PKP Polskie Linie Kolejowe and a consortium of Mosty Katowice and Arcadis signed a contract for the design and construction of a new line between Bytom, Zabrze and Ruda Śląska implemented under the regional rail programme Kolej Plus in Silesian Voivodeship. The tender was announced in January 2023.
The project includes the construction of two railway connections, enabling the trains to run from Bytom via Ruda Orzegów to Ruda Śląska and Zabrze, and the modernisation of the line between Zabrze Biskupice and Ruda Chebzie (No. 189). Access to railway services will increase due to the construction of new stops in Ruda Orzegów and in Bytom.
The project covers the construction of a new 11 km line which include the new districts of Bytom and Ruda Śląska into the rail passenger transport system as well as to enable the launch of new connections in the agglomeration.
The design activities will be carried out from 2023 to 2026 when the works will be launched. They are expected to be completed in 2029.
PLN 270 million (EUR 60.5 million) is the value of the entire project covering the design and construction works.
The project will improve rail connections to Katowice. Travelling by train from Bytom to Ruda Chebzie will take 10 minutes and from Ruda Orzegowa to Katowice 15 minutes.
The Kolej Plus in Silesian Voivodeship includes eight projects with an estimated investment of PLN 2 billion (EUR 448 million).
The Polish rail infrastructure manager expects to soon sign the contracts for design and construction works for two projects in the Voivodeship. The first one covers the revitalization of a 15 km line connecting the Tychy agglomeration with two stations in Katowice along line No. 142. The other project involves the reconstruction and development of a 35 km rail connection from Jastrzębie-Zdrój and Katowice.
Tender procedures are also being conducted for two other projects. The authorities are preparing the project for the construction of a 20 km double track electrified section and additional stops on the line No. 140 between Katowice Ligota station and Orzesze Jaśkowice. This project will increase the transport capacity Katowice and Rybnik, Racibórz near the border with the Czech Republic. Three new stops will be constructed in Mikołów, a town situated 15 km south-west of Katowice. PLN 460 million (EUR 103 million) is the value of the contract. The action has been submitted by the City of Mikołów under the “Increasing the capacity along the line No. 140 on the section Katowice Ligota – Orzesze Jaśkowice” project.
The other tendered project includes the reconstruction of a 3 km section on the line No. 198 between Pyskowice and Pyskowice Miasto to restore the connection from Pyskowice to Katowice and Gliwice.
In July, two tenders have been also announced for the design and construction works. One includes the preparation of an alternative agglomeration connections from Gliwice to Katowice via Ruda Kochłowice (on line No. 141) and on the Gliwice – Ruda Kochłowice, Ruda Kochłowice – Hajduki and Hajduki – Gottwald sections. This project will revitalise a 18 km rail connection between these towns. The second tender covers the construction of a 10 km rail section on line No. 162 between Dąbrowa Górnicza, Strzemieszyce district and Katowice and the reconstruction of a section at Dąbrowa Górnicza station including the construction of a new passenger stop to provide additional access and capacity to rail services.
In addition, the revitalisation of a rail section between Skoczów (75 km south of Katowice) and Bielsko-Biała (65 km south of Katowice) on line No. 190 has been qualified to the basic list in the Kolej Plus programme as a necessary project to provide connection to the Cieszyn, at the border with the Czech Republic. The towns of Skoczów and Bielsko-Biała are located at a distance of 27 km from each other and will have a further to the Czech Republic through Cieszyn. This project was put on the pending list of Kolej Plus programme and was submitted by the City of Bielsko-Biała. Currently, arrangements are being made between PKP Polskie Linie Kolejowe and local authorities to cooperate on the implementation of the project.
In December 2022 the polish railway company signed six agreements with the municipalities to implement six projects related to Kolej Plus in Silesian Voivodeship.
Kolej Plus is an ambitious programme to provide better access to railway passenger transport services by carrying out 34 projects in different towns exceeding 10,000 inhabitants. The projects involve the construction of new lines, the reconstruction of the existing sections and revitalization of the closed connection, as well as the construction of new railway lines and stops to increase the attractiveness of the rail transport and shift road transport towards railways. This programme has been especially designed for towns who do not have rail services as part of the government’s plans to reduce the exclusion of small towns from railway system.
The entire programme is expected to be completed in 2029 under a PLN 13.3 billion (EUR 3 billion) investment, with PLN 11.2 billion (EUR 2.5 billion) covered by the state budget while the local or regional authorities will provide PLN 2 billion (EUR 448 million).
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