Pomorskie Region (or Pomerania) is one of the 16 districts of Poland, being located in the northern part on the coast of the Baltic Sea. It includes the district of Gdansk and other three regions, and due to this administrative change (since 1999), it represents 5.9% of the Polish territory. Pomorskie holds 60% (316 km) of the Poland’s access to the sea, and the district’s capital is Gdansk.
The population represents approximately 5.8% (over 2 million) of the total inhabitants of Poland, out of which a significant part (1.5 million) lives in urban areas. One of the region’s advantages is the fact that it provides access to the sea, the location having a positive impact on the transport system development; there are big ports, but also small ones, some of them meant for passenger transport, and at the European level, Pomorskie is crossed by Pan-European routes. As regards the railway infrastructure, the local network adds to four railway arteries, with international importance: from Tri-city to the German border (through Szczecin), through the city of Gdansk to the Czech and Slovakian border (through Warsaw and Cracow), a line connecting Gdansk to the South-West border (through Bydgoszcz, Łódź, and Katowice) and railway routes also going from Gdansk to Kaliningrad (through Olsztyn) or Belarus (through Białystok).
Poland’s adhesion to the EU ensures the region’s access to the European funds which are especially used for the execution of projects determining the increase of the region’s accessibility and the improvement of the transport infrastructure. The Regional Operational Programme (2007-2013) is one of the instruments contributing to the implementation of regional projects of the district of Pomorskie. The value of funds reaches EUR 1.25 Billion, out of which EUR 885 Million come from the Regional Development Fund, EUR 262.7 Million from public funds and EUR 97 Million from the private sector contribution, this financing being granted for the execution of projects in the period 2007-2013. These amounts are meant for programmes whose purpose is the modernisation and the facilitation of the transport system in the cities, the revival of public areas and are also granted for the cohesion optimisation, through the development of the railway network.
Because of the traffic diminution, the region’s railway network has considerably reduced, and the total length of used lines reaches 1,308 km, out of which 72% is represented by simple lines and 35% electrified lines. According to the Pomorskie Regional Operational Programme (ROP), the network density is 7.2 km/100 square km, compared to the EU average of approximately 5 km/100 square km, 684 km of line having a national importance.
In order to improve the cities’ attractiveness for investments and the creation of some communication links, the authorities aim at projects whose purpose is the optimisation of the transport system. For this purpose, “the region’s transport system must be supported so that the railway and road networks should be extended and modernised. The projects will contribute to creating a real spatial cohesion at regional level, providing much more connections between the cities’ transport systems, the national and the European ones. This will ensure a better infrastructure use, determining the region’s economic growth”, shows the ROP strategy of Pomorskie.
Therefore, the authorities are aware of the positive effects on the environment though the implementation of projects related to the extension of the regional railway network and the development of transport hubs for the integration of all transport modes.
The support awarded to the regional railway infrastructure includes the execution of projects for the improvement of regional railway connections, which are not necessarily a part of the European or national networks, but have a major role in ensuring the passenger transport. As a result, the areas where the accessibility is deficient will become integrated areas through the modernisation of the access to developed centres and intensely populated areas. The projects aim at reintroducing and modernising the railway infrastructure which will efficiently contribute to reintroducing and providing passenger transport services. Funds will be awarded for the construction, extension and reconstruction of regional railway routes, designed to eliminate the congestion or to optimise connections to passenger transport hubs.
Besides the railway projects, the authorities also focus on the development and integration of public transport systems which include the modernisation of the existing ones and the construction of new transport hubs, the purchase and the modernisation of urban and metropolitan transport systems (especially the railway transport system).
Pomeranian Metropolitan Railway creates efficient connections
The most important transport project in the area is Pomeranian Metropolitan Railway (PKM), which will be implemented in the years to come. The modern and fast trains to be put in service will solve the problem of the resident’s mobility in the city of Tri-City (an urban area consisting of the cities of Gdansk, Gdynia and Sopot) and the entire region. Therefore, the access to the metropolitan region will be much easier for citizens, and for tourists it will be much easier to go to Kaszuby province (touristic region which has a tourism development potential). An additional benefit following the investment is the considerable reduction of the travel time from the centre to the airport and from the central railway station Gdansk to the Airport (estimated at 25 min). This will determine the avoidance of transport means which will generate the reduction of the travel time. The project will imply the change of the transport system from Gdansk and will launch the conditions for the promotion and development of the city of Gdansk.
According to the project executed by BPBK S.A., the Metropolitan railway line will be built on the line section Gdansk – Wrzeszcz to be connected to the corridor Kościerski-line 201. The study implies the observance and the complementarity of the Kościerski corridor, and as a result of the first phase of the project (rehabilitation of the Kokoszki railway line), the railway line will connect the districts Gdansk: rzeszcz, Strzyża, Piecki – Migowo, Niedźwiednik, Kiełpinek district, Matarnia, Osowa to Rębiechowo, Banino and Gdynia. The railway link between PKM and the Gdynia – Kościerzyna line will allow the modernisation of the transport system between Tri-City and the localities in the region. The project is implemented in two phases: the first one includes the line section Gdańsk Wrzeszcz – Kokoszki (or Kokoszki), the second one aims at the construction of a section which is connected to the line No. 201, and the main railway stations are Abrahama, Rakoczego and the Airport. As regards the stations, they will be designed in a similar manner, in order to offer to the urban area an integrated space but also to determine the passengers to find their way easier, to reduce the travel time.
The length of the first railway section reaches 20 km the first phase of the project being completed in 2014. According to the company BPBK S.A., the project is financed through European funds.
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