Liberec Routes

Few people know that night operation in Liberec existed even under the former regime. Already in 1958 a night connection of Stráž nad Nisou with Liberec on weekdays was introduced. The very next year (8 May 1959) two circular lines were introduced for operation on nights before non-working days:

• Circuit I: Gottwaldovo náměstí - Nádraží - Dolní Hanychov - České mládeže - Rochlice - Gottwaldovo náměstí (twice a night),
• Circuit II: Gottwaldovo náměstí - Husova - Březová alej - Lidové Sady - Lázně - Nám. Bojovníků za mír (today nám. Dr. E. Beneše) - Horská - Ruprechtice náměstí - Vrchlického - Pavlovice Letná - Růžodol I - Gottwaldovo náměstí (once a night).

Both circuits can be found in the same form in the 1972 and 1975 timetables. Circuit I departed at 0:30 and 1:50, circuit II at 1:10. This operation ended on 12 January 1979.

In the new era Liberec long lagged far behind comparable and even smaller cities in terms of night operation. Its reintroduction came only in 2007. The development was as follows:

• Until 2007 operation ended with a collective departure on the dispatcher's signal at 23:10 (originally 23:08 or 23:05).

• Only on 1 December 2007 were night services introduced on a trial basis on lines 3, 11, 12, 22, 24, 25 and 29, which met at the Fügnerova terminal always at 23:50, 0:30 and, on non-working days, also at 1:10 and 2:00.

  Night line timetables from 2008

• On 1 September 2010 a system of four circular lines numbered 90-93 was introduced, supplementing the night tram services. The departure times remained the same.
• From September 2012 lines 92 and 93 were merged into one with the number 92, and the departure times changed to 0:20 and, on non-working days, 1:10 and 2:00. The change was connected with the shift of the last daytime departure to 23:20. Partial route changes affected the other lines too.
• In October 2015 the departures were adjusted again: 0:20 daily and, on non-working days, also 1:20 and 2:20. The 1:20 departure was available all week for about a year.
• 26 March 2020: in connection with the state of emergency due to the spread of the new coronavirus, the night lines were temporarily discontinued. During the gradual restoration of operation, however, they were not restored, so the discontinuation proved permanent. Politicians cited the financial demands of operation. For almost two years Liberec was thus without night operation. During the changes, the mode of ending daytime operation was also permanently changed to a collective departure of most lines at 22:40 and a departure of selected lines at 23:10.
• 1 January 2022: a trial introduction of two long circular lines, 93 and 94, with a single all-week departure at 0:20.
• 2 January 2023: night operation was again expanded to 4 lines, 91-94, with departures daily at 0:20 and, on non-working days, also at 1:20. This time operation is provided purely by buses; the night tram services did not return to operation.

After the reorganisation of night transport on 1 September 2012, line 93 ended its two-year run by being merged into line 92.

Timetable from 2012

Of the current night lines, line 93 is the hardest to keep to time. From the university dormitories in Lidové Sady you are supposed to be there in three minutes. Likewise from Fügnerova to Horní Kopečná or from Sametová to Hrubínova. If more people are travelling, you have no chance. That is also why, at the Lidové Sady-ZOO stop, I make a point of not pulling up to the correct stand (so far it has never even happened that anyone was standing there). If someone wishes to alight, I stop by the kerb at the junction. Going around via the loop would bring a considerable loss of time.

This night circular line serves so many areas that, to the ones at the end of the line, it is faster on foot. This is reflected in the occupancy too. At weekends the occupancy can sometimes be reasonable as far as the Rochlice estate and perhaps the university dormitories, but beyond that only rarely, and on weekdays it happens that the driver travels the whole long route entirely alone. It is also worth mentioning that on the way from Ruprechtice the Rychtářská stop really is skipped, so it is not an error in the video. It is probably the sloppiness of the timetable's author, who, when copying the stops, did not realise that this one is only in the direction towards the centre. Enjoy a February night in Liberec with an Iveco Urbanway #715.