High-Speed Rail for Poland
Poland is preparing its infrastructure to take on several high-speed rail lines in the upcoming years.
New rail lines will have to be laid to accommodate the high-speed trains, which will be able to reach speeds of up to 350 kilometres per hour. Construction of the railway is planned to begin in 2014, while Polish national rail provider PKP negotiates the route with residents of the areas affected.
Travel times will be cut significantly to the cities which will be connected with this high-speed train connection. For example, the current travel time on an express train to Warsaw from the city of Lodz (approximately 120 km away) is 1 hour 45 minutes. This time will be cut down to 35 minutes. The high-speed train will continue to the western cities of Poznan and Wroclaw.
The new train connections are expected to be fully functioning by 2020.