Powiązania miast województwa łódzkiego w systemie kolejowego transportu zbiorowego w świetle potencjału komunikacyjnego

Connections between the towns of the Łódź region in the system of public rail transport in the light of communication potentialThe paper presents a topological characteristics of the network passenger train connections in the province of Łódź. The effectiveness of all connections between 24 cities in the region included in the network of scheduled connections was assessed based on their frequency and duration time expressed in physical, time and economic units. In addition, the communication was defined by its potential, strength and direction of its influence for each of the examined cities in the rail system. It was found that the accessibility of the towns, on the assumption of train journey, is determined first of all by the direction of the railway. The railway pattern in the Łódź province provides access to 24 out of 44 towns. The level of transport connections between the towns in region resulting from the operation of collective transport by rail is clearly conditioned by the number of potential users. This relationship is not as clear as in the public road transport. On the other hand, the location of a city in the urban network and within the region is a secondary factor.