time are given in italics.)
The streetcar routes and the first power plant in Legnica, which had 50,000 inhabitants at the time, were opened on 21 January 1898 after construction that lasted for 6 months.
Initially three routes were built:
A circular line, from the railroad station through Libana Street, Wilson Square (Breslauer Platz), Witelona and Skarbka Street (Gartenstr.), Cathedral Square (Passage), Market Square (Ring), Złotorska (Goldberger Str.), Hutników (Grenadierstr.), Chojnowska (Haynauer Str.), Market, Grodzka (Burgstr.) and Nowa (Glogauer Str.) to the station. Transversal line from Sciegienny Street (Hedwigstr.) through Skłodowska-Curie (Lübenerstr.), Rycerska (Ritterstr.), Cathedral Square (Passage), Slavic Square (Friedrichplatz), Mickiewicza street (Luisenstr.), Łukasiński Str. (Schützenstr.) and Jaworzyńska (Jauerstr.) to Tarnów. A line to the cemetery from Wilson Square (Breslauer Platz) through Wroclawska Str. (Breslauer Str.) to the municipal cemetery (the depot was erected on the opposite side).
Streetcars running on different lines in the years 1898-1940 were marked with colored shields.
The entire network consisted of 9.271 km of single track with loops (including marginal), the rolling stock built for the Legnica network consisted of 18 motor cars and 5 trailers built at the Waggonfabrik Breslau factory. Initially, the circular line ran at a frequency of up to 7.5 minutes, while other lines every 10 minutes.
The completed layout of the city lines turned out to be incorrect and the financial results of the streetcar operator differed from previous projections. On January 31, 1900, with the consent of the city council, traffic was suspended on the least frequented section of the network from Cathedral Square to Ściegiennego Street. In March 1901, pushing the snow on the tracks suspended traffic on the entire network for five days. The management of the streetcar company applied for permission to reduce the frequency of trams and change the circular line into a straight one, moving the tracks to Skarbowa (Klosterstr.) and Najswietszej Maria Panny (Frauenstr.) streets. Eventually, before the extension in 1911, traffic on the network was carried out on two lines:
Cathedral Square (Passage), Market Square (Ring), Złotoryjska (Goldberger Str.), Hutników (Grenadierstr.), Chojnowska (Haynauer Str.) streets, Market Square, Grodzka (Burgstr.) and Nowa (Glogauer Str.) streets, at the railroad station, Lebana (Gartenstrasse), and Wroclawska (Breslauer Str.) streets to the cemetery. Cathedral Square (Passage), Slavic Square (Friedrichplatz), Mickiewicz (Luisenstr.), Łukasiński (Schützenstr.) and Jaworzyńska (Jauerstr.) streets to the "Dornbusch" in Traninów.
Before World War II Legnica was an agricultural town. Between 1911 and 1913, the tram network was extended to suburban areas: on May 9, 1913, the line south of Tarninów was extended to the Tivoli Inn near Wielogórska Street in Przybków (Prinkendorf), and on August 29, 1913, the line towards the cemetery to the Musentempel Inn in the suburb of Piekary Wielkie (Groß-Beckern). The extension was accompanied by an expansion of the rolling stock by 4 motor and two trailer cars, similar to those already in possession (with the difference of built-in trailer platforms), and the introduction of vehicles on all lines every 15 minutes (frequency drop).
From December 31, 1922 to July 5, 1924, the operation of streetcars was suspended due to hyperinflation in Germany. Tram traffic was only resumed on the city line on the section Cathedral Square (Passage) - Market Square (Ring) - Złotoryjska Street (Goldberger Str.) with a frequency of 15 minutes and on suburban lines to Piekary Wielkie and Przybkow (courses every 15 and 30 minutes respectively).
