PKP Polskie Linie Kolejowe (PKP PLK) has completed the essential work for better rail access to Gdynia port which improves freight transport to the quays.
This project ensures efficient and safe delivery and collection of larger amounts of goods by rail in a shorter time. Longer trains, with up to 750 metres, and heavier, with a load of 22.5 tons per axle, can now reach the quays transporting increased volumes of cargo. This will reduce the number of trucks on the road by shifting towards railway transport.
“The investment to improve rail access to Gdynia port will result in a greater share of rail in the transport of goods, the development of the port itself, but above all, the entire economy. Railway is the most ecological, more efficient and increasingly safer means of transporting cargo,” Andrzej Bittel, the Secretary of State at the Ministry of Infrastructure, said.
Under the project, 113.5 km of new tracks out of 115 km, 329 turnouts out of 332 and all 24 existing crossings were built. From March 2022, train traffic to the port is managed from the local control centre of Gdynia Port supported by two new signal boxes. Two viaducts of 640 and 170 meters are already completed, which have improved the capacity of the lines leading to the port. The bridge over the Chylonka River was renovated and all 13 underground retention tanks are ready, which, together with the new sewerage network, ensure proper drainage of the area.
All works at the port are scheduled to be completed by the end of the year.The remaining works concern the reconstruction of high-voltage lines and the construction of tracks and overhead lines in place of the removed poles.
The project to create better rail access to Gdynia is worth almost PLN 1.9 billion (EUR 410.4 million) and 43% is the EU co-financing from the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF). Under the 2015 CEF Transport call, PKP PLK obtained co-financing of EUR 162.2 million of the EUR 190.8 million eligible cost of the project.
“We are consistently increasing the possibilities of transporting goods by rail, also towards the seaports. We have already completed the works in Gdańsk, and the works in Gdynia, Szczecin and Świnoujście are nearing completion. Investments of PKP Polskie Linie Kolejowe ensure more efficient cargo transport thanks to a significant increase in railway capacity” Ireneusz Merchel, the President of the Management Board of PKP Polskie Linie Kolejowe said.
At the end of 2022, the Polish rail infrastructure manager announced that it has completed the works at the Port of Gdansk allowing 750-metre-long trains with an axle load of 22.5 tonnes to reach the port. The project covered the construction and reconstruction of 70 km of tracks, 233 turnouts, construction work for two viaducts and three bridges, as well as electrification works to the existing lines. To increase capacity and safety, PKP PLK has installed the new signalling system ERTMS. This project has also obtained European financing through the Connecting Europe Facility. EUR 132.7 million was the eligible cost of project, of which under the 2015 CEF Transport call, EUR 108.5 million was provided by the EU. PLN 1.1 billion (EUR 237.6 million, in current prices) was the entire value of the project.
The work for the rail infrastructure in the ports of Gdańsk and Gdynia worth more than EUR 600 million.
Regarding the project to increase rail access to the ports of Szczecin and Świnoujście (the Baltic Sea) works included the construction and /or reconstruction of 96 km of tracks (35 km at Świnoujście port and 61 km at Szczecin port), the construction of 285 turnouts as well as the construction of 84 km of traction network. 22 rail-road crossings have been also reconstructed.
Poland received a European co-financing of almost EUR 120 million to improve rail access to the Szczecin and Swinoujscie seaports under the 2015 CEF Transport calls for proposals. EUR 141 million was the eligible costs of the project.
The transhipment activities at Gdańsk, Gdynia and Szczecin – Świnoujście ports increased by 18% reaching 113 million tonnes in 2022, compared to the previous year, the Ministry of Infrastructrue announced in January 2023. In 2022, the Port of Gdynia handled a total of 28.2 million tonnes of cargo, which is an increase of 5.6%.compared to 2021. In the same period, the number of merchant ships calling at the port increased by over 2%to 4331.
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