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PASSENGER TRANSPORTATION IN WESTERN BELARUS IN 1921-1939
Obukhova E.N., Yanka Kupala Grodno State University, Grodno, Belarus
E-mail: obuhova [email protected]
Getsevich A.K. Yanka Kupala Grodno State University, Grodno, Belarus
E-mail: [email protected]
Abstract. The article deals with the development of passenger transportation in Western Belarus (1921-1939).
Key words: transport, automobile, road, Western Belarus.
The bus, as a type of public transport, began to be used in the West Belarusian region in the second half of the 1920s. Thus, as of January 1, 1927, the Novogrudok and Polessky voivodeship administrations issued 14 and 9 permits for automobile passenger transportation, respectively. In the Novogrudok voivodeship, permits were valid for 620 km of roads, but in fact transportation was carried out on 277 km, in Polessky - from 419 km only on 196 km of roads [1, C. 107].
For example, the first bus routes appeared in Volkovysk in 1928 and were limited to the borders of the county or neighboring settlements [2, p. 234]. Bus traffic was carried out on the lines of Volkovysk-Svisloch, Svisloch-Yalovka, Svisloch-Bialystok, Volkovysk-Lyskovo, Volkovysk-Grodno. Buses were owned by private carriers [1, p. 107].
Novogrudok stood out among all the voivodeship cities in Poland because it was the only voivodeship center in the country without a normal railway connection with the capital and other major cities. Accordingly, the voivodeship was covered by a wide network of bus lines, in 1928 the length of the voivodeship bus routes was 390 km [3, s. I]. From the center of the voivodeship, Novogrudok, a bus went three times a day to Novoelnya, a railway station on the Lida-Baranovichi line, although a narrow-gauge railway connected Novogrudok with it. However, the train schedule to Novoelnya was inconvenient, and they moved so slowly that residents and guests of the city were happy to use the services of bus carriers, which for three zlotys took passengers to Novoelnya in 45 minutes [3, s. 1]. However, there were drawbacks in the movement of buses between Novoelnya and Novogrudok: sometimes the bus was late or did not get on the line at all, as dissatisfied passengers even reported in a note in the newspaper «Slowo» [4, s. 2]. It was also possible to get by bus from Novogrudok to Baranovichi (60 km in almost 4 hours and 8 zlotys) and in the column (70 km, 14.5 zlotys per ticket, 5 hours to go) [3, s. 4-5]. For comparison, for 1.5 zloty it was possible to buy
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five kg of herring or three kg of onions. In total, there were 23 bus routes in Novogrudok Voivodeship in 1928, most of which had a length of up to 30 km and connected nearby cities [3].
In the Vilna region, bus traffic was concentrated in the center of the voivodeship. Of the 31 routes, 18 directly connected Vilnius with the nearest settlements, in three of which the length exceeded 100 km: Vilnius-Ivye (112 km), Vilnius-Postavy (134 km), Vilnius-Vileika (145 km). Such lines as Novo-Sventsyany -the city of Sventsyany, the station Oshmyany-Oshmyany connected the county towns with the nearest railway stations [4, p. 107]. In 1930, the route «Vilnius-Eishishki-Radun-Ozery-Grodno» was opened [5, p. 28].
Most of the bus routes in the Polesie Voivodeship were concentrated in the western part. Brest was connected with Kobrin, Vysokoye and other settlements by a direct bus flight [6, s. 42].
The rapid development of bus transportation has raised the issue of introducing transportation rules. The order of the Minister of Public Works, the Minister of Internal Affairs and, in agreement with the Minister of Military Affairs, dated April 17, 1929 on the movement of buses intended for passenger transportation on public roads provided for the requirements for the technical condition of the bus, the rules for registering a transport company, as well as the rules for passenger travel [1, p. 107]. The requirements were as follows: each bus should have at least one fire extinguisher, a first aid kit; curtains should hang on the windows; during the cold season, the cabin had to be heated. The maximum speed could not exceed 40 km/h. Passengers were forbidden to: get on the bus when all the seats were occupied, drunk; sing, behave indecently, smoke in the bus cabin, throw garbage or other objects out of the window, transport animals in the cabin [3, s. VI].
However, the existence of rules did not mean that both carriers and passengers complied with them. Violations were associated with the transportation of more passengers than there were seats, with the driver and conductor smoking, or even driving a bus under the influence of alcohol. There were notes in the press where it was noted that «buses, especially Grodno buses, are «miserable trash», polluted with «live luggage». Every Thursday buses from Grodno go through Eishishki and turn into «trucks» filled with piglets, chickens, butter, boxes of eggs < ... >» [1, p. 108].
