POLAND: Three contracts totalling 300m złoty have been awarded to support the development of a 350 km/h high speed line from Warszawa to Łódź.
The three contracts announced on November 23 form part of the Centralny Port Komunikacyjny programme to build a major airport, 2 000 km of railway and enhanced road links.
A consortium of Biuro Projektów Metroprojekt and Sud Architekt Polska has been selected to support the planning of a section of the high speed line between Warszawa and the proposed airport, which is to be developed separately. The consortium had previously undertaken design work for the cross-city railway tunnel in Łódź which forms part of the project.
A consortium of Egis Poland, Egis Rail and Jaf-Geotechnika has been awarded a contract for development work on the section of the new line from the airport to Łódź.
Under the third contract, Biuro Projektów Komunikacyjnych, Biuro Projektów Kolejowych i Usług Inwestycyjnych and FONON will prepare designs for the GSM-R communications network along the entire route.
‘We are entering the next phase of work’, explained Maciej Jagielski from the CPK Railway Sub-Programme Implementation Office. ‘The scope includes preparation of pre-design and design documentation, with technical support and obtaining administrative decisions, including construction plan, construction permits, water permits, location decision and opinions on property values.’
The promoter hopes to obtain permits in time for preparatory works to start at the end of 2023, with major construction following in 2024.
Y-shaped network
Trains on the 140 km Warszawa – Łódź line would initially run at 250 km/h, with speeds subsequently being increased to the design speed of 350 km/h.
The new line would reduce the journey time between Warsaw and Łódź from 90 min to around 45 min, while the trip from the capital to the new airport would be about 15 min.
Proposed extensions of the high speed line Łódź to Wrocław and Poznań would create a Y-shaped network. These would reduce the Poznań – Warszawa journey time from 3 h to 2 h and Wrocław – Warszawa from 4 h to 1 h 55 min. The long-term aim is to reduce travel times between Warszawa and Poland’s principal cities to no more than 2½ h.
