PKP modernisation comes with delays

Image: PKP Intercity

Railway infrastructure operator PKP PLK has said that before the end of this year, it will complete one of its major investment projects, the modernisation of the Warsaw-Gdynia railway line. Thanks to infrastructure upgrade, the journey by train from the capital to the Tricity will be shortened to three hours.

PKP PLK is spending some 8.8 billion zloty (around 2.2 billion euro) on the modernisation of 330 kilometres of tracks on the route, the Polish Press Agency reports.

Apart from replacing tracks, the company also plans to install the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS), which will shorten the journey even more. In 2015, travelling from Warsaw to Gdansk will only take two hours and 37 minutes, claims Maciej Dutkiewicz, PKP PLK’s press spokesman.

Trains will be able to travel at a speed of 160 km/h and later at even up to 200 km/h, Dutkiewicz said. The ERTMS will also contribute to improving the safety of railway travel.

Not so fast?

While state-owned railway group PKP, the parent company of PKP PLK, may be boasting the modernisation works, it is still having problems with one of its most talked-about projects, the high-speed Pendolino train.

As Dziennik Gazeta Prawna reports, PKP has issued an internal report stating that Pendolino trains will not be able to carry passengers this year yet, contrary to what had been previously announced.

One of the reasons for the delays quoted in the document is the state of modernisation on the Warsaw-Gdynia line. While the majority of works will be completed this year, some track segments will still not be adjusted for the high-speed trainsets.

Even when that work will be completed, the Pendolino will not be able to travel at its full speed until the modernised traffic management system is installed. (kw/jb)