If we talk about special infrastructure (bus stations, equipped stops, ticket offices), then there were only a few such objects. In cities, buses departed from the center, for example, in Lida from the square between the Far church and the castle, in Novogrudok and Volkovysk - from the shopping square, in Grodno - from Stefan Batory Square, where there was no car station building, and passengers sat in the surrounding taverns waiting for their flight [5, p. 29]. Most of the stops looked quite primitive, only a sign with the inscription «bus stop» (Przystanek autobusowy) and a timetable reminded of it [1, p. 108].
In the early 1930s, bus transportation found itself in a difficult situation, this was influenced by the confluence of three reasons: the economic crisis, the creation of the State Road Fund and the law on the concession of automobile transportation. The Law on the Road Fund provided for an increase in payments for vehicle registration
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(50 PLN for every 100 kg of bus weight) and introduced a tax of 33% of the ticket price [1, p. 108].
The bus service became widespread and interregional only from the mid-1930s. The most developed network of bus routes was in the Bialystok Voivodeship, followed by the Vilna, Novogrudok and Polessky voivodeships.
Since June 1, 1934, the first state shuttle buses appeared in the Western Belarusian region, mainly in the Bialystok Voivodeship. They connected the capital with Suwalki, Bialystok, Lomzha. From Bialystok buses went to Grodno, Volkovysk, Belovezha. The price of the carrier's services depended on the mileage and was 6 money per kilometer.
In the same period, private bus companies also begin to appear actively. In 1935 they existed in Bialystok, Suvalki. Novogrudok, Slonim, Volkovysk, Vilnius, Sventsyany, Gorodey, Brest, Kobrin and Lida [8, p. 10].
Thus, the Lidyanka bus community, an enterprise for the provision of passenger and baggage transportation services, originated in Lida in 1935. It was founded by Edward Krieger. On October 14, 1935, the Lidyanka Group received concession document No. 3 from the Novogrudok Voivodeship Government for the right of paid transportation of passengers and luggage. In 1938, the Lidyanka group already had 16 buses [8, p. 10].
The largest number of bus routes was observed in the late 1930s in the Vilna Voivodeship. So, in 1939 there were routes Disna-Glubokoe, Glubokoe-Dokshitsy, Glubokoe-Luzhki, Glubokoe-Sharkovshchizna, Molodechno-Rakov, Molodechno-Smorgon, Molodechno-Vileika, Molodechno-Radoshkovichi, Oshmyany-Vilnius, etc. [8, p. 10].
However, the number of bus routes changed annually. It depended on a number of factors, the first of which was economic. The maintenance and operation of buses was quite expensive, and the initial demand for their services was not very large. In the future, competition also had a significant impact on the development of the bus network. The fare on buses of private lines ranged from 6 to 10 money per kilometer.
In the early 1930s, there was a reduction in tariffs, this was due to the fact that the cost of fuel decreased, payments in favor of the State Road Fund and customs payments for new vehicles decreased. When in 1929 the fare from Lida to Belitsa (30 km) was 4 PLN or 13 gr. for 1 km, then in 1937 the fare on the same route fell to 1.5 PLN. (5 gr. per 1 km). Preferential travel was available to some categories of the population: children under 10 years old, government officials and the military; when buying season tickets in the summer for at least two months; when buying monthly travel tickets for 50 trips on weekdays, there was a 20% discount [1, p. 108].
The high cost of bus tickets led to the fact that poor people for their needs went mostly on foot to county towns and even to voivodeship centers. For example, a typical Lida resident could walk to Vilnius in two days. The return journey took the same amount [8, p. 6]. So, Mustafa Abramovich, a Tatar from Kletsk born in 1916, recalled in his memoirs how he walked 20 km in the early 1930s to Nesvizh. The eldest son from a large Tatar family of farmers simply could not afford to go there by bus, because a ticket from Kletsk to Nesvizh cost 2 zloty, while the salary of an
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agricultural worker who worked from morning to late evening was 1 zloty [9, s. 1516].
City bus service existed in Vilnius, Grodno, Brest, Volkovysk. In Volkovysk, a city bus connected the city center and the railway station Volkovysk-Tsentralny, the ticket price was 60 gr. [2, p. 42]. The first city buses appeared on the streets of Grodno in the summer of 1930 and transported passengers along two routes, including from the railway station to the Lososno station [5, p. 21, 27]. Transportation was carried out by the company «Autoruch», whose base was located on modern Dominican Street. Residents of Grodno complained that the buses went crowded, without a schedule, were late [5, p. 27-28].
Bus communication depended on meteorological conditions, as during the autumn rains and spring snowmelt, the roads became unsuitable for travel. After the establishment of frosty weather, flights could be canceled due to heavy snowfall if the roads were not cleared in time. Even in summer, heavy downpours washed away the roadbed, thereby complicating bus communication.
It is obvious that the development of logistics infrastructure in the West Belarusian region in the interwar period gave a significant impetus to the development of the economy, increased the standard of living of the local population, its mobility.
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