- This and next year are to be a period of great railway investments in Poland. By the end of 2021, PKP Polskie Linie Kolejowe SA is to announce tenders for construction works with a total value of approximately PLN 17 billion. It will mainly be the completion of tasks resulting from the National Railway Program for 2014-2020, but also the commencement of tasks from a new perspective for 2021-2027.
- The segment of railway investments is very important for contractors. PKP PLK is the second largest ordering party in Poland, and the value of the order portfolio it has at its disposal is over PLN 70 billion in the current EU financial perspective – says Artur Popko, President of the Management Board of Budimex. Budimex puts a strong emphasis on railways. One of the largest investments in this segment is the PLN 1.4 billion reconstruction of the railway junction in Czechowice-Dziedzice, implemented with the support of EU funds. It is also one of the most complex projects of PKP PLK.
- The prospects for this investment segment are huge. The announcements of the ordering party, i.e. PKP PLK, say at least PLN 10 billion a year for reconstruction or new investments related to railways, so it is a huge investment program – says Artur Popko Newseria Biznes agency.
- We are preparing for the new EU financial perspective, we have many projects that are already at the stage of documentation and obtaining building permits. As soon as the new perspective is defined, we will be able to announce tenders and introduce contractors to the construction site – says Arnold Bresch, member of the PKP PLK management board. – We hope that this new perspective will not be worse for us than the previous one and that we will not have an investment hole. The previous one was badly received by the market, because there was no link between this and the previous perspective, which resulted in a loss of two or three years and a huge investment pile-up now.
According to the schedule published by PKP PLK, most of this year’s tenders are planned for the second half of the year. In the third quarter of this year. are planned, among others large tenders for the reconstruction of the sections Kościerzyna – Somonino and Somonino – Kartuzy and the Słupsk station. However, the largest number, as many as 10 tenders, is to be launched in the fourth quarter of this year. In total, PKP PLK will launch procedures this year to select contractors for the implementation of several dozen large investment projects.
Budimex ended 2020 with a portfolio of orders worth PLN 12.7 billion, in which the largest value was represented by infrastructure (37%) and railway (32%) projects. Last year, he signed new contracts for a record PLN 9 billion, which was due to, inter alia, winning a railway contract for the reconstruction of the Warszawa Zachodnia station for PLN 1.8 billion. This investment started in the fall of last year.
As the company’s president points out, the complex and difficult investments also include the reconstruction of the railway junction in Czechowice-Dziedzice, which is one of the most important in Silesia, carried out by Budimex. Railway lines important for regional and national traffic as well as international connections converge there.
The reconstruction of the junction includes, among others replacement of approximately 50 km of track and overhead contact line, installation of new traffic control devices, construction of new bridges and viaducts, replacement of 119 turnouts, reconstruction of stations, platforms and three rail-road crossings. The investment worth PLN 1.4 billion, which PKP PLK is implementing with the support of EU funds, is to be completed in October 2023.