Speaking to reporters, Tusk said the goal was to upgrade the aging network—neglected for three decades—to boost passenger numbers between both major cities and mid-sized towns.
He told reporters that Poland’s railways were expected to carry 500 million passengers next year—more than the entire population of the European Union.
Tusk cited the route between Warsaw and the Baltic city of Gdańsk as an example, saying passenger numbers there have risen by around 1 million during the past two years.
His remarks came during a visit to the construction site of Poland’s longest railway tunnel in the southern Małopolskie region.
The 3,750-metre tunnel near the village of Męcina is part of a major PLN 14 billion (EUR 3.3 billion, USD 3.8 billion) project to link the town of Nowy Sącz with the historic city of Kraków.
The project includes 58 kilometres of new rail and the modernisation and electrification of 75 kilometres of existing track, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
Once completed, the project will cut travel time from Kraków to Nowy Sącz to about one hour, and to the mountain resort of Zakopane to roughly 90 minutes, Tusk said.
At the moment, the journey from Kraków to Nowy Sącz takes about two hours and 40 minutes. "After the project is completed, it will take only one hour, dramatically improving the lives of tens of thousands and opening up new development opportunities for the region," Tusk said.
Infrastructure Minister Dariusz Klimczak also outlined ambitious plans to expand rolling stock, announcing that contracts for 107 new train sets would be signed in 2025.
Last week, the European Commission approved a EUR 47 million Polish state aid plan to improve the rail network’s efficiency and shift more transport from road to rail.
That announcement came amid protests by railway workers, who argue that government policies disproportionately favour road transport.
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Source: IAR, polskieradio24.pl, PAP, biznes.interia.pl, money.pl