Poland’s Ministry of Infrastructure has announced that PLN 10.7 billion (EUR 2.5 billion) provided through the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (KPO) will be invested for the modernisation of railway lines across the country. This represents 59% of the KPO funds available for railway investments.
“We want to invest money precisely in the modernisation of railway lines. The funds from the KPO will be allocated to improving train travel times by increasing the capacity of the lines, their better parameters and eliminating bottlenecks. Our goal is to achieve quick effects in the shortest possible time,” the Deputy Minister of Infrastructure, Piotr Malepszak, said.
With this investment, PKP Polskie Linie Kolejowe (PKP PLK) will modernise 800 km of lines on its rail network.
“The possibility of building more modern infrastructure that will shorten travel times and improve the quality of rail travel in Poland is the result of the hard work of Deputy Minister Piotr Malepszak and the Ministry of Infrastructure to make investments exactly as they should be,” the Deputy Minister of Funds and Regional Policy, Jan Szyszko, said.
As part of the KPO, approximately 40 projects concerning railway lines have been planned, including, among others, the modernisation of line No. 104 Chabówka – Nowy Sącz, on the Chabówka – Rabka Zaryte – Mszana Dolna section and Limanowa – Klęczany – Nowy Sącz section worth PLN 4 billion (EUR 958.2 million). This is part of the implementation of the Podłęże – Piekiełko railway project, which is key for Małopolska region (Lesser Poland Voivodeship).
Railway investments in Poland are financed not only from the KPO, but also from programmes such as the European Funds for Infrastructure, Climate, Environment, the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), the European Funds for Eastern Poland Programme and Regional Programmes. A total of approximately PLN 33 billion (EUR 8 billion) from EU funds in 2021-2027 will allow for the further development of railway infrastructure, the purchase of modern trains and the implementation of digital traffic control systems.
Modernisation of line No. 104 aims at creating alternative rail lines on the north-south axis of Europe for rail freight transport. These new lines and sections constitute the missing element of the route of the combined transport corridor and accompanying facilities C 30/1 covered by the international AGTC agreement, by adding Kraków – Tymbark section (to the C-30/1 combined transport corridor). The project will also expand the capacity of freight traffic between Visegrad Group countries. The line is also a part of the TEN-T covering in its scope as complementary lines of the European transport corridors of the core network. In addition, the modernised railway 75 km Chabówka – Nowy Sącz, the designed railway line No. 622 sub-section Podłęże– Tymbark and railway line No. 623 sub-section Fornale – Szczyrzyc constitute a fragment of a ‘spoke’ of the rail component related to accessibility of the Centralny Port Komunikacyjny (CPK).
Thanks to the Podłęże – Piekiełko rail project which includes the above-mentioned rail sections, in combination with the implementation by PKP PLK of other tasks covered by the National Rail Programme, it will be possible to travel from the centre of Krakow to Zakopane in almost 100 minutes, and to Nowy Sącz in about an hour. The line will also be used for long-distance traffic, which is particularly important in the context of tourist traffic.
The modernisation of the existing line no. 104 and the construction of new railway lines will be implemented in two main stages.
The first one involves the modernisation of two sections on the line No. 104 Chabówka – Nowy Sącz and upgrade work at stations for which a financial agreement was signed with the Center for EU Transport Projects in April 2023 for co-financing the entire project from the funds of the National Reconstruction Plan for the amount of over PLN 3.9 billion (EUR 934 million). The project is expected to be completed in 2026.
The second stage covers the construction of a new line (Podłęże – Szczyrzyc – Tymbark/Mszana Dolna) and the modernisation of the existing line No. 4 (Chabówka – Nowy Sącz). The project also includes the construction of Podłęże – Tymbark, Fornale – Szczyrzyc, Podłęże– Podłęże Balachówka and Porabka – Stróża sections. This project is part of the National Rail Programme until 2030 and is planned for implementation from 2025 until 2029. It is estimated at PLN 7.8 billion (EUR 1.87 billion).
Recently, PKP PLK has launched a tender for the construction of a new railway line between Podłęż and Gdów, part of Podłęże – Piekiełko rail project, which will provide connection to the Lesser Poland Voivodeship.
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