Centralny Port Komunikacyjny (CPK) has selected several consortiums to design Poland’s first high-speed railway line.
The 140-kilometre railway line will be designed in three phases. The first phase concerns the section from Warsaw to the CPK Airport transport hub, while the second will extend the line up to the city of Łódź. The third phase will then develop GSM-R radio communication along the entire route.
The first phase will be carried out by a consortium comprised of Biuro Projektów and Sud Architekt Polska, which also worked with CPK on the design of the high-speed railway tunnel in Łódź.
Meanwhile, a consortium of Egis Poland, Egis Rail and Jaf-Geotechnika will be responsible for the second part of the project.
Finally, Biuro Projektów Komunikacyjnych in Poznań, along with Biuro Projektów Kolejowych i Usług Inwestycyjnych and FONON will design the GSM-R network.
The total value of these three tasks is more than 300 million PLN (64 million EUR).
“We are entering the next phase of work. The scope includes preparation of pre-design and design documentation, with technical support and obtaining administrative decisions, including construction plan, construction permit, water permits, location decision and opinions on property values. Contractors have 17 months to implement the work, and in the case of radio network design, 3 months from the signing of the contracts.”
Initially, trains will operate on the new railway section between Warsaw and Łódź at speeds of up to 250 kilometres per hour, with a target of eventually reaching 350 kilometres per hour.
This project will reduce travel times between Warsaw and Łódź to around 45 minutes, compared to the current 90 minutes.
It will also enable travellers to reach the CPK airport from Warsaw in around 15 minutes and in around 30 minutes from Łódź.
An additional section is also planned to be built from Łódź to Wrocław and Poznań, which will enable passengers to travel from Poznań to Warsaw in less than 2 hours.
Preparatory construction work is scheduled to start at the end of 2023 and substantial construction work on the Warsaw–Łódź section will start in 2024.
