Piotr Malepszak, who until recently was the vice president of the CPK, decided that the planned 530 km of new lines could not be built by 2027.
Already in 2027, i.e. with the opening of the new airport, 530 km of routes were to be ready
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At the recent economic congresses in Katowice and Karpacz, Deputy Minister of Infrastructure Marcin Horała repeated that in three years the construction of a new airport and 530 km of new tracks, i.e. spokes leading to the Central Communication Port. It is the plans for the railway part that have grown significantly recently.
During the presidential campaign, the length of the announced new PKP lines, which are to be built by 2034, increased from 1,600 km to almost 1,800 km. Already in 2027, i.e. with the opening of the new airport, 530 km of routes were to be ready. It is, for example, a fast line from Warsaw through the CPK and Łódź to Wrocław and further through Wałbrzych to the border with the Czech Republic.
At that time, the section from Ostrołęka to Łomża will also be ready, as well as a shortcut from the vicinity of Stalowa Wola towards Rzeszów or from Lublin to Zamość. Recently, however, disputes have started to arise in the CPK company itself as to whether the new schedules and the scope of investments are feasible at all.
It was one of the main reasons for the recent resignation of the CPK deputy president, Piotr Malepszak, who was responsible for the railway part. Although the company does not officially give the reasons for its separation, the employees of the CPK tell us about them.
– Malepszak tried to make the schedules more realistic. He believed that too many sections should not be started yet. He argued that we should focus first on “Igrek”, that is, on the fast route from Warsaw via Łódź to Wrocław and Poznań. In this case, we have the chances of the greatest reduction in travel time and the largest number of travelers – one of the employees tells us anonymously.
Anyway, Malepszak himself a few months ago in an interview with “DGP” admitted that “Igrek” should be a priority. Another interviewee from the CPK says that the company’s management has recently accused Malepszak of being too conservative. The former vice-president was to say that there is no point in thinking about some new regional lines, for example, from Ostrołęka to Łomża. He believed that there was not enough money for all projects and in the case of cities such as Łomża, it would be more justified to renovate the existing tracks, i.e. branches of the Warsaw-Białystok main.
In turn, the bimonthly “Z Biegiem Szyn” writes about the conflict between Malepszak and Patryk Wild, the brother of the current CEO of the CPK company, Mikołaj Wild.
Patryk Wild is a councilor of the Lower Silesian Regional Council and a member of the advisory team of the government plenipotentiary for CPK. It was he who created the concept of building a network of tracks converging at the airport. Although formally in the case of CTH, he only advises, it has a large impact on the project. Malepszak was to argue with him, among others in the form of a train station at the airport in Baranów.
According to Wild, it is necessary to choose a more complex variant, in which the railway lines will intersect on two levels. Such a solution works at the station in Berlin. Malepszak believed that it was necessary to opt for a cheaper version in which the tracks converge on one level.
One of the CPK employees claims that Patryk Wild is a dogmatist who cannot be persuaded to change his mind. Others replied that the conflict with Malepszak was exaggerated. This is evidenced by the fact that ultimately the station is to be built according to the variant proposed by the latter. After leaving Malepszaka, president Mikołaj Wild is temporarily responsible for the railway part.
The CPK says that preparations for the construction of new tracks will take off. Recently, contracts have been signed for the nature inventory of two sections. By the end of September, similar orders will cover the remaining fragments, which are to be completed by 2027. But there is indeed a long way to drive the shovels, and it is doubtful whether the work will start in three years.
– The problem of CTH are schedules that are tight to the limit. Until now, delays in railway investments were the order of the day. Preparations for construction are to take only three years. Completing all the necessary activities during this time – buying land, conducting all environmental analyzes or obtaining the necessary permits – is burdened with a whole set of risks – comments Jakub Majewski, head of the Pro Kolej foundation. He adds that in the case of roads or track modernization, similar preparations sometimes take up to four times longer. In addition, preliminary public consultations on the tracks showed that their course often raises protests.
Jakub Majewski points out that while the new routes – from Warsaw to Wrocław or the so-called the CKM-Północ line to the Tri-City – they are needed almost immediately, some of the planned local lines will be difficult to fill with, especially long-distance traffic.
In the Warmińsko-Mazurskie and Podkarpackie voivodeships, lines are being modernized for hundreds of millions of zlotys, and the local government can send two or three trains a day to them.
– We still do not know where to get the money for such an ambitious investment plan. It is estimated that the new lines to the CPK will cost almost PLN 100 billion. Let me remind you that the PKP PLK company simultaneously announced that it would like to modernize its routes for a similar amount in the coming years. In both cases, the source is to be mainly the same funds from the EU, but such an increase in funding does not seem feasible to negotiate – adds Majewski.
Krzysztof Śmietana
14.09.2020
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