LOCAL TRANSPORT FACILITIES IN THE GYDNIA-GDANSK AREA: RAILWAY, TRAMWAY, TROLLEY BUS, AUTOBUS, TRUCK, TAXI, TICKET PROCEDURES

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00926A006900040009-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 21, 2002
• Sequence Number: 9
• Publication Date: February 8, 1954
• Content Type: REPORT

Approved For Rele 200Y/Ai8d131:aCO4 -RDP80-00926A006900040009-5
CONFIDENTIAL
INFORMATION REPORT
Local Transport Facilities in the Gdynia-Gdansk Area*
Railway, Tramway, Trolley Bus, Autobus, Truck, Taxi?
Ticket Procedures
PLACE ACQUIRED
(BY SOURCE)
DATE ACQUIRED
(BY SOURCE)
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THIS DOCUMENT CONTAINS INFORMATION AFFECTING THE NATIONAL DEFENSE
OF THE UNITED STATES. WITHIN THE MEANING OF TITLE It. SECTIONS 793
AND 794. OF THE U.S. CODE. AS AMENDED. ITS TRANSMISSION OR REVE-
LATION OF ITS CONTENTS TO OR RECEIPT BY AN UNAUTHORIZED PERSON 13
PROHIBITED REPROBUCTtON OF TRIM RFPQQ
THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
DATE D I STR. r F'se 1954
NO. OF PAGES ll.
NO. OF ENCLS.
SUPP. TO
25X1 X REPORT NO.
"The local transport facilities in and. around Gdansk and Gdynia are comparatively
well organized. There is an extensive network of railway, tramway and bus lines.
Our information dates through early Septenter 53.
Railway (Passenger)
2. "The railway station in Gdansk has four platforms from which electric trains
leave for Gdynia. They travel every 20 minutes but at the hours of busiest
traffic every 10 minutes. On'the line between Gdansk and Gdynia there are
thirteen stations:
Gdansk Oliva
Gdansk Stocznia Sopot
Gdansk Politechnika Kamienny Potok
Gdansk-Wrzeszca Gdynia-Orlowo
Gdansk Lotnisko Gdynia-Redlowo
Gdansk Polanki Gdynia-Wzgorze Nowotki
Gdynia
3. "In addition to the electric trains, local and long distance steam trains travel
on the same line. The steam trains stop only at a few stations:
Gdansk Sopot
Gdansk-Wrzeszcz Gdynia-Orlovo
Oliva Gdynia
U.S. Officials Only
CONFIDENTIAL
DISTRIBUTION ? STATE I IARMY NAVY IAIR FBI ORR EV
This report is for the use within the USA of the Intelligence components of the Departments or
Agencies indicated above. It is not to be transmitted overseas without the concurrence of the
originating office through the Assistant Director of the Office of Collection and Dissemination, CIA.
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"The tickets for the steam trains must be 'ought at the ticket offices at the stations.
The tickets for the electric trains may be obtained from the train conductors. The
passengers travelling on local tickets at a reduced rate are prohibited from using the
long distance trains. If a conductor finds any of those passengers on a long distance
train the fine is 4+5 zl.
5. "In local train travel there are several types of tickets at reduced rates.
(a) Tickets with an 80 per cext reduction - for railwaymen and their families.
(b) Tickets with 50 per cent reduction - for workers
(c) Tickets with 30 per cent reduction - for students acid school children
(d) The monthly tickets used by the majority of the population on the Polish coast.
In order to get such a monthly ticket the worker or student has to buy at the ticket
office two forms costing 1 zl.: an 'order for a monthly ticket' and a 'certificate for
a monthly ticket.' Both these forms have to be stamped with the stomp of the applicants
place of work or school. The applicant then takes them to'the ticket office. The
ticket office retains the 'order' and sells a monthly ticket, the number of which is en-
tered on the 'certificate' which is also stomped with the stamp of the railway. The
above 'certificate' is valid for six months; a monthly ticket can be bought with it
six times. With a monthly ticket a person can travel on a given line any number of times
during a particular month. There are also similar tickets for a quarter (three months)
and for a whole year.
6. "Tickets are checked at the entrances and exits of railway stations.
7. "The electric trains consist of three or four cars painted grey or blue.
Tramway Facilities
8. . "In Gdansk there are ten tramway lines from Gdansk to Sopot. The majority use old German
cars which the local people call 'berlinki',. Some of the cars are new care manufactured
by the Chrzanowska Plant. They are call 'torpedoes'. They are coffee-coloured.
"The tramway routes are:
Line No. 1 Gdansk-Gdansk Wrzeszcz
Line No. 2 Gdansk-Gdansk Oliwa The tramcars on the line operate only
Line No. 3 Gdansk-Nowy Port
when traffic is busiest in the morning
and the afternoon; at other times this
line is served by No. 7 which 1i the
same route and goes on to Sopot.
Line No. 4 Gdansk-Oliwa-Jelitkowo ) t Particularly crowded in summer - used
Line No. 5 Gdansk Wrzeszcz-Gdansk-Brzezno) by many tourists and vacationists.
Line No. 6 Gdansk-Orunia (one track)
Line No. 7 Gdansk-Sopot ( the longest)
Line No. 8 Gdansk (Lakowa St.)>GdanskWrzeszca (airfield)
Line No. 9 Gdansk-Gdansk-Sianki
Line No. 10 Gdansk-Gdansk-Siedib.e
"Al]. lines are divided,into so-called tariff zones (taryfne street ). The longest line,
Gdansk-Sopot,.is divided into four zones. The ticket for each zone,costs 45 groezy, i.e.,
the whole distance from Gdansk to Sopot costs 1.80 zi. The number of zones is marked
on the ticket with red lines.
