Wrocław begins drilling to test whether an underground rail line is feasible

Drilling begins at Świebodzki station

On Wednesday, 28 October 2026, the Lower Silesian Road and Rail Service (Dolnośląska Służba Dróg i Kolei, DSDiK) started core drilling at Wrocław Świebodzki station. Two boreholes are being sunk to a depth of 30 metres, and the soil samples will go to further geological analysis. The work is a joint project of the Lower Silesian voivodeship and the city of Wrocław, which want to establish whether an underground rail line, possibly a metro, can be built in the regional capital. Marshal Paweł Gancarz said the drilling was the next step agreed with the Ministry of Infrastructure, and he framed it at a press conference attended by local officials.

Gancarz set out the purpose of the work in direct terms:

“In cooperation with the city of Wrocław, we started official geological drilling under the Świebodzki station grounds.”

What the boreholes must establish

The tests are meant to establish the load-bearing capacity of the ground and the level of the groundwater table. They should also identify the optimal depth at which a tunnel-boring machine would work in future. Officials say the results will help choose a construction technology and estimate costs, but the city has not released any cost figure. It has also not said whether it has a deep metro or a diameter tunnel under the centre in mind. According to PKP PLK board member Maciej Kaczorek, the rail entries into the city will be rebuilt, with 2035 as the deadline for the final section of the fast rail line. The drilling could also prepare a wider line section, but no official has confirmed this.

A bottleneck above ground

The viaduct leading to Wrocław Główny is overloaded, and agglomeration trains often wait in line for access to the station. Officials argue that the surface network has reached its limit, so a new diameter tunnel would have to take over a large part of regional passenger traffic. Mateusz Masłowski, director of DSDiK, told reporters that the 30-metre depth matters because trains would run at that level in future. He also said the agency would not reject the idea before checking it:

“We decided that before issuing such a verdict, we will simply check it.”

Wrocław president Jacek Sutryk said restoring rail to Świebodzki would let trains reach the city centre, adding more train pairs and allowing thousands of Lower Silesians to bypass road traffic. No surface trains run to the station at present.

Doubts and the ministry's stance

Scientists from the Polish Academy of Sciences (PAN) advised against tunnelling in Wrocław earlier, and a Ministry of Infrastructure report does not recommend a metro in the city. Some experts argue that hydrological conditions rule out a metro there. Gancarz rejects these objections, pointing to tunnels built under seas and oceans, and he says the technology would allow a tunnel under the Odra if needed. A report by the Centre for EU Transport Projects says collision-free rail transport is needed in Wrocław and should be developed. Gancarz summed up the local position:

“In our assessment as local government officials and practitioners, we feel and know it can be done.”

Dates and next steps

Jerzy Michalak, director of the infrastructure department at the marshal's office, said the environmental decision needed to restore surface trains to Świebodzki would come in January. Officials still see 2029 as a realistic date for trains to return to the station, while the city targets 2030 for reactivating it. An underground station on the planned line would be built no earlier than in 10 years. The key dates in the plan are shown below.