Kraków marks 125 years of electric trams with citywide parade of vintage and modern cars

Fleet procession through the city center

On Sunday, 20 September 2026, Kraków held a municipal parade featuring vintage and modern rolling stock to mark the 125th anniversary of the city's electric tram network. The convoy of passenger trams departed at 11:00 from the Podgórze tram depot located at 3 Brożka Street. From the depot, the vehicles moved along a designated route through the urban core toward the Nowa Huta tram depot at 12 Ujastek Street. The path of the procession guided the trams along Wadowicka Street, Kalwaryjska Street, Krakowska Street, Stradomska Street, św. Gertrudy Street, Westerplatte Street, Lubicz Street, Mogilska Street, and Aleja Jana Pawła II. The vehicles subsequently navigated through Plac Centralny and Aleja Solidarności before reaching their destination at the Nowa Huta depot, presenting the collection to local residents, tourists, and urban transport enthusiasts.

Postponement and the Mistrzejowice line failure

The celebratory parade was originally scheduled to take place in June 2026, but organizers rescheduled the event for September because of very high summer temperatures. Transport officials had intended to use the anniversary event to test the newly constructed tram line to Mistrzejowice by carrying journalists aboard one of the participating trams. A technical failure on the infrastructure prevented the Mistrzejowice route from opening in time for the event. Because the route remained closed, the tram procession had to bypass the new segment entirely and proceed directly along the standard transit corridor. Passengers wishing to ride in the procession were permitted to board vehicles inside the Podgórze depot before departure, with one single designated passenger boarding stop provided along the active route at Rondo Mogilskie.

Vintage rolling stock and European origins

The event brought together vehicles from different eras of municipal transport, including the oldest cars maintained in the collection of Miejskie Przedsiębiorstwo Komunikacyjne (MPK). Among the earliest operational models on display was the SN1 wagon, commonly known among residents and transit enthusiasts as "Gracówka", alongside SN2, SN3, and SN4 carriages. The procession also featured a unique LOWA-type trailer wagon that MPK introduced to the public earlier in 2026, as well as multiple carriages leased from other Polish cities and regions for the summer holiday period. Organizers noted that participating in the parade was the only opportunity for passengers to ride vehicles representing such a wide array of origins in one place. Spokesperson for MPK Kraków, Marek Gancarczyk, detailed the geographical scope of the participating equipment.

“It will be possible to travel on trams from almost all of Poland and several European cities: Kraków, Warsaw, Poznań, Wrocław, Gdańsk, Silesia, Nuremberg, Vienna, and Düsseldorf.”

Depot exhibitions and municipal waterworks milestone

Upon reaching the Nowa Huta tram depot on Ujastek Street, the vehicles were placed on display as part of an all-day program of attractions and presentations of the MPK rolling stock. Representatives from the municipal water utility, Wodociągi Miasta Krakowa, joined the parade wearing traditional costumes dating from the early days of their company. The water utility participated in the event to commemorate its own shared founding timeline, as Kraków's municipal water system also began operating 125 years ago. The dual anniversary brought together municipal workers, local residents, tourists, and public transport enthusiasts across the urban transit network.