The Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has announced the implementation of CPK project emphasising that the new central airport will be built in Baranów near Warsaw, and the first railway investment to be completed will be the so-called Y line, which will connect Warsaw, Łódź, Poznań, and Wrocław.
The planned capacity of the central airport is 34 million passengers, and the estimated construction cost until 2032 is PLN 131 billion (EUR 30.7 billion).
The conference, held on June 26, 2024, was attended by the Minister of Infrastructure, Dariusz Klimczak, the Deputy Minister of Infrastructure, Piotr Malepszak, and the Government Plenipotentiary for CPK, Maciej Lasek.
The head of the government stressed that the delay in making a decision was necessary in order to objectively evaluate the project’s status and remove the political influence left by previous administration. Thanks to the revision of the previous assumptions, CPK project meets the transport needs of the entire country. This is mainly because, in the revised project, railways will be built not to converge in Baranów but to connect all major Polish cities.
The Prime Minister announced the construction of CPK airport along with investments in the high-speed rail network in Poland, which will enable travel between Warsaw and major Polish cities in under 100 minutes.
“The CPK programme will be a triple leap into modernity. Firstly, the high-speed railway, connecting Warsaw, Łódź, Poznań, and Wrocław in the first instance. Secondly, the central airport, along with the expansion of the regional airport network. Thirdly, the development of LOT Polish Airlines to become one of the leading carriers,” Donald Tusk said.
The CPK project will be implemented under three components with the first one covering the high-speed rail network so that people can travel quickly between the largest cities in Poland. The second component to be realised involves the development of regional airports that are accessible to everyone, including the construction of the airport in Baranów. The third component refers to the development of LOT Polish Airlines. All of these elements are interconnected.
The initial step in creating a modern, efficient transport system will involve constructing the railway Y-shaped system, a rail network connecting Warsaw with Łódź, Poznań, and Wrocław. Simultaneously, modifications to the alignment of the planned railway lines will drastically reduce the number of required expropriations. Based on realistic assumptions, the airport near Warsaw, connected not only by rail but also by an extended motorway, will be Europe’s most cutting-edge airport.
“The railway network in the entire CPK programme includes, of course, new railway lines, but also existing lines. We want to achieve coherence of connections between new lines, modernised lines, those that have existed for many years and regional lines with less traffic,” Piotr Malepszak, Deputy Minister of Infrastructure, noted.
This project will start with the so-called Y network that will connect Warsaw, Łódź, Poznań and Wrocław with trains running at speeds of 300 to 320 km/h.
Donald Tusk also announced investments in the expansion of Warsaw Chopin Airport and the modernisation of regional airports, including Modlin airport.
The expansion of Chopin Airport is a bridging solution until the new central airport becomes operational. Investment comissions at Chopin Airport in 2018-2019 have resulted in capacity issues. It is crucial to create conditions for LOT Polish Airlines, the national carrier, to dynamically develop until 2032, the date of the CPK’s opening.
According to the Government Plenipotentiary for CPK, Maciej Lasek, efforts have been made for six months to optimise the revised schedules of the investment programme and it will be completed within a feasible timeframe.
“We have made the CPK project more realistic so that it is feasible within a realistic schedule, coordinated with railway investments, and complete, ensuring passengers can reach the new central airport without any problems,” Maciej Lasek said. The location decision for the airport is expected by the end of this year, and the company aims to obtain the building permit in 2026.
Schedules of the CPK project
- 2024 – a location decision will be made for the new airport;
- 2026 – obtaining a construction permit for the airport project;
- 2029 – completion of the construction of the Łódź tunnel and the underground railway station;
- 2030 – completion of airport construction;
- 2032 – transfer of commercial traffic from Chopin Airport to the new central airport in Baranów.
The construction work for the new airport is scheduled to be completed by 2031
The construction work for the new airport is scheduled to be completed by 2031, with the opening scheduled for 2032. This part of the concept is also related to the expansion of the A2 motorway, which connects Warsaw and Łódź.
According to the Ministry of Infrastructure, the CPK Pproject was doomed to a number of difficulties such as delays, ineffective spending of money and harming people through expropriation. Due to the supervision problems, from July 1st, the Government will transfer the CPK company to the Ministry of Infrastructure so that infrastructure-related projects are in one place and can be comprehensively managed. Previously the company was incorporated into the Ministry of Funds and Regional Policy, which caused several implementation problems.
The audits revealed a number of irregularities related to CPK, especially in financial terms and showed very long delays in the entire CPK project. An example is the construction of a tunnel under Łódź. The project included the construction of two tunnels, one of which was designed for high-speed trains and the other one for conventional rail services. The construction of the latter was supposed to be completed in December 2021, but so far it has not been completed.
“In the near future, we will announce a tender for the construction of the high-speed rail tunnel in Łódź. We will complete the tender documentation for the construction of the next sections of the HSR from Warsaw to Wrocław,” Filip Czernicki, the CEO of CPK said. According to its statement, these days several contracts for design and preparatory works will be signed and further tenders for the execution of design works will be announced.
Other examples of delays include terminal designs and even the location decision for the airport in Baranów – it was supposed to be issued in July last year but was poorly prepared. But these are not the only delays. Terminal and airport projects were also delayed by 7-8 months at the end of last year, the Ministry of Infrastructure explained.
“We want to build a project that is rational both in financial terms and optimal from the point of view of Polish and international transport, but above all from the point of view of the needs of the Polish economy and entrepreneurs. We will design and build in such a way that there is the greatest possible benefit from every zloty spent,” the Minister of Infrastructure, Dariusz Klimczak, said.
The expansion and modernisation of the regional airports, including the Modlin airport where works include the completion of the road investment and the inclusion of a section of the expressway S7. A railway will also be built between the Central Station in Warsaw and Modlin.
The new concept also takes into account the future of Warsaw Chopin Airport. It will be modernised to improve passenger traffic.
Share on:
