EIB supports with EUR 120 million modernisation of Polish railways

The European Investment Bank (EIB) is lending EUR 120 million for the rehabilitation and modernisation of a 58 km section of the railway line along the trans-European transport axis forming part of the E59 European rail corridor linking Malmo – Ystad – Szczecin – Poznan – Wroclaw – Chalupki – Ostrava.

The EIB loan will finance the upgrading of the existing twin-track railway line from Wroclaw to the border of the Lower Silesia Voivodship in south-western Poland. The completion of the modernisation will allow the utilisation of trains operating at a maximum speed of 160 km per hour. The section constitutes the first part of the planned modernisation of the 164 km railway line in the E59 corridor between Wroclaw and Poznan, which is scheduled for completion in 2015. The project will be co-financed by the European Union under the Operational Programme for Infrastructure and Environment.

The upgrade is expected to generate savings in journey times, vehicle operating costs and infrastructure maintenance. By encouraging a modal shift from road to rail, the project is also expected to improve transport safety and have some environmental benefits through reduced road use. The project will include additional environmental management measures (e.g. noise barriers, fauna crossings and better drainage) which will reduce the existing negative impacts during operation.

This is one of a number of ongoing and planned EIB operations to support the national, regional and municipal rail systems in Poland, often as a co-financier with the European Union. In this framework the EIB recently supported with a EUR 224 million loan the acquisition of 20 electric multiple unit train sets to be used on the Polish section of the trans-European transport corridor between Gdansk-Warsaw-Brno/Bratislava-Vienna (E65) and the construction of a related maintenance depot.