The amount of PLN 10 billion earmarked for the low-emission public transport sector in Polish cities puts it in the third place in terms of size in the Infrastructure and Environment Programme 2014-2020 - just after the road and railway sectors.

We care about the development of Poland. We invest in low-carbon public transport. This is an opportunity to improve safety and the comfort of residents and to solve transport issues in the Silesian agglomeration,

said Minister Grzegorz Puda.

The total of 13 projects from the ITI urban transport of the Central Subregion of the Silesian Voivodeship received support from the OP IE programme. The value of these investment projects amounts to PLN 1.75 billion, while the support of the European funds amounted to PLN 952 million,

the head of the MFiPR added.

We are very pleased to see so much support for the development of urban transport in the Silesian Voivodship. This is another aspect implemented as part of the “Programme for Silesia”. We are consistently changing the image of transport so that our citizens live better and the region is better connected,

said the Governor of Silesia, Jarosław Wieczorek.

It is the job of local governments to improve the living standard of residents, therefore, we invest intensively in new sports facilities, revitalising green spaces or transport. In recent years, we have built four interchange centres and rebuilt two bottlenecks on the DK81 road. There are plans to build a Tramway line to the South, further interchange centres or an extension of  Bocheńskiego street. With additional funding, we will be able to intensify these activities,

says Marcin Krupa, the Mayor of Katowice.

Further funding for changes in the area of low-emission transport in the Silesian Voivodeship is an opportunity to continue the positive changes in the region which have been taking place over the recent years,

says Mariusz Śpiewok, the Deputy Mayor of Gliwice.

Projects implemented to date as part of the Integrated Territorial Investments of the Silesian Voivodeship include the construction of new and modernisation of existing tramway lines along with the purchase of tramway rolling stock in the cities of the Silesia-Zagłębie Metropolitan Area, the purchase of low-emission buses in Katowice, Gliwice, Tychy and Jaworzno, the construction of a transfer node in Katowice, and the extension of the ITS system in the Upper Silesian-Zagłębie Metropolitan Area.

Funding for investment in low-carbon urban transport will continue under the European Funds for Infrastructure, Climate, Environment (FEnIKS) programme for 2021-2027. The ITI of the Central Subregion of the Silesian Voivodeship as one of two ITIs (besides Warsaw) received the highest allocation of funds in the amount of PLN 900 million.

The briefing was attended by Jarosław Wieczorek - the Governor of Silesia and representatives of the ITIs: Marcin Krupa, the Mayor of the City of Katowice and Mariusz Śpiewok, the Deputy Mayor of the City of Gliwice, Chairman of the Board of the Union of Municipalities and Districts of the Central Subregion of the Silesian Voivodeship.