{"id":165147,"date":"2025-01-08T18:57:54","date_gmt":"2025-01-08T08:57:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.railfreight.com\/?p=58909"},"modified":"2025-01-08T18:57:54","modified_gmt":"2025-01-08T08:57:54","slug":"poland-launches-largest-ever-tender-for-rail-baltica-but-bars-non-western-bids","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=165147","title":{"rendered":"Poland launches largest ever tender for Rail Baltica, but bars non-Western bids"},"content":{"rendered":"

Polish State Railways has launched its biggest ever tender, worth some 1.411 billion euros, for the modernisation of part of an international rail corridor that will connect\u00a0 Poland to the Baltic states. Set to be a key section of the Rail Baltica project, PKP PLK has also specified that the bid will only be open to companies from what are essentially Western or Western-backed countries. But why so cautious?<\/strong>
\n<\/span>Last week, Poland\u2019s national rail company PKP PLK announced a massive tender for upgrades to its line from Bia\u0142ystok, a major city near the eastern border with Belarus, to E\u0142k, a northern town situated in the Masurian Lake District. The 100 km of track forms part of the strategic north-south Rail Baltica corridor linking Poland with the Baltic states and further into Europe.<\/p>\n

The reconstruction work specifies that the line should be upgraded to make it possible for trains to get from Bia\u0142ystok to E\u0142k in 55 minutes, travelling at a speed of up to 200 km\/h, with construction works planned from 2029.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe reconstruction of the Bia\u0142ystok \u2013 E\u0142k line is an investment that the inhabitants of the region have been waiting for for years,\u201d said Poland\u2019s Minister of Infrastructure Dariusz Klimczak on announcing the bid from Bia\u0142ystok. \u201cShorter travel times, better travel comfort and greater safety are specific benefits that will change the daily lives of travellers,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Poland keeping it in the Western fold<\/h2>\n

Piotr Wyborski, President of the Management Board of PKP Polskie Linie Kolejowe SA, added that the tender would also be exceptional for another reason: \u201cFor the first time, contractors based outside the EU, EEA and entities from countries that are not covered by the WTO government procurement agreement will be excluded from the procedure. This is our decision and reaction to the recently announced judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU).\u201d<\/p>\n

The judgment that Wyborski is referring to comes from October 2024, when the EU court ruled that companies from countries that don\u2019t have agreements with the EU to allow fair access to each other\u2019s public contracts can\u2019t use EU laws to demand equal treatment when bidding for projects in the bloc. That means countries that are eligible include all EU nations; non-EU EEA members such as Norway and Iceland; and WTO GPA countries like the US, UK, Japan, Canada, and Australia. Therefore, it\u2019s partly an economic move.<\/p>\n

A NATO side project<\/h2>\n

However, as the EU has been increasingly vocal about reducing reliance on external powers for critical infrastructure, particularly amid growing tensions with countries like Russia and China, there\u2019s a strong geopolitical angle here. Indeed, the Rail Baltica project is not only a major civilian infrastructure development; it\u2019s also expressly part of the EU’s strategy to boost its military mobility in Europe.<\/p>\n

As the CEO of Lithuania\u2019s LTG Group, Egidijus Lazauskas, said earlier this year: \u201cRail Baltica is fundamental for faster military mobility and for the overall security of the region. We estimate that the number of NATO military trains arriving in Lithuania has increased every year since 2019, with a 40 per cent increase in 2023. The need for the infrastructure is high and mutual.\u201d<\/p>\n

To give an idea of how non-Western companies are being increasingly kept out of the European rail loop, a Turkish association of companies that back\u00a0in 2023 offered to build the Rail Baltica route were excluded from the procurement on the recommendation of Latvia\u2019s State Security Service. This is despite T\u00fcrkiye being a NATO-member state (it still has big military contracts with Russia) and the consortium offering a cheaper price than competitors.<\/p>\n

What is Poland demanding from the tender?<\/h2>\n

As for the specifics of Poland\u2019s new tender, the planned works include 100 km of railway line, with a total of 8 stations and 10 stops. A second track will be built along the entire length of the line to boost capacity, while PKP PLK specifies that the line will have to be decked out with European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS) Level 2.<\/p>\n

It adds that technical stations will need to be built in the region of Podlasie and the village of Lipi\u0144skie Ma\u0142e. After the works are completed, the company says the supervision of the route to E\u0142k will be taken over by the Local Railway Traffic Control Centre in Bia\u0142ystok as part of the digital upgrade.<\/p>\n