Koleje Dolnośląskie, the regional rail operator in the Lower Silesia Voivodeship, has reached a milestone with the introduction into service of the 100th train in its fleet. The 100th vehicle is electric multiple unit 48WEc-064, the 37th Elf train out of the 55 ordered from the Polish manufacturer Pesa Bydgoszcz.
Currently, the operator serves the network exclusively with 100 of its own vehicles, 60 of which were manufactured at the Pesa plant in Bydgoszcz. Once all the trains already ordered have been delivered, the number of vehicles produced by Pesa for Koleje Dolnośląskie will reach 88.
“The revival of rail transport in Poland began at Koleje Dolnośląskie, the regional rail operator in the Silesian Voivodeship, many years ago. The operator sets new records every year in terms of both kilometers traveled and the number of passengers carried, and has now surpassed the symbolic threshold of 100 vehicles in its rolling stock fleet,” said Paweł Gancarz, Marshal of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship.
The first trains for the operator were manufactured in Bydgoszcz starting in 2008 and were diesel multiple units (DMUs). Since 2022, Pesa has also been delivering Elf EMUs, and by the end of the contract there will be 55 such trains, the largest fleet of Elf trains in Poland.
“The value of the trains ordered from the Pesa plant in Bydgoszcz already exceeds PLN 2 billion (EUR 469 million). However, the development of rail transport in Lower Silesia would not have been possible without European funds, as the grant covers up to 85% of the value of these vehicles,” said Michał Rado, vice president of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship administration, responsible, among other things, for the rail sector.
The current batch of Elf trains is funded through Poland’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan (KPO).
One rail vehicle per day at the Bydgoszcz factory
Currently, Pesa Bydgoszcz is simultaneously carrying out several train and tram production projects. The factory builds vehicles for the Romanian railways, trams for the Silesia region, trains for the Czech Republic, such as the RegioFox multiple units, and other rolling stock projects. Statistically, one new passenger vehicle rolls off the assembly line at the Bydgoszcz plant every day.
“Each of the 100 vehicles that carry tens of thousands of residents of the Lower Silesia region every day was manufactured in Poland, and most were built right here in Bydgoszcz,” said Damian Stawikowski, president of Koleje Dolnośląskie.
Recently, Pesa also reached an important milestone in its development by launching test runs of a train designed for a speed of 200 km/h, built for the Czech operator RegioJet.
“Koleje Dolnośląskie is one of our strategic partners. Currently, we are producing not only the 55 Elf EMUs for this operator, but also 10 diesel multiple units. We are receiving a great deal of positive feedback from the Dolnośląskie region and value this collaboration,” said Krzysztof Zdziarski, president of Pesa.
The Pesa plant in Bydgoszcz has approximately 4,000 employees and handles annual production orders worth about EUR 1 billion.
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