Lovely Liepaja Part 3

 Clean, Tidy but Flat Ride

Above is the tuning circle at Mirdzas, the northern terminus of Lierpaja's only tram route. The greenery is dominated by an industrial bridge (not for public use) linking two parts of the Intersteel factory site.

It is a bit scary, but the tram sets off enthusiastically on its reserved track.

... before making a sharp right hand turn to get to the railway station.

The station is almost unchanged since the 1900s ...

... although the front view always was a little grander than the platform side.

The route then continues ...

... southbound to the town centre.

We pass the turnoff to the depot and enjoy some road works (track works?)  ...

...nwhere cobbles are being replaced by cobbles. Nice!

Like the rest of the environment, the central area is clean and devoid of the clutter and graffiti that we seem to have become used to in the UK. And there is that white-spired church we met in Wednesday's blog.

We cross the cut-through from sea to Liapaja Lake ...

... and continue southbound; where the ambiance, although not totally rural, is very much small town in character ...

... with lots of greenery.

There is even a little bit of tram only track, where road traffic has been sent round two sides of a grassy triangle.

More semi-rural progress ...

... unil a community of low rise and bigger blocks of flats is encountered

Next comes the point at which the 2013 extension turns left leaving that former stub unserved and trackless.

We are now on the first extension to Ezerkrats, the only extension of the system since 1899 ...

... which must he some kind of record.

Here the blocks of apartments are much bigger and buses join the tram route.

The terminal loop (above) is almost on the shore of the Liepaya Lake; althogh the "waterfront" has a touch of the shanty town about it!

Note the buses parked in the tram loop!

As the transport network map shows, Ezerkrats is also the terminus of several bus routes.

Note also that the bus map does not show the tram - that would never do!

The tram is the most frequent public transport service in the town, running every seven minutes Monday to Friday and drastically reduced to every eight minutes on Saturday and Sunday.

You only get departure lists from the outer terminus of all the routes, tram or bus.

Most bus routes are relatively infrequent ...

...  although the 2 excels itself by reaching the dizzy heights of every 12 minutes at peak times.

Fares are, as you would expect, ludicrously cheap.

Tickets for specific number of trips

Ticket for a single purchased in advance

   0,90 EUR

Ticket for a single the driver of the vehicle

   1,50 EUR

Ticket for ten trips

    8,50 EUR

Long-term tickets

One day long-term ticket

   3,00 EUR

Three day long-term ticket

   6,00 EUR

Five day long-term ticket

   9,00 EUR

One month long-term ticket

   30,00 EUR

A lticket valid for three months

    75,00 EUR

Wow! £5 for a three day ticket. As they say in the shopping centres of Liepaja:-

Pat lētāk nekā frī kartupeļi

 Next Stagecoach mini blog : Saturday 19 Oct