Syców in Oleśnica County is another municipality in Lower Silesia to be incorporated into the railway transport network as part of the provincial government’s efforts to combat transport exclusion. The current timetable has also restored, after many years, a connection to Góra, the county seat in northern Lower Silesia.
“After many years, the connection from Wrocław via Oleśnica to Syców has returned, bringing Syców back onto Lower Silesia’s railway map. Residents of Syców can travel around the region with a single Koleje Dolnośląskie ticket. I am pleased that together we managed to launch this connection,” says Tymoteusz Myrda, a member of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship Board.
Koleje Dolnośląskie buses will run seven times in each direction on weekdays and five times on weekends. The solution operates on the same principle as another new connection, which has operated on the Góra–Rawicz route since September 3.
“This bus is ‘integrated’ into the railway system, which means it can be found in the railway connection search engine and passengers can purchase a ticket with a transfer to a train; all statutory discounts also apply,” emphasizes Krzysztof Maj, a member of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship Board.
The new Koleje Dolnośląskie connection to Syców is another example of cooperation between local governments that co-finance the project. The Marshal’s Office finances the service not only from its own budget, but also with contributions from Oleśnica County, the city of Oleśnica, Oleśnica Municipality, and the city and municipality of Syców.
“After more than 20 years, Syców is returning to Poland’s railway map. It is a great success and an event that residents have been waiting for a very long time. Although Syców is located along the S8 route, it became a place affected by transport exclusion. COVID caused some private carriers to stop reaching our city. Now, together with the Koleje Dolnośląskie connections, we have more than 10 connections to Wrocław, and with transfers we can reach any other region of Poland,” says Dariusz Maniak, mayor of Syców.
The mayor of Syców also thanked the other local government officials financially participating in the bus project from Oleśnica to Syców.
Residents of the towns along the route can use the new connection with a single KD ticket. This means that, for example, when traveling to Syców from Wrocław, passengers purchase a ticket as if they were covering the entire route by train. No additional payment is required for the bus journey.
“As a local-government carrier, we are doing everything possible to bring rail transport as close as possible to as many residents of the region as possible. Until now, many smaller towns were cut off from the railway as a result of the dysfunctions that occurred in the 1990s. We are changing that today,” adds Wojciech Zdanowski, vice-president of Koleje Dolnośląskie.
Since 2019, rail connections in Lower Silesia have returned to dozens of towns, providing more than 100,000 Lower Silesian residents with access to the railway network. More about efforts to restore rail connections can be read here.