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 4 designated lines radiating out from Warsaw.
[3] Till 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).
[4] 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.
EIP services from Warsaw to Wrocław run via the CMK trunk line, Częstochowa and Opole, taking 3 h 42 min against up to 6 h for the previous route via Poznań.
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.
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.
In 2019, then-Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki announced detailed plans 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.
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.
[15] 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.
[18] The total cost of the line including construction and train sets was estimated at €6.9 billion and was planned to be partially financed by EU subsidies.
[24][25] In early February 2022, upon returning from a visit to Poland, Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov, his deputy Mustafa Nayyem and Ukrzaliznytsia CEO Oleksandr Kamyshin announced that Poland and Ukraine had agreed that a high-speed rail link would be built between Warsaw and Kyiv through Yahodyn railway station [uk; pl],[26] reducing travel times by four hours.
[26] The Central Rail Line (CMK) Warsaw - Kraków/Katowice was originally built in 1977 to geometry appropriate for speeds up to 250 km/h, and only requires suitable signalling equipment to be fitted and some amount of modernisation works.
[29] Reconstruction work has started on the Warsaw-Gdynia (Sopot and Gdańsk) line to allow speeds up to 200 km/h for tilting trains.
However, certification for international operation is not seen as a priority, as the trains are restricted to domestic services for an initial 10 years under the terms of a grant from the EU Cohesion Fund which covered 22% of the project cost.
The company is using its TrainTracer health monitoring and diagnostics systems to manage the fleet, ensuring that sufficient trainsets are available for the operator.
