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High-speed rail in Poland
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High-speed rail in Poland
High-speed rail service (Polish: Kolej dużych prędkości) commenced in Poland on 14 December 2014, with the introduction of 20 non-tilting New Pendolino trainsets operating on four designated lines radiating out from Warsaw. Polish State Railways started passenger service using Pendolino trains operating at a maximum speed of 200 km/h on 80 km line Olszamowice-Zawiercie (part of railway line called CMK, from Warsaw to Katowice/Kraków). From December 2017 there are two 200 km/h sections, 136 km long in total and from December 2020, speed 200 km/h was introduced on 45% of the Warsaw–Gdańsk railway.
Until 14 December 2024 all high-speed services operated by PKP in Poland were branded as Express Intercity Premium (EIP). From 15 December 2024, Polish State Railways introduced also locomotive-hauled trains reaching the top speed of 200 km/h, branded as Express InterCity (EIC).
PKP Intercity was initially using only nine sets a day to operate 23 EIP services from Warsaw to Gdynia, Kraków, Katowice, and Wrocław. Today most of the 20 units operate on the core Kraków - Warsaw - Gdańsk - Gdynia route, running hourly at peak times and every 2 h off-peak. The Gliwice/Bielsko-Biała - Katowice - Warsaw - Gdańsk - Gdynia route is operated five times a day. There are two Pendolinos each way per day on the Wrocław route. Headline journey times are 2 h 58 min from Warsaw to Gdańsk, 2 h 28 min to Kraków and 2 h 34 min to Katowice. EIP services from Warsaw to Wrocław run via the CMK line, Częstochowa and Opole, taking 3 h 42 min against up to 6 h for the previous route via Poznań.
In addition to the Central Rail Line from Warsaw to Kraków and Katowice, and from Warsaw to Wrocław, the Pendolinos also operate on the 350 km (220 mi) Warsaw–Gdańsk railway. In 2011-2015 the Warsaw-Gdańsk-Gdynia route was undergoing a major upgrading costing $3 billion, partly funded by the European Investment Bank, including track replacement, realignment of curves and relocation of sections of track to allow speeds up to 200 km/h (124 mph), modernization of stations, and installation of European Train Control System Level 2, which is to be completed in June 2015. When Pendolino services started on 14 December 2014 the previous Warsaw-Gdańsk rail travel time of 4+1⁄2 to 6 hours was reduced to 2 hours 58 minutes by Pendolino, and will be reduced further to 2 hours 40 minutes when upgrading is completed.
Several sections of the Central Rail Line currently permit speeds of 200 km/h (with a current speed record in Poland of 293 km/h) however only 160 km/h was used in commercial service. Polish Railways planned to buy Pendolino trains in 1998 but the contract was cancelled in the following year by the Supreme Audit Office due to financial losses by Polish Railways.
Historically, there have been many proposals and plans put in place by several Polish governments and/or interest groups seeking to introduce high-speed rail to Poland. As of December 2009, Poland had 700-800 km of railways suited for rail transport reaching 160 km/h.
In 2019, detailed plans were announced for Centralny Port Komunikacyjny (CPK), a megaproject with two main components: a new international airport between Warsaw and Łódź and a new nationwide high-speed railway network. This network will consist of ten major corridors radiating from the airport towards all regions of Poland, with approximately 2000 km of new high-speed-rail lines and 3700 km of modernized railway lines. The new lines will be designed for speeds of up to 350 km/h, with operational speeds of up to 250 km/h. The aim of the project is to provide fast connections between the largest urban areas in Poland and neighboring countries, with the railway station at the new CPK Airport serving as the central transport hub. Most major Polish cities (apart from Szczecin) will have a travel time to the airport of 2.5 hours or less. Connections will be extended to cities which were not collected by railway before the CPK program, such as Jastrzębie-Zdrój and Tomaszów Lubelski.
The CPK program will include international connections to the planned high-speed rail network in the Czech Republic (Katowice - Ostrava and Wałbrzych - Hradec Králové) and to Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia via Rail Baltica (Suwałki - Kaunas). This will enable travel time reductions such as Warsaw to Prague from 510 to 270 minutes and Warsaw to Kaunas from 480 to 210 minutes. The connection between Katowice and Ostrava will benefit from joint investments from the countries of the Visegrad group with the aim to link Warsaw, Brno, Bratislava and Budapest by high-speed rail.
