‘The most probable date of the beginning of construction works is the year 2014. Such works typically last about 2 years, so in 2016 the cross-town tunnel should be ready,’ says Zbigniew Szafrański, the president of the Board of PKP PLK S.A.

Marek Lewoc: Are you looking forward to the beginning of construction of the high-speed railway, like other residents of Łódź?

Zbigniew Szafrański, the director of PKP PLK S.A: For me, the construction of the high-speed railway means ‘to be or not to be’ for the railways in Poland. Many people claim that with the size of Poland, which is, on average, 600-700 kilometres from the east to the west and from the north to the south, trains capable of speeds of up to 160 or even 120kmph are sufficient. In my opinion, they are not enough because business trips should last no more than 2.5-3 hours. And we cannot achieve this with the train speed of 160kmph on the longest lines. We should look at the problem of speed from the economic perspective. If we make the time that is necessary to get from Warsaw to Wrocław by train 20 minutes shorter, there will not be many new passengers. However, if we do this in a radical way and cut the travel time from 5 to only 2 hours, then it may turn out that passengers from Jelenia Góra, Zielona Góra, and Leszno, going to Wrocław and further to Warsaw, will find the travel time so attractive that they will decide to travel by train. Shortening the travel time generates a flood of new passengers. The experience of railways from the West, especially from Spain, shows that a high-speed railway increases the number of passengers by about 20-30%. Spain is a very good example since 15 years ago the country was in the same situation as Poland is today. The trains were said to be obsolete, slow and often delayed. Construction of the high-speed railway from Madrid to Seville was a bold decision, though it was generally criticized then. After its opening, the line turned out to be such a great success that the society demands new sections. I am positive that we will achieve a similar result in Poland. So far, we have only envied western countries that they have high-speed railways but such a project is not as expensive as it may seem, especially when we compare it to construction of motorways. It is just construction of a new railway. Of course it is more expensive than modernization of the existing line, but the effects are incomparable. What is more, I believe that when Turkey, Morocco, Argentina are building, we also should stop discussing and just get to work. The fact that on 19 December last year the proper government document on this matter was passed is a great success.

When will the digging under the ground and construction of the cross-town tunnel begin?

So far, we can only talk about the expected dates. The second stage of modernization of the Warsaw-Łódź route comprised only modernization of the existing line, but, out of necessity, it introduces the first stage of construction of the high-speed railway because those tasks cannot be separated. The high-speed railway makes sense when the stations along the line are intermodal junction nodes. There, you can change into traditional trains or public city transport. It is important that the stations should be located in city centres. This means that the Łódź Fabryczna station that is now the end of the line (some call it the blind station) cannot be converted in such a way that the line would be prolonged westward. Thus, some decisions on moving it underground have been made. EC 1 Łódź – City of Culture is a leader in making the feasibility study on the extension of the tunnel westbound. As the tender ought to be put out this year, we should have the feasibility study at the beginning of the year 2011. Then, we should begin to look for the means of financing. I think the financial crisis will have been over by then. The most probable date of the beginning of construction works is the year 2014. Such works typically last about 2 years, so in 2016 the cross-town tunnel should be ready, unless we come across any special obstacles underground. If it proceeds synchronously with construction of the remaining sections, as it should be according to the government plan, the high-speed railway should move under the city of Łódź in the year 2018. Of course, if we also consider the emergency variant (in the case when construction of the tunnel is delayed), the trains will go from Widzew via Chojny. From what we have observed on the market of tunnel works for example in Austria, Spain and Italy, it appears that during the next few years some projects will be finished there, so the companies will search for works. And this is a good signal as the prices for construction of a tunnel might be reduced.

Has PKP PLK already got any experience with such investments, are there any examples from abroad that it can follow?

The longest tunnel in Poland is near Wałbrzych, it is 1600 meters long and was constructed a long time ago by Germans. The tunnels in Warsaw were made with the use of the cut-and-cover technique. The tunnel for the Okęcie airport and the parts of the investments from Łódź Widzew to the Łódź Fabryczna railway station will be constructed in the same way. However, the cross-town tunnel will be build under a dense built-up area, so it has to be made with the use of mining methods. We have no such experience, but we are going to make use of the experience of infrastructure administrators e.g. from France and Spain. We are going to use their experts. This construction is a novelty for us, but in the West it is a standard technique.

