The European Commission has granted CPK a PLN 162 million (EUR 37.68 million) in financial support under the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF). The funds will be used to design the 155-kilometer Sieradz-Kalisz-Pleszew-Poznań railway section. This is an important part of the “Y,” the future backbone of the High Speed Rail network in Poland.
On October 9, the Ministry of Infrastructure held a press conference on the transfer of grant agreements from CEF for rail, road and port infrastructure development projects. In total, over EUR 500 million will go to Poland.
“Today we received further support, but we are still halfway to EU funding. We want the final effect of the implemented railway investments to be visible to passengers, for example in the form of a good timetable,” Piotr Malepszak, Deputy Minister of Infrastructure for Railway Affairs, said at a meeting with journalists.
Railway projects are by far the largest part of investments implemented as part of the construction of the Central Communication Port (CPK). Since trains are the most ecological form of public transport, they can count on support from EU institutions. In total, the CPK company has already obtained over PLN 500 million (EUR 116 million) from CEF for the railway project.
The company signed its latest agreement with the European Executive Agency for Climate, Infrastructure and Environment (CINEA) for railway line no. 85 from Sieradz Północny to Poznań. The construction of the section will contribute to shortening the travel time on the Warsaw-Poznań route to approx. 100 minutes, as well as to fulfilling the goal set by the European Commission for the Member States, i.e. completing the TEN-T core network by 2030. The co-financed section is part of the TEN-T North Sea-Baltic Sea corridor.
The planned completion date for the subsidy is February 2027. The value of eligible expenses amounts to PLN 191 million (EUR 44 million), of which 85 percent is EU funding. At the national level, the CPK company will sign a cooperation agreement in the coming weeks with the Ministry of Funds and Regional Policy and the Centre for EU Transport Projects to implement the subsidized project.
“The Sieradz – Kalisz – Pleszew – Poznań section, which is covered by the grant agreement received today, is a key “missing link” within the European Transport Corridor “North Sea – Baltic”, stretching from Finland and the Baltic countries, through Poland to the seaports of the Netherlands and Belgium. European Union grants are an exceptional impulse for the development of the country. The CPK company has advanced railway projects in its portfolio, for which we will apply for further funds,” Dr. Filip Czernicki, president of CPK, emphasized at Wednesday’s conference.
The planned section of railway line no. 85 will be part of the largest multi-year investment and communication program in Central and Eastern Europe – the Central Communication Port. Crucially, it assumes the creation of a network of High Speed Rails – with passenger traffic for trains accelerating up to 320 km/h , but also for the movement of regional expresses that can develop speeds of up to 160 km/h.
The line from Sieradz to Poznań is important for the communication system of the whole of Poland and fits into the priority of CPK rail investments, the so -called “Y” connecting Warsaw and Łódź with Poznań and Wrocław. The whole will not only allow the new airport to be included in the transport network of Poland, but also significantly shorten travel times from the capital to Poznań and Wrocław and free up the capacity of existing railway lines for new passenger and freight traffic.
The entire 480-kilometer “Y” will be built in stages. The first to be put into operation , along with the launch of the airport in Baranów in 2032 , will be the Warsaw – CPK – Łódź section. In 2035, the construction of the entire line will be completed, supplemented by the Łódź – Wrocław and Sieradz – Poznań sections. Thanks to the adopted assumptions, it will be possible to achieve the ” Poland 100 minutes ” goal. This means connecting Warsaw with most large cities with infrastructure that will allow you to cover such a route in less than 100 minutes.
For preparatory work for the construction of the “Y” CPK received a total of approximately PLN 500 million (EUR 116 million) in EU support. This is co-financing, among others, the development of design documentation for the Warsaw – Łódź Niciarniana section (without the CPK junction) or the design work for the long-distance tunnel in Łódź together with its connection to line no. 14.
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