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Green light for rail transport modernisation scheme in Poland

  • 23 December 2014

A major upgrade of passenger train rolling stock will help boost competitiveness of the Polish rail sector, increasing comfort and capacity, and improving inter-city connections and journey times.

Under this initiative, 150 passenger rail carriages will be upgraded. The trains, capable of carrying up to 7 589 passengers, will operate on the Przemyśl to Szczecin line. A further ten technical vehicles will be bought for use on long-distance rail services, five for shunting operations, and the rest for the maintenance and cleaning of carriages.

The Przemyśl – Szczecin route also links the cities of Rzeszów, Crakow, Katowice, Opole,  Wrocław and Poznań, and is therefore a key long-distance inter-city route through Poland. Indeed, it is one of the trans-European rail network transport corridors, part of the TEN-T programme,

Reducing inter-city journey times

The investment aims is to increase competitiveness in the rail sector, as well as improving the quality of services.

There will be a near four-hour reduction in travel time on the Przemyśl – Szczecin route, from 14 hours to just over ten and a half hours, and it is also expected to result in an annual average increase in passenger numbers.

When the upgrade is completed in September 2015, it is expected to produce annual time savings for passenger transport of some EUR 51 781 328.

Total investment and EU funding

Total investment for the "Renewal of rolling stock operated by PKP Intercity S.A. on the Przemyśl-Szczecin line – Phase II" project is EUR 100 314 045, of which the EU´s Cohesion Fund is contributing EUR 65 213 832 from the Operational Programme "Infrastructure and Environment" for the 2007 to 2013 programming period. Work falls under the priority axis "Environment-friendly transport”.