Gdansk Transport Project

Gdansk Urban Transport Investment Project (stage III A) aims at the development of public transport in Gdansk. The project is part of a framework loan approved and signed with the City of Gdansk. Main project components are: renovation and modernisation of some 12 km (double tracks) of the existing tram infrastructure; construction of a 2.8 km tramway extension, including one Park & Ride and one Bike & Ride facility; realisation of Nowa Lódzka Street, 1.75 km long, in the same corridor as the new tram extension, as part of the interventions to improve accessibility to the southern area. The overall project includes also the acquisition of 35 new tram trains, outside of EIB financing as this investment is carried out by the City's Transport operator (ZKM).

The project will provide time savings to a considerable number of passengers and increase reliability, accessibility and public transport comfort. By creating a high quality transport network, Gdansk will modernise public transport, thus contributing to contain excessive reliance on cars and its negative environmental effects, which contributes to the improvement of the urban environment. The project is therefore expected to be economically profitable.

The tram network extension and rehabilitation fall under Annex II of the EU EIA Directive 85/337/EEC (as amended), according to which the need for a full environmental impact assessment is decided on a case-by-case basis by the competent authority. The same goes for the small extension of the urban road network. According to information provided by the promoter, a full EIA has been carried out for all these schemes. The route of the tramline is neither in the immediate vicinity nor runs through protected areas listed in the Natura 2000 network. Full details will be checked at appraisal stage. Concerning the construction of the new train sets, this will take place in the manufacturer’s plants and does not fall within the scope of Directive 85/337/EEC (as amended); the same goes for the implementation, therefore no EIA is required for this component. Details on scrapping procedures, plans and strategy for the part of the fleet replacing existing old vehicles will have to be provided. The project is expected to have some positive impacts on the environment thanks to the increase in public transport service quality.

Assumptions related to potential impacts from climate change effects, and the related design countermeasures will be also discussed at appraisal stage.

The promoter as a public entity is subject to EU public procurement regulations. The contracts for the implementation of the project are tendered in accordance with the relevant Polish Public Procurement Act as well as with applicable EU procurement legislation (Directive 2004/17/EEC and 2004/18/EEC), including publication in the EU Official Journal where applicable. Full details will be checked at appraisal stage.

Project under Framework Loan