Gorzów Wielkopolski, located in the west of Poland, has a 11.8 km tram network which has been suspended since 1 October 2017 to be modernized for two years. Passengers are using the replacement buses since then.
During the past 1,5 years, large parts of the infrastructure have been refurbished and 14 PESA Twist low-floor trams are being delivered to MZK, the public transport operator.
Until today, seven Twist trams have already been delivered to Gorzów. 9 out of the remaining 18 former Kassel DUEWAG/ Credé/ Wegmann 6ZGTW/ GT6 trams have been refurbished with new interiors and the new green MZK livery which is also found on the low-floor trams. Some of the remaining DUEWAG/ Credé 6EGTW/ GT6 trams are still standing at the depot whereas the entire Konstal 105Na fleet has been scrapped, apart from two vehicles.
PESA Twist and at the right, a 6EGTW/ GT6 which has been decorated in September 2017 during the “Goodbye” weekend I Photo: UTM 
The PESA Twists are bidirectional in order to avoid the necessity of turning loops for future tram extensions I Photo: UTM 
Nine out of 18 ex Kassel 6ZGTW/ GT6 are currently being refurbished I Photo: UTM 
Stepless interior of the PESA Twist low-floor trams I Photo: UTM
The modernization scheme has a value of 225 million PLN (ca. 53 million EUR) of which the European Union is funding 37.5 million PLN (ca. 8.8 million EUR). The PESA Twist vehicles were ordered in 2017 at a cost of 115.2 million PLN (ca. 27 million EUR), resulting in a cost of 1.93 million EUR per vehicle.
The inauguration of line 1 is planned for September 2019. Due to the fact the the turning loop of line 1 in Silwana still needs to be modernised and adapted for the future 0.7 km extension to the north-east, trams will terminate at a new intermediate stop at Ulica Dowgielewiczowej. For this reason, MZK will only be able to operate the bidirectional PESA’s on this line. The re-entry into operation of line 2 is foreseen in two years as works have not yet started at all on this line. Urban Transport Magazine will continuously report on the developments.
Refurbished tram track on the Silwana line – the rigid catenary is used for safety reasons due to a high-voltage line above I Photo: UTM 
Construction work in the city centre has been almost concluded I Photo: UTM
Open Day at the depot
On Saturday 27 July 2019, MZK is organizing a so-called „tramway picnic“ at the tram depot in Wieprzyce to mark the 120th anniversary of tram transport in Gorzów. Tram operations in Gorzów, at that time part of Prussia/ Germany and called Landsberg by the river Warthe, started in 1899. Due to the effects of World War II, tram operation was replaced by trolleybuses in 1941 – 1947 but eventually tram service resumed and the network was extended in the 1950’s under Polish rule.
Although there is no tram operation at the moment, MZK will offer several attractions. There will be a simulation of a collision between a tram and a car at 11h30, a tram and bus fleet exhibition as well as artistic performances. The picnic will start at 11.00 and will last four hours.
The historical N-car will be displayed alongside the PESA and DUEWAG fleet I Photo: UTM 
The ex Kassel 6EGTW/ GT6 224 is now used as a driving school vehicle and remains in the old MZK color scheme I Photo: UTM 
The tram workshop has been entire rebuilt in order to allow the maintenance of the new low-floor vehicles I Photo: UTM 
Nine ex Kassel 6ZGTW/ GT6 from the 1960’s are being repainted and modernised I Photo: UTM 
MZK Gorzów also have an Ikarus as a “mobile workshop” – acquired from Frankfurt/ Oder (Germany) I Photo: UTM
