It took nearly a week for the Magistrate to react to the information about postponing HRS development until 2030. Despite the initial claims that Łódź will now focus on the construction of a new station, today we heard the announcement of a harsh opposition to the plans made by the Ministry of Transport. Petitions to minister Sławomir Nowak are also appearing throughout the internet.

A joint appeal to change the date of the HSR project is being made by the presidents of the cities which will be connected by the “Y” line: Łódź – Hanna Zdanowska, Poznań – Ryszard Grobelny and Wrocław – Rafał Dutkiewicz. The president of Łódź was the first to react. She expressed the opinion that Poland’s introduction into the European High Speed Rail is a civilizational necessity not only for our country, but also to the European Union. “This project is not some investment on a whim, but an opportunity to draw Warsaw and the biggest cities in Poland closer to the European hubs of business and culture. Due to its importance and the fact that it was included on the list of priority tasks by the European Commission, the project should be realised according the previous plans, until 2020. The position of the Polish cities interested in the development of High Speed Rail is that an extensive debate should be organised with the participation of experts from the railway industry”, the Łódź City Council wrote in their statement.

If the appeal to the minister has no effect, the coalition of Łódź, Poznań and Wrocław plans further actions, such as a billboard campaign in Warsaw showing Sławomir Nowak in a farm cart and depicting him as a person who is stalling the development of the country. The last instance will involve an appeal to Prime Minister Donald Tusk. Internet users also protest against the abandoning of HSR. A petition to minister Sławomir Nowak can be found, amongst other places, at www.petycje.pl.

As a reminder: On December 7th, Minister of transport Sławomir Nowak informed that after the completion of the feasibility study the government will suspend all HRS-related work until 2030 due to cost cuts. The investment, estimated at 26 billion PLN and called line “Y”, was to be completed by 2020. The project was one of the pre-election promises made by the Civic Platform (Platforma Obywatelska) in 2007. The former minister of infrastructure, Cezary Grabarczyk, was involved in its realisation. The Ingenieria IDOM Internacional S.A. consortium and Biuro projektów Komunikacyjnych w Poznaniu sp. z o. o. have been developing a feasibility study for a year now. In December 2011, the “Y” line was recognized as one of the strategic transport corridors in Europe by the European Commission, thanks to which Poland could expect up to 75% of funding for the construction of the HSR line. The new minister of transport, Sławomir Nowak, declared that the government will now focus on the modernisation of conventional railways, which “require saving”, while the realisation of “expensive dreams”, as he labelled the HRS project, will have to wait. Earlier, the authorities described HRS as a civilizational project, which would bring Poland closer to Europe. By integrating the largest cities in Poland, High-speed rail would contribute to the economic development of the entire country.