The Szczecin Metropolitan Railway and its expectations on urban transport in the Szczecin agglomeration

Transport is integral to every city, having a crucial impact on its functioning and development. As road infrastructure does not up to keep up to speed with the constantly growing numbers of vehicles on roads, new solutions are required. Fast urban railway systems are a solution that can reduce transport congestion, with environmental protection issues also taken into account. Following these reasons, the decision was made to build the Szczecin Metropolitan Railway (Szczecińska Kolej Metropolitalna, or SKM), consisting of four lines constructed using existing railway infrastructure, within the Szczecin Metropolitan Area (SMA). The construction works on the linear and point assets of the SKM are ongoing and will be concluded in 2022. Therefore, given the large impact of this project on the affected communities, the purpose of the present study was to analyze the expectations of the SMA population concerning the launch of the SKM via a large-scale questionnaire. For the purposes of the study, the following research hypothesis was defined: from the assessment of the affected residents, the introduction of the SKM will considerably improve the travel experience and greatly facilitate transit within the fast railway system’s area of impact. From the analysis of the questionnaire, it could be concluded that the introduction of the SKM will have a positive impact on the improvement of transport within the Szczecin area and shorten travel times significantly.