A key investment worth PLN 660 million for Katowice Airport has been launched

You can get by train to the airport in Pyrzowice from Tarnowskie Góry or from Zawiercie. PKP Polskie Linie Kolejowe S.A. starts work in Zawiercie. The value of the task is over PLN 660 million. The co-financing comes from the EU Operational Programme Infrastructure and Environment. The investment will increase travel possibilities and access to rail in the region.

PKP Polskie Linie Kolejowe S.A. started work on a project which will ensure rail access to the airport in Pyrzowice. First, on the so-called connector, the line from the Zawiercie station to line 182 leading to the airport, the tracks will be rebuilt, a new catenary network will be built and the railway bridge in Zawiercie will be rebuilt. Then, a new platform no. 3 and a new track will be built in the Zawiercie station. Two tracks will also be rebuilt, and the works will also cover the overhead catenary network and railway traffic control devices.

– The investment, which is part of the National Railway Programme, will increase accessibility to railways, link transport modes and enable access to Katowice Airport by train. This is a major boost to the region’s economic development. With the use of EU funds, a safe and comfortable railway which meets the European requirements is being constructed,” says Andrzej Bittel, Secretary of State at the Ministry of Infrastructure.

– We are in constant contact with contractors and we continue investments on Polish tracks despite the pandemic. Works on the Zawiercie – Pyrzowice – Tarnowskie Góry line have started. This project will significantly improve the connection between the airport in Pyrzowice and cities in the Silesian Voivodeship, the efficiency of agglomeration railway, as well as long-distance connections. The project is also important for increasing the role of railways as an environmentally-friendly transport in freight transport,” says Ireneusz Merchel, President of the Management Board of PKP Polskie Linii Kolejowych S.A.

The contractor’s equipment can be seen at the worksite. Specialist machines, the so-called piling machines, will prepare piles for traction posts. The reconstruction includes the tracks on the junction. In January, work will begin on the railway bridge in Zawiercie. The works will not affect the timetable of trains on the Dąbrowa Górnicza – Zawiercie – Częstochowa line. Works in the area of the connector and the Zawiercie station are planned until the end of 2021.

As a result of the investment, it will take 23 minutes to get from Zawiercie to the airport, and less than 20 minutes to get from Tarnowskie Góry. It will take less than an hour to travel from Katowice and Częstochowa. Access to the railway will be improved by the Pyrzowice Lotnisko station and new stops: Miasteczko Śląskie Centrum, Mierzęcice, Zawiercie Kądzielów. With passengers’ comfort in mind, platforms at the stations will be modernised: Tarnowskie Góry, Siewierz and Poręba, and in Zawiercie a new platform will be constructed. All of them will be adjusted to serve persons with reduced mobility. Pedestrians will use new subways in Pyrzowice Lotisko and Siewierz. In Zawiercie, Pyrzowice and Tarnowskie Góry lifts will be installed. Platforms will be illuminated and equipped with shelters and benches. Travel comfort and safety will be ensured by sound systems and monitoring, as well as legible signage and information boards.

As part of the task, a 30-kilometre section of inactive track between Tarnowskie Góry and Siewierz will be reconstructed. Revitalisation and electrification will involve about 48 km of railway line. Trains will travel to the airport at a speed of up to 140 km/h, and goods trains at 80 km/h. The investment will involve 52 engineering structures, including the construction of two-level crossings with, inter alia, the A1 motorway and the regional DW 913 Będzin – Pyrzowice road. It will be safer thanks to the modernisation of 38 railway and road crossings.

The value of the investment “Revitalisation and reconstruction of partly closed railway line no. 182 Tarnowskie Góry – Zawiercie” is PLN 660 million net, the EU subsidy within the Operational Programme Infrastructure and Environment amounts to over PLN 500 million. The investment is scheduled for completion in the second quarter of 2023.

Source: PKP PLK