Railway electrification in Poland

[2] In 1914 at Lower Silesia electrifying and opening the railway line from Szczawienka to the Czech Meziměstí on 15 kV AC system.

In the following years, the number of electrified railway lines in Lower Silesia grew, thanks to which it was possible to run electric trains from Wrocław via Wałbrzych, Jelenia Góra to Węgliniec as well as Zgorzelec and Leśna.

At the request of the Ministry, 17 offers were received, the comparison of which confirmed the advisability of electrification of the rail with 3 kV direct current, but the proposed credit terms were unacceptable.

Due to the terrible condition of the economy, especially the electrotechnical industry, it was impossible to undertake the production of rolling stock in the country.

At the beginning of 1946, preliminary talks were started with the ASEA concern regarding the conclusion of a loan agreement for large deliveries of electrotraction equipment for the Warsaw node.

The queue first passed to replace substations and missions, which prevent the operation of traffic to Warsaw East - Mińsk Mazowiecki.

Direct current with a voltage of 800 V was to be provided by traction substations, for which equipment was ordered in United Kingdom at the turn of 1947 and 1948.

In the years 1948–1951, the electrification of the lines on the Coast from Gdańsk to Sopot was carried out, on which the traction network was put into service in 1951–1952.

[8] The rolling stock operated on the line were electric multiple units of the EW90, EW91 and EW92 series, imported from the Berlin S-Bahn as part of war reparations.

It is worth adding that during its construction, a practically large team of specialists was educated for the electrification of subsequent railway routes.

The following set of lines were among those electrified and commissioned: The necessity to improve and increase the railway transport capacity on the Upper Silesia - Wrocław communication route formed the basis of government decisions regarding the modernization and electrification of the Gliwice - Pyskowice – Opole – Wrocław railway line.

The next important electrified route was the Śląsk - Lublin main railway line with connections towards Kraków (Batowice - Tunel section) and Warsaw (from Radom to Czachówek and from Dęblin to Pilawa), electrified in stages and launched on the following dates: Launching the supplementary sections, forming the shortest connection, was as follows: By the resolution of the Council of Ministers of February 21, 1963, the electrification of the Coal Main was officially started.

Zduńska Wola - Sieradz section (17 km) - 30.IX.1975 This way an electrified communication route from Warsaw through Łódź Kaliska, Ostrów Wlkp., Pleśnica to Wrocław was created.

A direct electric traction connection was made between the economic regions of Wrocław, Wałbrzych and Jelenia Góra with Warsaw.

If the construction of slip roads designed in the areas of Sucha and Chabówka stations (change of the train's head) had not been abandoned, the improvement of traffic would have been even greater.

On December 31, 1974, electric trains began to operate along the entire length of the Tarnowskie Góry - Kalety - Kluczbork - Ostrów Wlkp.

The work included: 86, On December 21, 1985, the electrification of the Wrocław - Legnica - Bolesławiec - Węgliniec route, 123 km long, was completed.

In 2017, the modernization and completion of the unfinished electrification of the line 68 from Lublin Zemborzyce to Stalowa Wola Rozwadów, where the traction network was put into service on December 13, 2020, began.

In July 1957, at the request of the Ministry of Communication, the Railway Electrification Design Office carried out a study analyzing the possibilities and desirability of using single-phase alternating current electric traction with an industrial frequency of 50 Hz on PKP.

In 1959, PKP also tried to convince the Ministry of Communications to electrify the Coal Main to 25 kV 50 Hz alternating current, but the idea was also rejected.

[29] Eleven offers were submitted to the tender,[30] from which, a year later, Torpol's offer worth 681.3 million Polish Złoty was selected as the most advantageous one to carry out the works;[31] however, the offer was soon invalidated, and the Spanish-Chinese consortium of Aldesa Construcciones Polska, Aldesa Construcciones, Coalvi and China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation was selected to carry out the work, with which the contract was signed on December 7, 2021, which also resulted in a delay in the date of the originally planned start of works.

[32] The works started on March 13, 2022, which resulted in the introduction of replacement bus transport on this section and the redirection of long-distance trains to other routes.

[33] In January 2023, the European Commission awarded a subsidy of 145 million Euro from the Cohesion Fund to finance works on the Ełk – Giżycko section.

[40] and on March 8, 2024, an agreement was signed with the Polish-Turkish consortium Budimex S.A./Gülermak Ağir Sanayi Inşaat ve Taahhüt A.Ş./Gülermak Sp.

[42] 2 January 2023 a tender was announced for the electrification of the Kępno – Oleśnica section of line 181[43] and on March 8, 2024, a contract for the implementation of works was signed.

On November 9, 2018, PKP PLK signed an agreement with MGGP to prepare design documentation for the reconstruction and electrification of the line on the Maksymilianowo – Kościerzyna section.

[47] DSDiK also plans to electrify the railway line 326 Wrocław Psie Pole – Trzebnica along with the construction of an additional passing loop,[48] but currently no tender for the work has been announced.

As part of the government's Kolej + program, it is planned to electrify line 24 with the restoration of passenger traffic from Piotrków Trybunalski to Bełchatów.

[50] On 16 December 2022 PKP PLK signed with Marshal's Office of the Łódź Voivodeship contract for the performance of works modernization and electrification on line 24 worth 662 mln zł.

The self-government of the Lower Silesian Voivodship also postulates the electrification of the railway line 372 from Bojanów to Góra, where passenger traffic is planned to be restored.