The extension of the town's outskirts with new buildings of rent societies resulted in the expansion of the existing tracks - a branch of the former circular line. The track in Chojnowska Street was extended from Hutników Street to Boczna Street, and in Złotoryjska Street to Łużycki Square (Logauplatz). On July 18, 1927 all three lines were directed to the railroad station, and on August 25, 1927 two routes were extended to sections of the extensions to the temporary end stops: the city line from Hutników Street to the corner of Złotoryjska and Grunwaldzka streets (Friedrich-Ebert Str.), and the line from Piekary Wielkie to the reactivated track through the Old Town, then through a new section in Chojnowska Street to the corner with today's Szweczenko Street. The track in Hutników Street was thus cut off from the network. The target length of the network (13.9 km) was reached in 1928. Municipal and Piekary Wielkie lines operated at 15-minute intervals. The line to Przybkow operated every 30 minutes, but in 1928 additional courses were introduced after 12:00 which supplemented the cycle to run every 15 minutes. In 1933 the track in Złotoryjska Street was extended to Łużycki Square.
In the years 1927–1933, only small investments in infrastructure were made: construction of streetcar waiting rooms and network renovations (short fragments of tracks and catenary wire network). The streetcar rolling stock was modified by converting selected motor vehicles into trailers and thus obtaining 16 double-car drafts of cars. Next, all engine cars were replaced with more massive and capacious cars produced by MAN, imported from Zwickau (5 cars from 1910 to 1911, imported between December 10 and 13, 1927 and implemented after a few months in 1928) and Essen (12 cars from 1899 to 1900 built in the Falkenried factory, 1929–1932), whereas the existing motor cars were converted into trailers.
The technical condition of Legnica's tram infrastructure and rolling stock in the 1930s was insufficient and required high financial resources to maintain its functionality. The greatest problem with the increasing number of passengers was the limited capacity of the single-track narrow-gauge network. On September 17, 1937, the connection between the new districts in the north and south of the city (Głogów and Bielany suburbs) and the old town and the railroad station was launched, it was run by the first public city bus line operated by a streetcar company. The bus line was extended in 1939, and at the turn of 1939 and 1940, due to the war (shortage of liquid fuels), it was temporarily suspended and then re-opened on a shorter route.
The licence of the Legnica streetcar operator expired at the end of 1938. The Magistrate of Legnica signed a new licence contract with the EWL company for 66 years (covering the years 1939–2004), which included the right of the city council to share in profits (should they be made).
The public-private company Elektricitäts-Werke Liegnitz (EWL) focused on making profits from selling electricity. In 1939, the shareholders of EWL (55% owned by Elektrowerke AG of Berlin, 16% by the city of Legnica, 13% by the surrounding counties, and the remainder by the local governments where the company sold energy) urged the representatives of the Legnica city magistrate to give up streetcars for the trolleybuses developed in the Third Reich, which were considered cheaper and easier to operate. The management of the EWL proposed a complete replacement of tramways with trolleybuses within five years (1941-1946). Eventually, one trolleybus line was launched, partially duplicating the route of the streetcar line later designated as number 1 (Łużycki Square - railroad station), and an access route for trolleybuses to the depot was built (shared with the streetcars), which was to be part of the second trolleybus line to Piekary Wielkie.
On August 1, 1940, the existing streetcar lines were numbered. From then on there were three sequentially numbered lines:
1: Łużycki Square - railroad station, 2: Piekary Wielkie - railroad station - Chojnowska street, 3: Przybków - railroad station.
During World War II, the copper contact wire was replaced with steel (non-ferrous metals were confiscated for military purposes). In 1942, three wagons from Legnica were sold to German-occupied Łódź, and one trailer was imported from Görlitz.
Between 1898 and 1945, the streetcar company in Legnica owned 17 to 21 motor vehicles and 5 to 13 trailers at the same time. The electric voltage in the catenary line in Legnica was 500 volts.
At the beginning of 1945, in the face of the progress of the Lower Silesia operation of the Soviet Army and the approaching front, Legnica was being prepared for defense, and the public transport was immobilized.
1945-1968