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High-speed rail in Poland
High-speed rail service (Polish: Kolej dużych prędkości) commenced in Poland on 14 December 2014, with the introduction of 20 non-tilting New Pendolino trainsets operating on four designated lines radiating out from Warsaw. Polish State Railways started passenger service using Pendolino trains operating at a maximum speed of 200 km/h on 80 km line Olszamowice-Zawiercie (part of railway line called CMK, from Warsaw to Katowice/Kraków). From December 2017 there are two 200 km/h sections, 136 km long in total and from December 2020, speed 200 km/h was introduced on 45% of the Warsaw–Gdańsk railway.
Until 14 December 2024 all high-speed services operated by PKP in Poland were branded as Express Intercity Premium (EIP). From 15 December 2024, Polish State Railways introduced also locomotive-hauled trains reaching the top speed of 200 km/h, branded as Express InterCity (EIC).
PKP Intercity was initially using only nine sets a day to operate 23 EIP services from Warsaw to Gdynia, Kraków, Katowice, and Wrocław. Today most of the 20 units operate on the core Kraków - Warsaw - Gdańsk - Gdynia route, running hourly at peak times and every 2 h off-peak. The Gliwice/Bielsko-Biała - Katowice - Warsaw - Gdańsk - Gdynia route is operated five times a day. There are two Pendolinos each way per day on the Wrocław route. Headline journey times are 2 h 58 min from Warsaw to Gdańsk, 2 h 28 min to Kraków and 2 h 34 min to Katowice. EIP services from Warsaw to Wrocław run via the CMK line, Częstochowa and Opole, taking 3 h 42 min against up to 6 h for the previous route via Poznań.
In addition to the Central Rail Line from Warsaw to Kraków and Katowice, and from Warsaw to Wrocław, the Pendolinos also operate on the 350 km (220 mi) Warsaw–Gdańsk railway. In 2011-2015 the Warsaw-Gdańsk-Gdynia route was undergoing a major upgrading costing $3 billion, partly funded by the European Investment Bank, including track replacement, realignment of curves and relocation of sections of track to allow speeds up to 200 km/h (124 mph), modernization of stations, and installation of European Train Control System Level 2, which is to be completed in June 2015. When Pendolino services started on 14 December 2014 the previous Warsaw-Gdańsk rail travel time of 4+1⁄2 to 6 hours was reduced to 2 hours 58 minutes by Pendolino, and will be reduced further to 2 hours 40 minutes when upgrading is completed.
Several sections of the Central Rail Line currently permit speeds of 200 km/h (with a current speed record in Poland of 293 km/h) however only 160 km/h was used in commercial service. Polish Railways planned to buy Pendolino trains in 1998 but the contract was cancelled in the following year by the Supreme Audit Office due to financial losses by Polish Railways.
Historically, there have been many proposals and plans put in place by several Polish governments and/or interest groups seeking to introduce high-speed rail to Poland. As of December 2009, Poland had 700-800 km of railways suited for rail transport reaching 160 km/h.
In 2019, detailed plans were announced for Centralny Port Komunikacyjny (CPK), a megaproject with two main components: a new international airport between Warsaw and Łódź and a new nationwide high-speed railway network. This network will consist of ten major corridors radiating from the airport towards all regions of Poland, with approximately 2000 km of new high-speed-rail lines and 3700 km of modernized railway lines. The new lines will be designed for speeds of up to 350 km/h, with operational speeds of up to 250 km/h. The aim of the project is to provide fast connections between the largest urban areas in Poland and neighboring countries, with the railway station at the new CPK Airport serving as the central transport hub. Most major Polish cities (apart from Szczecin) will have a travel time to the airport of 2.5 hours or less. Connections will be extended to cities which were not collected by railway before the CPK program, such as Jastrzębie-Zdrój and Tomaszów Lubelski.
The CPK program will include international connections to the planned high-speed rail network in the Czech Republic (Katowice - Ostrava and Wałbrzych - Hradec Králové) and to Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia via Rail Baltica (Suwałki - Kaunas). This will enable travel time reductions such as Warsaw to Prague from 510 to 270 minutes and Warsaw to Kaunas from 480 to 210 minutes. The connection between Katowice and Ostrava will benefit from joint investments from the countries of the Visegrad group with the aim to link Warsaw, Brno, Bratislava and Budapest by high-speed rail.