The consortium of Budimex, Strabag and ZUE completed the modernization of railway line no. 20 in Warsaw for PKP PLK.
This included building a 4-km track with a new surface for the section Warszawa Zachodnia – Warszawa Gdańska, together with the overhead cables and 4 stops with shelters. Line no. 20 was opened during the night of Saturday to Sunday, 20 – 21 October. This is part of a larger project, which assumes the modernization of the inner ring line in the capital city, involving the sections Warszawa Zachodnia – Warszawa Gdańska and Warszawa Gołąbki – Warszawa Gdańska. Lines 507 and 509 are under construction.
Execution of this contract started in February 2017 and its completion is scheduled for 2019. The consortium has already completed construction and modernization works on line no. 20. The total value of this project is over 169 million PLN.
Warszawa Zachodnia – Warszawa Gdańska Railway Line Is Ready
A total of 4 railway stops with shelters, at the Koło, Warszawa Zachodnia, Wola and Młynów stops, were modernized and rebuilt. The latter is particularly important because in the future it will form an important interchange connecting the railway, trams, and the planned Młynów station, the next to be built on the metro line. In addition, 3 railway overpasses were rebuilt over Obozowa, Kasprzaka, and Wolska Streets, as well as a footbridge over Górczewska.
“Reconstruction of the track systems on the routes and the traffic stations included the reconstruction of the railway switches, aimed at increasing the speed of entries and exits. Thanks to these changes, trains will be able to increase their speed on this section from 40 to 60 km/h, and eventually to 80 km/h with the completion of the whole contract.”
The equipment in the rebuilt stations, such as innovative lighting, numerous facilities for the disabled (lifts, escalators) and installation of CCTV monitoring systems and technological communication devices (wired and radio), is also worthy of mention.
Unexpected Find
The modernization period was extended by 6 months due to the discovery of several German bunkers during the construction located along the route being renovated. They date from the Second World War and were initially to be demolished, but instead they were eventually entered the register of monuments by the provincial conservationist. Another factor influencing the completion date of the investment was the need to obtain additional consents from the City Hall concerning changes in the organization of road traffic under the new overpasses.
“These are just some of the things which demonstrate the level of difficulty of this investment. As a rule, construction work carried out in the city center is organizationally complicated, because in spite of the intensive works, the city has to function efficiently for its residents. However, we are a consortium of companies with extensive experience in railway projects, so we were able to meet the challenges.”
Budimex also executes other railway contracts, such as the modernization of the Warsaw – Otwock – Dęblin – Lublin line and the modernization of the Katowice – Kraków route, which lies on the international route running from Germany, through Poland, to Ukraine. Recently the company has also completed the reconstruction of Olszamowice station, with the station’s technical infrastructure being modernized, including railway switches and the overhead cable system. Thanks to the changes, the station was fully adapted for automatic control.
