By Ashley Karen
After awarding the first design contracts for the 140-kilometre line by project organization CPK, Poland’s first high-speed railway between the Polish capital of Warsaw and Łódź will be constructed.
The first package of the project divides into three parts:
- The section from Warsaw to Bolimów village, nearly the halfway point of the submitted railway
- The section from Bolimów to Łódź
- And a deal for the GSM-R network
BPK Poznań will perform the last work, while Biuro Projektów Metroprojekt and Egis will design the sections of the railway, respectively.
The complete package is worth about 300 million Polish zloty or 64 million euros.
As the new high-speed line will have a design speed of 350 kilometers per hour, once completed, the trains can move at a speed of 250 kilometers per hour. As a result, the travel time between Warsaw and Łódź will be reduced to nearly 45 minutes. When the second stage onward to Poznań is finished, travelers will travel for only 2 hours instead of 3 to reach Warsaw.
Primary construction works on phase one are anticipated to begin near year-end 2023, with work starting in earnest the following year. The first construction tender which is one for the 4-kilometre train tunnel near Łódź was issued earlier in November.
The high-speed rail works are associated with the Centralny Port Komunikacyjny project, Poland’s new Greenfield airport that will be constructed almost 40 kilometers from Warsaw. As reported, it will feature two runways and is said to be operational by 2028.
