PKP PLK, the Polish rail infrastructure manager, has finished upgrading a total of 20 kilometres of rail that link up to the Gdańsk port. The sections of rail now have ERTMS level one, an upgrade that cost slightly over 4 million euros. It is not the first upgrade in the port in recent years.
The upgrade concerns the line between Pruszcz Gdański and Gdańsk Port Północny, a 17-kilometre section of rail. Additionally, three kilometres of rail between Gdańsk Południowy and Gdańsk Olszynka also received ERTMS level one, which is supposed to improve the safety and efficiency of rail traffic.
The railway in question facilitates freight transportation to the Gdańsk port, bypassing the city centre. It is not the first upgrade of the line in recent years – its capacity got a boost earlier and the maximum speed was increased to 100 kilometres per hour.
Over a billion Polish złoty
“At the time, the tracks and the traction network were replaced, and engineering structures were rebuilt or built. The single-track railway bridge over the Martwa Wisła was replaced by a new, double-track structure”, PKP PLK explains. Moreover, Poland improved the port’s infrastructure to allow for 750-metre trains with a 22,5-tonne axle load.
Earlier investments in port infrastructure amounted to 1,1 billion Polish złoty, equivalent to approximately 260 million euros. Around 40 per cent of the money came from the EU’s Connecting Europe Facility.