Transport
Transport
Warsaw is Poland’s most navigable city by far. | Photo: Adobe Stock
Metro-Morphosis
Tentative construction of a Warsaw metro system first began in 1938 and was spearheaded by the forward thinking mayor Stefan Starzyński, however, the first line finally opened for business a whopping sixty years later! To be fair, engineers and designers had a lot to deal with in the interim, namely the ravages of the second world war and the perils of communism. The Cold War brought a change in priorities. City planners were called to create a super-deep underground system, primarily to allow for swift troop movements below the city. By 1953 over 700 metres of tunnels had been carved underground but the death of Comrade Stalin saw all works abandoned. In 1995, the North-South M1 line opened and eventually grew to 21 stations. The east-west M2 line, intersecting at Metro Świętokrzyska, opened in 2015, originally consisting of 7 stations - 3 more were added in 2019, and a further 3 in 2020. There are plans to have 21 by 2022. The metro is key to any visit in Warsaw.QF‑8. 20
Travel within Warsaw using buses, trams and the underground metro is efficient, fast and cheap; driving a car through the centre, on the other hand, can be confusing indeed, and the capital is best negotiated on foot, by public transport or taxi. For detailed information about Warsaw's airports and train stations, visit our website: iyp.me/26ch
Public Transport Warsaw has an extensive bus and tram system, as well as a good metro system with the M1 line running north-south and M2 running east-west. Over 1,500 buses operate in and around the city, and run 05:0023:00. After that night buses run on most routes twice every hour. All night buses display the letter N. ‘Fast buses’ (marked with red digits) skip the smaller stops. Standardised tickets are valid for use on the metro, buses and trams, and can be bought from machines with instructions in English at all metro stations, and some bus and tram stops. Tickets can also be purchased from machines on the actual buses and trams, where you can pay by card, or using exact change only. A standard single fare costs 4.40zł, or 3.40zł for a 20min ticket. If you’re travelling to the further reaches of Warsaw you’ll need a 7zł ticket that covers both zones 1 and 2 (note that the airport
