PKP Intercity has launched a tender for the purchase of 46 new single-system electric locomotives for domestic rail routes. The winner of the tender should deliver the entire locomotive fleet no later than 26 months from the date of concluding the contract, and the new vehicles will enter commercial services in 2025. In addition, the maintenance in the first cycle (up to the first repair at the fourth maintenance level P4 inclusive) will be provided by the vehicle manufacturer with the participation of the carrier’s employees.
The new locomotives should be adapted to the speed of 160 km/h and must be equipped with the ETCS level 2 safety system.
“Investments in modern locomotives are necessary to achieve our goal to provide fast, punctual and sustainable transport services. The new locomotives will allow for the launch of further connections, also to cities that had no connection to the rail services in the past. The fight against transport exclusion is a mission that we will constantly pursue,” Jarosław Oniszczuk, Member of the Management Board of PKP Intercity said.
In addition, PKP Intercity has announced at the end of July a tender for the modernisation of 50 type 112A cars to the Combo coaches. After the contract is completed, the carriages will be fully adapted to the needs of passengers with disabilities, parents travelling with children and cyclists. In its fleet, the national carrier already has 60 similar vehicles that have received the prestigious “Transport without barriers” certificate.
The subject of the order is the performance of a periodic repair at the fifth maintenance level (P5) along with the modernisation of the 50 112A type coaches to the increased standard of the Combo coach fleet. The modernised carriages should be delivered in 18 months after contract signing. In addition, the selected contractor will carry out technical inspections of the carriages at the third maintenance level at a later date.
Combo coaches are multifunctional of a higher standard, which will be characterised by separate spaces for families and people with disabilities. In the latter there will be a special compartment for two people from this group of passengers and two carers. The compartment will have four full-size seats, including two that can accommodate wheelchairs when the seat is folded down. These places will have three-point seat belts, SOS buttons, a panel for individual lighting and temperature control and individual tables. The ramp will allow wheelchair users to safely enter the wagon. The vehicles will have automatic compartment doors, without a threshold, to facilitate movement. All on board information will be translated in Braille. The carriages will also be equipped with contrasting entrance and passage doors, door handles, handrails and buttons, placed at a height suitable for wheelchair users. The toilet will be also adapted to the needs of people in wheelchairs.
The Combo vehicles will be also adapted to families with small children. They will have two separate compartments for carers with a child, friendly for the youngest as the walls and floor covering will be decorated with graphics attractive for children. The seats of the chairs will connect to each other, thanks to which they will form one plane that can be useful. When the seat cushions are raised, the floor of the compartment can turn into a playground. The compartments will have power sockets and USB sockets, and the toilet will be equipped with a changing table for children.
The vehicles will also have a non-compartmental area. In one of the vestibules there will be places adapted to transport bicycles and space for vending machines. A comfortable journey around Poland will be ensured by air conditioning, wireless Internet access, sliding doors and a passenger information system. The modernised vehicles will run in trains at speeds of up to 160 km/h.
The procurement of the new single-system electric locomotives as well as the modernisation of the Combo carriages are projects part of PKP Intercity’s rolling stock investment strategy under which the entire fleet will be new and modernised by 2030.
The Polish rail operator has signed many contracts for new and modernised vehicles to implement its strategy and other are ongoing. In October 2022, the company and Pesa Bydgoszcz signed a contract for the delivery of 16 new diesel-electric locomotives with a maximum speed of 160 km/h in electric traction and 120 km/h in diesel traction. PLN 554.6 million (EUR 124.4 million) is the value of the contract.
In March 2023, a contract was concluded with Newag for the purchase of 20 Griffin electric locomotives and in June the operator exercised its option and ordered 5 more locomotives in addition to the ordered 10 new multi-system electric locomotives in October 2021. The value of the order with Newag increased from PLN 258.6 million (EUR 58 million) to nearly PLN 388 million (EUR 87 million).
In August 2023, the Polish long-distance operator relaunched a tender to acquire 38 seven-car double-deck trains and 45 multi-system locomotives.
The company is also under procurement procedure for the purchase of 300 new long-distance carriages which also includes an option for 150 more such vehicles.
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