The new budget of Lodz — a good household? Depends!

The New Center of Lodge (Lodz, Łódź) as seen from the north. In the foreground the Russian Orthodox Church of St. Alexander Nevsky. With the transformation of this part of the city Hanna Zdanowska will likely go down in history of the informal capital of central Poland.

The mayor of Lodge (Łódź) Zdanowska presented with a smile, but without hiding their dissatisfaction, the budget of our city for the next financial year.

To get right to the poinst, Lodge will continue to work radically and at the expense of even greater indebtedness to catch up with Warsaw and surpass Posnan

Revenues amount to PLN 4930 million and expenditures to PLN 5167 million, of which PLN 1 billion and PLN 96 million are new construction projects and revitalization of old buildings, buying new trams and so on. The city will again raise loans and bonds worth PLN 146 million. Debts will rise to PLN 3.6 billion.

The dissatisfied president of Łódź added that the city budget would decrease by PLN 140 million due to the income tax (PIT) exemption for citizens up to the age of 26 years. This is a government decision in the context of electoral promises which kept the ruling party in power. At the same time, however, it is one of the main sources of local government revenue in our country.

According to her, for the sum mentioned above you can asphalt 80 kilometers of roads, replace 350 kilometers of sidewalks, buy 14 trams, etc. She used the opportunity to pass the big city's debt on to the central government. So, in this context, a loud quarrel with the PiS" chairman in the city council took place, but... Instead of citing here the exchange of views...

It is more worthwhile to look at the situation of the trams

in Łódź, as important things happen in this area

Among the investments planned for the next budget, investments in the tramway network of Lodz occupy an important place. For PLN 127 million, the city's efforts to increase the speed of the trams (it is gradually being converted into a high-speed tramway network) and to introduce increasingly comfortable and modern models of light rail vehicles will continue.

Reconstruction of the tram line on the Polish Army road (at estimated cost of PLN 50 million) is an example of radical and painful changes in Lodz

This historic street, where Poles, Germans and Jews once lived in peace and friendship and which was bombed 80 years ago by Hitler's air force, will change beyond recognition, The complete replacement of tram tracks and at least a significant part of the road surface will cut off the population of the north-western part of the city from the old city centre, at least for the time of the overhaul and reconstruction work.

Not to be dismissed yet, because in view of the dispute over old tenements, the question arises when the last tenement houses in this street will miraculously collapse. For the sake of fairness, however, it should be added that expenditure on the renovation of tenements is the largest item (PLN 377 million) among Lodge's capital expenditures which would be made during the next financial year.

The tram line has been modernized and now it is the turn of some tenement błocks.

A new railway station is to be built near the new tram loop, in the newest part of the Polish Army road (ulica Wojska Polskiego), where there is already a huge self-service department store. From there, you can quickly reach not only other city railway stations (Lodge Metropolitan Railway – Łódzka Kolej Aglomeracyjna, but also the completely rebuilt long-distance train stations: Fabryczna and Kaliska.

At least but not last: Lodge receives state-of-the-art tram cars from Posnan

The tender for the delivery of 30 new trams has been completed. The proposal was chosen by Modertrans, a city-owned company in the city of Posnan that offers modern low-floor cars, was ultimately chosen. Lodge pays PLN 269 million. The tender rejected the cheapest offer, which was submitted by a Turkish company and was considered a sure winner in the race. The chassis technology ordered in Posnan especially for this purpose is intended to facilitate the journey through the old town.

The Modertrans manufacturing plants began from an unpretentious job, namely simple bus and tram repairs. Thanks to the wise policy of the city administration, there were gradually more and more machines and excellent specialists with them. From the repair to the manufacture of components, their path led. Then an assembly line of the first own rail vehicles was created. One of the first stays abroad was held by the Posnan’s tram experts in Berlin. The government in Warsaw has given money to buy and develop the latest technologies. Today, the Moderus-branded trams are conquering Poland, and tomorrow, as is the case with Solaris city buses (which are also made near Posnan), perhaps half of Europe will be the client of Modertrans.

Moderus Gamma LF 01 AC. Artur Andrzej - Own work. Gdańsk Strzyża tramway loop, vehicle’s trial version (rented by the manufacturer to TRAKO 2017) Moderus Gamma tram. CCBY 4.0