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New ways for public transport in Gdansk
EBRD loan for the purchase of new buses
The EBRD is lending the Gdansk Transport Company up to €6.2 million to finance
the purchase of as many as 33 buses – part of a comprehensive programme which
has put public transport in one of Poland’s largest cities on a new foundation.
It is also the first transaction in Poland in which the Bank lends directly to
a public transport company without a municipal or sovereign guarantee, said
Gavin Anderson, EBRD Business Group Director for Infrastructure. The EBRD’s
experience in similar projects in other countries should provide the city
authorities with confidence to embark on other urgently needed municipal
investments, such as roads and waterworks.
This year the Gdansk Transport Company (ZKM) began to undertake a massive
overhaul under which its operations – bus and tram services, tram track
maintenance, ticket sales, and collection of fines – are regulated by a
five-year public service contract. The contract foresees the outsourcing of
track maintenance to private companies by the beginning of 2005 and a transfer
of the responsibility for ticket sales the following year.
ZKM runs a network of 10 tram lines and 77 bus lines and serves around 175
million passengers per year. The average age of trams and buses is making
refurbishment and new investments imperative.
With a population of 460,000 Gdansk is the largest city in the north of Poland
and centre of one of the country’s leading industrial and economic regions.
The city is attractive to foreign investors and has strong potential in
tourism, although substantial investments in the city’s road network and water
sector are needed.
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