Poland's 610 bn zł rail plan: 4,700 km new lines, high-speed trains and cross-country in 3 hours

A comprehensive railway master plan

On Monday, Poland's Ministry of Infrastructure and the companies Port Polska (formerly Centralny Port Komunikacyjny) and PKP PLK presented the Integrated Railway Network (Zintegrowana Sieć Kolejowa, ZSK), a development strategy that the government describes as the first of its kind since 1989. The plan, drafted over 18 months by around 800 experts, sets out the construction of 4,700 km of new lines and the modernisation of 5,600 km of existing track by 2050.

This is the first such comprehensive and long-term railway development plan in Poland.

First investments by 2035

The government aims to complete the first 1,000 km of new track by 2035. That batch includes the 480 km “Y” high-speed line linking Warsaw with the new Port Polska airport, Łódź, Poznań and Wrocław, which is already at the design stage. Also due before 2035 are the Rail Baltica section from Ełk to Trakiszki, the Podłęże–Piekiełko upgrade and the Katowice–Ostrawa cross-border connection to the Czech Republic.

High-speed corridors and network scale

Of the 4,700 km of new routes, approximately 2,700 km are to be built as High-Speed Rail (Kolej Dużych Prędkości, KDP) with design speeds of at least 250 km/h. The network will consist of 19 main corridors, replacing the previous ten-spoke concept. The plan also foresees the extension of the Centralna Magistrala Kolejowa (CMK) northwards to the Tricity area (Gdańsk–Gdynia–Sopot) and new links such as Poznań–Szczecin via Międzychód, which could later become part of a rapid link to Berlin.

Slashing travel times: the '100-minute' and '3-hour' goals

Two headline promises frame the ZSK: “Polska 100 minut” and “Polska 3 godziny.” The first pledges that journeys between the largest Polish cities will take no more than 1 hour 40 minutes. According to the plan, travel from Wrocław, Poznań, Gdańsk or Bydgoszcz to Warsaw, from Wrocław to Kraków, and from Poznań to Gdańsk should all fit within 100 minutes. Cross-country journeys – for example Warsaw–Szczecin, Kraków–Gdańsk or Lublin–Wrocław – are targeted at around three hours.

Financing the 610 billion złoty enterprise

The total cost is projected at 610 billion złoty, split into 410 bn for new construction and 200 bn for the modernisation of existing lines. The government intends to establish a Railway Fund (Fundusz Kolejowy) this autumn, which will be able to take on loans, and to redirect money previously earmarked for road construction.

We already have a fairly decent railway, but we are still short of the best European countries. The ZSK is to solve one of the biggest problems of Polish railways – declining capacity.

Malepszak underlined that the plan targets 720 million passengers by 2050, up from roughly 439 million in 2025, and is designed to serve both passenger and freight traffic.