The consortium of Budimex, Strabag and ZUE has completed the modernisation of railway line No. 20 in Warsaw for PKP PLK. A m.in was made. 4 kilometres of railway tracks with a new surface on the Warszawa Zachodnia – Warszawa Gdańska section, together with the overhead contact line and 4 stops with shelters. Line No. 20 was opened on the night of Saturday to Sunday, October 20 – 21. This is part of a larger project that involves the modernization of the ring line in the capital on the sections Warszawa Zachodnia – Warszawa Gdańska and Warszawa Gołąbki – Warszawa Gdańska. Lines 507 and 509 are under construction.
The implementation of this contract began 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 PLN 169 million.
The Warszawa Zachodnia – Warszawa Gdańska railway route is ready
4 railway stops with shelters were modernized and rebuilt, i.e. the Koło, Warszawa Zachodnia, Wola and Młynów stops. The latter is particularly important, because in the future it will be an important interchange connecting railways, trams and Młynów – a station of the planned next metro line. In addition, 3 railway viaducts were rebuilt – over ul. Obozowa Street, above ul. Kasprzaka and over ul. Wolska Street and the footbridge over ul. Górczewska. – The reconstruction of track systems on routes and traffic stations includes m.in. reconstruction of turnout heads, 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, but eventually, after the end of the entire contract, they will travel at a speed of 80 km/h – says Tomasz Kaliszyk, Contract Manager at Budimex S.A. It is also worth mentioning the equipment of the rebuilt stations, which includes, for example, innovative lighting, numerous facilities for the disabled (elevators, escalators) or the installation of a CCTV monitoring system and technological communication devices (wired and radio).
An unexpected find
The time of modernization activities was extended by 6 months due to the discovery of several post-German bunkers located along the renovated route during construction works. The buildings from World War II, which were initially supposed to be demolished, were eventually entered into the register of monuments by the provincial conservator of monuments. Another factor affecting the deadline for the completion of the investment was the need to obtain additional permits from the City Hall regarding changes in the organization of car traffic under the new viaducts. – These are just some of the elements that indicate the level of difficulty of this investment. As a rule, construction carried out in the city center is complicated in terms of organization, because despite intensive work, the city must function efficiently for its residents. However, we are a consortium composed of companies with extensive experience in the implementation of railway projects, so we have met this challenge – says Dariusz Blocher, President of the Management Board of Budimex S.A., the consortium leader.
Budimex also carries out other railway contracts, e.g. the modernisation of the Warsaw – Otwock – Dęblin – Lublin line or the modernisation of the Katowice – Kraków route, which lies on the international corridor running from Germany, through Poland, to Ukraine. Recently, the company has also completed the reconstruction of the Olszamowice station, as part of which the technical infrastructure of the station was modernized, m.in. turnouts and overhead contact line. Thanks to the changes, the station has been completely adapted to automatic control.
