POLAND: A consortium led by Porr has been awarded the 1·76bn złoty contract to build the high speed rail tunnel under Łódź as part of the Centralny Port Komunikacyjny programme.
The 4·6 km tunnel will form part of the planned Y-shaped 354 km/h Line 85 which is scheduled to connect Warszawa and the CPK Airport with Łódź by 2032. It is due to be extended to Wrocław and Poznań by 2035.
The CPK tunnel will be used by long-distance and high speed trains running at 160 km/h, with local and regional trains to use the existing parallel cross-city tunnel.
The twin-track tunnel will be bored using a 14 m diameter TBM, which CPK says will make it the longest and widest single-bore railway tunnel constructed in Poland. Construction is expected to begin later this year.
Albraco has been appointed to undertake technical inspections of buildings along the route. Budimex is expected to complete the Retkinia TBM launch chamber in May and has begun work on the Fabryczna reception chamber.
