Construction of the High-Speed Rail tunnel in Łódź has reached a major milestone with the delivery of the first components of a Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM), which is set to begin operating from its launching chamber in Retkinia during the first quarter of 2027.
Delivered as part of the Port Polska investment programme, the High-Speed Rail tunnel forms a key element of what will become railway line No. 85 – the high-speed “Y” corridor – which will connect Warsaw and the new airport with Łódź, before continuing to Wrocław and Poznań.
Each component lowered into the chamber sits at approximately 19 metres in length, and weighs around 215 tonnes. They are being lowered around 45 metres underground via the use of a 450-tonne gantry crane, with each section set to house the TBM’s power supply, control, hydraulic and transport systems, which operate behind the cutting head as the machine advances underground.
With the TBM currently scheduled to begin tunnelling in Q1 2027; excavation is expected to be completed in 2028, when the machine reaches the already completed reception chamber at Łódź Fabryczna. Fit-out works and safety testing are set to continue until 2029, when the project is scheduled for final acceptance.
The long-distance rail beneath Łódź will have a diameter of roughly 14 metres, and stretch for around 4.6km – making it the longest and widest railway tunnel excavated in a single section in Poland. It will be capable of accommodating two tracks, allowing two trains to operate at speeds of up to 160km/h simultaneously.
Once completed, trains running on the “Y” corridor will operate at speeds of up to 350km/h, allowing for significantly shorter journey times than those currently available. Travel from Warsaw to the new airport will take around 15 minutes, whilst journeys between Warsaw and Łódź will take approximately 40 minutes.
The fastest available services at time of launch will also include the route from Warsaw to Wrocław and Poznań, which will take 1 hour 36 minutes and 1 hour 38 minutes respectively.
In line with the current schedule, the section of the “Y” corridor between Warsaw and Łódź is due to open in 2032, alongside the new airport. The remaining sections – from Łódź to Wrocław and from Sieradz to Poznań – are expected to enter service by the end of 2035.
