CPK signs agreement on EU funding for the design of the new railway line between Warsaw and Łódź
Representatives of the Ministry of Funds and Regional Policy (MFiPR), the Centre for EU Transport Projects (CEUTP) and Centralny Port Komunikacyjny have signed an agreement concerning €64 million (PLN 300 million) for funding from the EU's Connecting Europe Facility (CEF). The grant is to be used by CPK to develop the construction project for the strategic High Speed Rail line between Warsaw and Łódź.
The signed agreement will enable the financing of the full project documentation (including the construction project) and the documents needed to obtain water permits and a location decision for the 140-kilometre High Speed Rail (HSR) section: Warsaw – CPK – Łódź.
The value of the project was estimated at almost €75 million (PLN 350 million), of which up to 85% is to be financed by the EU. The Warsaw – Lodz – Poznan/Wroclaw railway line is part of the so-called “Y” railway line, which is part of the EU’s TEN-T North Sea – Baltic Sea European Transport Corridor.
EU funding for the design of the line between Warsaw and Lodz is very good news for rail passengers in Poland. The European Commission has once again recognised the strategic importance of CPK’s rail projects. The planned HSR line will enable the integration of the CPK airport into the high-speed rail network, and is therefore a priority investment for us
CPK is pursuing European transport objectives while the EU is supporting the construction of the CPK transport infrastructure. The new line between Warsaw and Lodz is a key section of the new transport system we are implementing. Firstly, it will provide comfortable access to the CPK airport. Secondly, as part of the ‘Y’ line, it will connect Warsaw, Lodz, Wroclaw and Poznan, as well as numerous important urban centres along the way. It is satisfying that our projects can count on the stable support of the European Commission
‘Funding for CPK was granted through the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA) under the second call for Connecting Europe Facility 2 (CEF 2). This is the first agreement between CINEA and CPK for support under the 2021-2027 financial perspective,’ says Jarosław Orliński, Director of the Department of Infrastructure Programmes at MFiPR.
Funding of over PLN 300 million for the development of the project for the construction of the High-Speed Railway line is another step towards the development of the TEN-T North Sea-Baltic Sea corridor and the construction of a consistent and sustainable transport network in Poland. I am glad that the support of beneficiaries by CUPT translates into investments on such a large scale
The Warsaw – CPK – Lodz line is currently undergoing advanced design work. The documentation for the Warsaw – CPK section has been under preparation since November of last year by a consortium of Metroprojekt and Sud Architekt Polska. The design of the next section of the line from the CPK airport to Lodz has been entrusted by CPK to a consortium of Egis Poland, Egis Rail and Jaf-Geotechnika. According to the schedule, the design should be completed by the end of the first quarter of next year.
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Thanks to this investment, the travel time by rail between Warsaw and Lodz will be reduced to about 45 minutes from today’s 90 minutes. Passengers will be able to reach the CPK airport from Warsaw in about 15 minutes and from Lodz in about 30 minutes. The section subsidized by the EU is part of line no. 85, CPK’s ‘spoke’ no. 9, which will connect Warsaw and Lodz with Wroclaw and Poznan. In the first stage, trains running along this route will be able to reach speeds of up to 250 km/h (the operating speed), and ultimately up to 350 km/h (the design speed). This is not the first grant from Brussels for the CPK railway project. In 2021, CPK secured around PLN 110 million under the same EU CEF instrument for the construction project for the CPK long-distance tunnel in Łódź and for the feasibility studies related to the section: Warsaw – Łódź – Sieradz – Poznań. |
