Lodz Transportation

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As Lodz has a central location in the country it has a number of passenger railway stations. The most central station is Fabryczna which has faster links with Warsaw but it is the end of the line. There is a link to Lodz Airport with the letter L bus, but it is an infrequent service. The main coach station is also located at Fabryczna. The station can best be described as tired, though there are a number of food outlets around the station. At this time one of the main roads to the station Jana Kilinskiego, is closed for extensive road works.

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One of the main passenger railway stations in Lodz is Kaliska which was modernised in 1994. It provides connections to major cities in Poland mainly on the east west route, as well as Prague and Germany. Kaliska is served by the 65 bus from Lodz Airport. The station is located close to a major road junction and does not have much surrounding it but it is a nice modern station. Kaliska and Fabryczna are not linked directly by rail.

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Lodz is a city of contrasts with its public transport system; this is most noticeable on the trams. Some are very modern with comfortable seats and with enough legroom, even for my long legs. With announcements and stop indicators on board. Some of the routes have continuous welded rails and modern tracks and electronic announcement boards and times of the trams at the stops. Some routes are sadly the exact opposite with trams looking so tired they look fit for the scrap heap or museum. They may have a clock but no indication of the stops and their tram maps seem to have different names for the stops, very confusing. Some routes are in badly need of repair with tracks so bouncy you think the tram is going to jump the rails. There can also be long distances between stops of 1km or more. But at the end of the day they do get you from A to B cheaply.

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You can purchase public transport tickets for different periods of time. In my case I wanted to purchase a 7 day ticket, but before I arrived in Lodz I did not understand why you could only purchase them at certain location when you can purchase a 30 minute ticket anywhere. Though the website is useful there are gaps in information for visitors. Well the simple answer is the extended period tickets are larger and they are dated when you purchase them. Now that the penny has dropped I remember a similar thing in Wroclaw though I had assistance when I purchased the ticket there and did not realise this was the case. I had got use to the easier purchase of tickets at the airport in Warsaw, where you can purchase a ticket for extended periods. If you are staying a few days and you want to visit lots of different places then it is worth the effort to purchase a longer period ticket for 3 or 7 days and can be much cheaper for families & groups. I found 2 of the kiosks which have large MPK letters on the front, one at al. Tadeusza Koœciuszki at the junction with ul. Andzeja Struga and the other at al. Tadeusza Koœciuszki junction with Aleja Adama Mickiewicza. There are other listed on the MPK website but they tend to shorten the street names eg the first one I have listed is shown as al. Koœciuszki - ul. A.Struga.

The airport at Lodz is small compared to some others in Poland. The first indication is when you land and there is no taxiway off the main runway so the aircraft has to turn around and taxi back up the main runway. After you disembark there is not enough room in Terminal 2 for all the passengers to enter the room used by passport control so you have to stand outside if you are slow getting off the aircraft. The information desk does not sell bus tickets, though I believe the small shop may do so, as I later saw other passengers already had tickets before they got on the bus. The information desk do not sell maps though they can provide a free map of the central area of Lodz. You can get the L, 55 and 65 buses into the city centre. If you want to catch the L bus turn to the left as you leave terminal 2, this an infrequent express service. If you turn right and walk around to Terminal 1, which is only a short distance away, there is a bus stop for all 3 buses. I was going to take the 65 bus and catch a tram but took the L bus and got off in Al Mickiewicza just a short distance away from the Silver Screen Cinema and the Ibis Hotel, where I stayed. A 2.40 PLN ticket will get you to the centre of town. You can purchase your ticket from the driver but don’t expect him to have change. As the tickets are for a set time don’t stamp the ticket until the bus sets off.

Lodz is an important railway transport centre. It has frequent and fast connections with the capital city of Poland, Warsaw (travel time : 1 hour 40 minutes), and with other cities in Poland. It has two railway stations : Lodz - Fabryczna that is almost in the centre of Lodz, and Lodz-Kaliska that has been recently thoroughly modernized and where international transit trains that go from Warsaw via Lodz to Wroclaw and then to the Czech Republic and Germany are passing through.

Lodz has 2 main train stations : Lodz Kaliska (to the west of teh centre) and Lodz Fabryczna (to the east). The two stations are not linked by rail and whilst they do handle some trains to the same destinations they tend to handle trains going to destinations independant of one another.

Leaving Lodz, if travelling to Warsaw, it is better to use Lodz Fabryczna because there are more frequent and faster trains than from Lodz Kaliska.

The first trams appeared on the streets of Lodz on 23 December 1898.
In the picture you can see a replica of the old Herbrand - a vehicle looking just like the old one from the beginning of the 20th century (no longer a tram but a trambus though). It goes along Piotrkowska Street, everyday from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. It has special stops at Piotrkowska between Plac Wolnosci and Aleja Pilsudskiego. Tickets are sold inside the vehicle: 3 PLN (normal) and 2 PLN (children aged 14 and under).