POLAND: The city of Kraków’s spatial planning team has published a study for a three-line metro, which has been endorsed by Mayor Jacek Majchrowski. The report targets construction to start in 2018 if the city authorities approve financing estimated at 3bn złoty. A significant part of this would come from EU funds, which are yet to be allocated.
The network would run underground in the city centre but a significant portion in the suburbs would run on an elevated alignment. The first line to be built under the proposal is a 19 km link between Nowa Huta to the east of the city centre and Bronowice in the northwest, with 19 stations. A second line would run for 10 km from Bieżanów in the southeast to the University of Science & Technology. An 8 km east–west line from Podgórze to Korona would complete the network.
The metro is proposed to increase transport capacity in a city that is expected to grow from 760 000 to 1·2 million people by 2030, with an attendant rise in the number of offices. Kraków could also place a joint bid with Jasná in Slovakia to host the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.
