PKP Polskie Linie Kolejowe has completed the project on the improvement of Gdynia port rail access under a PLN 1.9 billion (EUR 436.7 million) investment which now ensures efficient and safe delivery as well as larger volumes of goods to be transported by rail in a shorter time.
Due to the completion of the project, the Gdynia Port station was adapted to longest trains of up to 750 metres from previously 500 metres, allowing an axle load of 22.5 tonnes. 115 km of new tracks and 359 switches have been built. Two new viaducts with a length of 640 and 170 metres have improved the capacity of the lines leading to the port. The bridge over the Chylonka River has been renovated, and 13 underground retention tanks together with a new sewage system ensure proper drainage of the area. A public loading bay has also been built. Efficient and safe train traffic is conducted from the LCS Gdynia Port supported by two new signal boxes.
The largest switch head in the country was built at the Gdynia Port station, connecting as many as 39 tracks. In order to avoid collisions with the overhead high-voltage line, power cables totalling 20 km were laid underground. At the time of the most advanced works, about 500 workers and up to 200 machines were working on the construction site. Importantly for the operation of the Gdynia port, construction works were carried out under continuous train traffic.
Under the project, PKP Polskie Linie Kolejowe ensures better capacity on routes to the quays with the most ecological, efficient and increasingly safe means of transporting cargo, which is rail. Compared to 2015, taking into account the other port lines, the final increase in capacity at the Gdynia Port station forecast for 2030 is twofold.
The Gdynia port rail access project is important for the development of the local port and Pomerania region and will reduce trucks off the roads and CO2 emissions. The project has been co-financed by the Connecting Europe Facility which covered 43% of the total eligible costs. Under the 2015 CEF Transport calls for proposals, the project secured EUR 162.2 million co-financing of the EUR 190.8 million eligible costs.
Under the 2020 CEF Transport calls, the project also obtained EUR 840,000 of the EUR 1.68 million eligible costs for the preparatory works for the “Development of access infrastructure in the Port of Gdynia”. This co-financing was used for preparatory works of the ship access and reconstruction of the infrastructure in Basin IV and preparatory works for the road and rail access to Basins IV and V.
The project is part of a large programme to increase rail access to Polish ports including Gdańsk, which was completed in 2022 and Szczecin and Świnoujście ports where the basic construction works are completed. All these projects were also supported by the EU funding.
The project for Gdańsk rail access included a EUR 1.1 billion (EUR 253 million) investment of which EUR 108.5 million has been delivered under the 2015 CEF Transport calls for proposals. This project covered construction and upgrades for more than 70 km of tracks, three bridges and two viaducts as well as electrification works and ERTMS trackside deployment.
To improve rail access to Szczecin and Swinoujscie seaports, EUR 120 million European financing was provided of the total eligible costs of EUR 141 million. PLN 1.5 billion (EUR 344.8 million) was the total value of the project which covered construction works and upgrades for 96 km of tracks, of which 61 km at Szczecin port and 35 km at Świnoujście port. In addition, a traction network of 84 km has been built and reconstructed of which 50 km in Szczecin and 34 km in Świnoujście.
In the last two decades, the Szczecin and Świnoujście Seaports Authority implemented 20 projects worth almost PLN 3 billion (EUR 689.5 million in current prices) with EU support of which three projects targeted rail investments including the reconstruction of the infrastructure in the two ports, improving rail access to these ports and the construction of a multimodal railway transshipment terminal in the port of Szczecin.
In May 2024, the authority signed a CEF2 grant agreement for the construction of a multimodal rail transshipment hub on the Ostrów Grabowski Peninsula in the Port of Szczecin. The funding was obtained for adaptation of the TEN-T network for dual civil and defense use. The total value of the project is EUR 8.7 million, while the co-financing will amount to EUR 4.3 million. The project is expected to be completed in November 2026 when the multimodal railway transhipment hub, together with infrastructure for civilian and military needs, will ensure efficient transhipment of intermodal units and military equipment to the railway.
The investment consists of the construction of a railway transshipment station and reconstruction of the ro-ro ramp at the existing quay. The under the rail component, the transshipment yard will be developed on an area of approximately 11,000 m2 and with a bearing capacity 100kN/m2. The transshipment yard will be built at the railway siding with four electrified tracks. The new infrastructure will enable parallel operation of two trains, each of 750 metre-long.
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