11. "For workers and students travelling daily there are '30 trip'carda' sold.at a 33 per
cent reduction. In such cards, which are valid for the given month only, the conductor
punches a hole in the square for the given day. An unused trip cannot be taken on
another day.-?the.two squares for each day can be punched only on that day. The card
is valid on one.. line, only.
12. "There are also monthly, quarterly and yearly 'personal' cards with a photo of the
bearer. These are valid for one or several; lines, not only on the tramways but also
on the trolley buses. and autobuses.
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13 "None of these long-term tickets may be bought directly. Application must: be made through
the enterprise. or institution where one works prr the school which one attends
Trolley,$us
14. "There. aretrolleybus lines between Sopot and Gdynia which are a kind of. extension of the
tramway connection between Gdansk and Sopot. The central station of the trolley buses in
Gdynia is the Plac'Kaszubski,
15. "The'trolle'y bus lines are also divided into zones (stref ). Here the price for one zone
is not 45 but 60 groszy.
16. "There are four trolley bus lines:
No. 21 Gdynia-Sopot(trip costs 2.40 zl.)
No. 22 Gdynia-Cisowo
No.'23 Gdynia-Oksywie
No. 24-;Gdynia-Maly Keck (trip costs 1.80 zl.)
17. "The trolley bus tickets are similar to those on the tramvayss. The workers working in the
harbor get trolley bus tickets free of charge. The day rate on the tramways and trolley
buses holds until 11:30 p.m. After that comes the so-called night service (once an hour);
the tariff is double that during the day. Ito ticket sold at a reduced rate is valid
during,.the night period..
18. "The maJority.of the..tranaportation workers- conductors) mechanics, even drivers - are
women. Onthe trolley buses the women constitute 90 per cent of the staff.
19. Autobus
"There is autobus.'service on the line Gdansk-Gdynia., One trip. costs six zloty. The
majority, of the buses on this line are Hungarian Ikarus buses; a few are French 'chaussons'.
20. "The more important autobus lines are:
Gdansk-Qdynia
Gdynia-Maly Kack
Gdynia-Witomino
Gdynia-Rzeznia
Gdynia-Babie Doly
There are also autobus lines within Gdynia and Gdansk. The' autobuses circulate every 30
minutes; on Sundays and holidays once an hour.
21. "The line Gdynia-Babie.Doly is meant for the military and civilian functionaries and
workers and?their families, who live and work in the Babie Doly military area. This
territory is surrounded by a barbed wire fence. To enter it one must have a permit.
This permit can be obtained without., very great formalities from ithe N.C.O. on duty at
the gate. . .
"To the , coimwxnication network of the coast one must add the trucks of various large enter-
prises which daily.take their. workers to work.and back home.. One such enterprise is the
Gdynia shipyard. :,
Taxis
23. "The taxis to Gdynia and Gdansk are without exception old cars bought 15-20 years ago.
The majority are Opels. There are also a few Steyers, Mercedes, one Simca and one Praga.
They are all private property; hithertoeet 517 the authorities have made no attempts to
nationalize them. In 1951 the regime h an unpleasant. experience in Warsaw when a co-
operative taxi service was organized. After six months it was. proved that the state-owned
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taxi could not conVete in kilometres covered with the privately-owned taxi$ although,
the state cooperativest had new 'Pobiedas' and 'Warszawas'. The reason was that the
drivers employed by the cooperatives did not take proper care of their cars. The
'PobiedasI were pro iy laid up for repairs, while the private owners daily over-
hauled their cars themselves. There are no such taxi cooperatives in any other towns
than Warsaw
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24. "The taxi drivers' greatest difficulty is the shortage of tires. On the black market
only old tires can be bought; they are sold by military and state-employed drivers
Spare parts are also in'short~suppiy. Those that can be bought in the shops of MOTOrl.BYT
are locally manufactured and of bad quality. Impossible to get in Poland (even on the
black market) are decent pistons for cylinders; the local pistons are of extremely
poor quality.
25. "We.cannot state for such how much a taxi-kilometer costs as the prices vary all the
time. In the beginning of 1953 the gasoline prices were raised from 2.40 zl to 4.80 zl.
per liter, but the driving charge was only raised 50 per cent. An average taxi ride in
Gdynia coats 10-15 zl. A ride from Gdynia to Chylonja costs 25 zl., to Sopot 25 zl. and
to Gdansk 90 zl.
26. "Many taxi drivers on the-coast have changed over from gasoline to 'producer' gas; The
latter is not less expensive but it gives a greater latitude for driving out of'town.
A taxicab using gasoline may not drive out of town further than 20 kilometers. Those
wishing to drive farther must obtain a special permit issued by the communication de-
partment Cf the Sown Council (Wydzial Komunikacyjny Mieiskiej,Rady Narodowej). Such a
permit is issued only in exceptional cases:
27; "On the roads there are frequent militia check-ups. They cheek t? see'mhethex the drive' has
dr k., any alcohol; they may even take samples of his blood for analysis. Should a driver
be found,'nbt sobe'r?a note is entered on his driving license. If he gets three'such notes,
he loses his license.
28. "The maximum speed on the Gdansk.mGdynia highway is 35 km: per hour. The fine for speeding
is 150-100 zl. The fine for driving without rear lights is 100 zl.
29. "Contrabandist' use taxis frequently. Should the militia discover a large amount of
goods in a taxi on check-up, the car with driver and passengers is taken to the commissariat.
30. "The highway from Gdynia to Sopot is good, but the bit between Sopot and Oliva is very
bad. The.. stretch between :0]Swa and Gd" is, tpe best part."
- end -
755.4+,3 55M
758 9 55M
754.9 M
5/729.22 55M
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