First Polish-made Dart train ready to enter service

The twenty Dart electric multiple-units, ordered in 2014 and built by the Polish company PESA Bydgoszcz, are planned to operate on the routes Bielsko-Biała – Warsaw – Lublin and Jelenia Góra – Warsaw – Białystok.

“The first Dart train was received; we hope that we will be receiving more over the next few days,” commented Beata Czemerajda, spokesperson for PKP Intercity.

“The new trains will be included in the railway timetable gradually, i.e. over the next few months we will be introducing more trains. The whole process will last until spring next year,” she explained.

Czemerajda added that under the contract all trains must be delivered by the end of this year, which PESA believes is a feasible objective.

“Produced in a record time of just 13 months, we [PESA] have handed over the most technologically advanced train which has ever been built by a Polish manufacturer, and it is excellent evidence that it is worth producing your own,” commented Tomasz Zaboklicki, CEO of PESA Bydgoszcz.

PKP Intercity paid PLN 1.3 billion (EUR 0.3 billion) for the trains, which includes the cost of servicing them for 15 years. Almost half of the funding for the purchase came from the EU, though if the trains are not delivered by the end of this year then the subsidy will have to be returned.

Each Dart train is 153 meters long and has 352 seats, of which 60 are in first class. The trains are also equipped with air conditioning, WiFi access, spaces for bikes and a bar zone. (sl/rg/rk)

Source: PAP