Poland will upgrade an important railway using European Union funds. The support thus granted amounts to EUR 1.4 Million and is ensured through the TEN-T Programme. The railway to be upgraded and reconstructed is part of Gdańsk–Warsaw-Brno/Bratislava-Vienna axis. The project began in July 2012 and will be completed in December 2014.
The project is the 23rd of the 30 TEN-T priority projects. Thus, the project includes the modernisation of the 24km section, Warsaw Włochy (district of Poland’s capital) – Grodzisk Mazowiecki. The recently received financing will be used to elaborate the construction project and the technical documentation for the organisation of the tender in order to launch the actual works. The modernisation of this railway section will increase railway transport capacity in a densely populated area of Poland. The total cost of the project amounts to EUR 2.7 Million, while the TEN-T financing is of EUR 1.4 Million.
Gdańsk–Warsaw-Brno/Bratislava-Vienna axis mainly includes the modernisation and improvement of railway infrastructure – part of the former Corridor VI identified during the Crete (1994) and Helsinki (1997) Conventions – which connects Gdansk via Katowice and Zilina to Bratislava and through a western branch via Brno to Vienna.
The corridor has been identified as a north-south multi-modal axis which supports the creation of a multi-modal freight and passenger transport system directly connected to Gdansk Port, by both railway and road transport. As the name indicates, the railway axis includes four member states of the European Union: Poland, Czech Republic, Austria and Slovakia.
Its western branch crosses Brno, the second largest city of the Czech Republic, while its western branch transits Zilina, an important city of Slovakia providing link to the capital city of Bratislava.
The modernisation of railways and construction of a container terminal in Gdansk or that in Sławków, near Katowice, operational since 2010, could generate improved conditions for significantly developing intermodal transport.
Modernisation and rehabilitation works will help increase the speed of trains to 160 km/h for passenger trains. A speed increase to 250 km/h is expected for passenger trains on some sections of Poland, while freight trains will generally run at 120 km/h. At the same time, the modernisation of the railway route will strengthen the attractiveness of railway transport, by facilitating modal shift from road to railway.
Interoperability is a clear objective of the Polish infrastructure manager, PKP PLK, which grants PLN 470 Million (EUR 114 Million) to the installation of the ETCS Level 2 on the 340km Gdynia-Warsaw line, part of the current pan-European Corridor VI. The financing was granted in January 2013 and implementation works will expand on two years and and two months.
Polish authorities want to obtain more financing from EU funds. Currently, the railway transport projects of Polish local authorities are 59% covered from EU funds, while those of the railway companies absorb EU funds to cover 70% of their projects.
In March 2014, PKP PLK selected a Thales-led consortium to implement the ERTMS system, including ETCS Level 2 and GSM-R, on two sections of Warsaw – Łódź railway. The contract amounts to around EUR 100 Million. The two railway sections Warsaw Zachodnia – Koluszki and Koluszki -Łódź Widzew have a total length of 125 km. The contract includes the design and construction of a local command centre at Skierniewice. Moreover, Polish operator Przewozy Regionalne plans to launch two new connections with Ukraine this year. Trains will operate on Krakow – Mostyska routes and Warsaw – Kovel. However, the final decision will be made by Ukrainian company Ukrzaliznytsia, possibily in May. The first trains could already operate at the middle of December.
Moreover, Poland consolidates cross-border transport relationships with its neighbours, announced Lithuania’s Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevičius, who said Poland had committed to rebuilt Warsaw-Lithuanian border railway, after discussing the matter with his Polish counterpart Donald Tusk.
Share on:
