Łukasz Czechyra /Foto Gość

Łukasz Czechyra /Foto Gość

The Polish city of Olsztyn last month opened its first tram service to try and help ease the its transport problems, some 40 years after closing its original network.

The official launch of the new tram network was on 19 December 2015. To mark its inauguration, the city offered citizens free travel on the service for the month of December.

The new 11 km network brings the number of Polish cities with cities with trams to 15. Construction on the €57.27 m project, due for completion in mid-2014, started in March 2012.

The city terminated the contract in August 2013, citing a lack of progress. However, EU co-financing from the 2007-13 budget meant that the project had to be completed before the end of 2015. To meet the deadline, the project was retendered as five smaller lots.