Although still unknown, the shape of the new train station causes a lot of excitement. What do we already know about the new Łódź Fabryczna station?

At the very beginning, I must say that the Łódź Fabryczna station is not much of a monument, as far as quality is concerned. It isn’t original either, for it has been rebuilt a lot. The whole area has already been designed under the name The New Center of Lodz. I know its visualizations and I just can’t possibly imagine the present building there. Speaking of the station’s functions, it is extremely rare nowadays to build stations that are intended for the passenger service only, especially when you can buy tickets on the Internet or through a mobile phone or from a ticket inspector. Traditional stations with a line of ticket offices and a lounge make no sense any more. Additionally, no one will have to wait for hours if the trains arrive and depart often enough, so there is no need to create huge waiting halls. The project, therefore, bases mostly on platforms, passages, left luggage facilities and toilets, the rest relates to general services. The new underground station is going to have a connection with other means of transport whereas its other functions are going to be composed into the superstructure. The station is not going to be isolated from the rest of the city. Before its construction starts, the flow of trains and passengers will have to be reorganized. During construction works in the New Center of Lodz,  the Łódź Widzew station will take over a great number of passengers. As far as the underground part is concerned, the design works are going to last until the first months of the following year and this is when the tender for the construction is going to be put out.

Is there any chance for traveling from Łódź directly to Berlin, Paris or Rome?

In 2006, I visited the president of German railways and asked if he was going to extend eastbound the fast railway lines, which now end in Berlin. The answer was simple – we do not plan anything as long as you do not. Now, apart from the main feasibility study that will be the basis for marking out the Y line, PKP PLK has commissioned elaboration of the fast railway feasibility study until 2030. The aim is to indicate the directions of construction of new railway lines. The first step is modernization of the Central Railway Main Line (CMK) for the needs of the fast railway, and building a connector near Opoczno, between this route and Łódź. We would have two fast railway lines, then. That means a comfortable connection with Vienna through Katowice, and in the future with Prague and Bratislava as well, for the Czech Republic and Slovakia also refer to our plans. When the fast railway between Łódź and Poznań starts to run, a new connection Łódź–Berlin will be available, with a conventional speed between Poznań and Berlin. The whole journey would last not much more than 3 hours and the passengers could change the trains in Berlin to travel even farther, to Paris, for instance. We are discussing creation of a fast track between Poznań and Berlin with German railways. Even if the connection does not appear now, it has to be included in further plans so that nothing is built on its way.

It is said that Łódź will become the service centre for Polish high-speed. When will the decision regarding location be reached and what is its main purpose?

The fast railway line and its conventional speed extensions need about 35 articulated trains to be run, so we need some maintenance facilities.  Every morning, before passengers travel, the first train checks if the lines of the fast railway are technically acceptable. This is what it looks like in practice and this is another reason why such trains should run from Łódź, which after all lies in the centre of Poland. What is more, Łódź has the area that is required for such a nod. The final decision will be made on the basis of recommendations included in the feasibility study, most likely in the first part of 2011.

How do you imagine Łódź after the end of construction works and the new centre of the city? I mean the importance of the city both in Poland and in the European system of transportation?

I am convinced that the outcome of these works is unthinkable and underestimated not only by the majority of the citizens but also by the city authorities. Łódź has always been said to be a city with its water in the River Pilica, the railway station in Koluszki and the airport in Warsaw. It has to be admitted that all of the main routes pass somewhere nearby. After the investment is completed, the new railway station will cross the East-West and the North-South routes. That is why I advocate the name ‘Central Łódź’. A very important train transfer nod is coming into being, and Łódź is going to have the best transportation system in the whole country. The fast railway and highways will enable common and simultaneous development of Łódź and Warsaw. Examples from other countries indicate that thanks to the fast railway Łódź has a chance to become a very attractive  place to be visited and invested in. The city that lies in the centre has always been on the side track. Now it is going  to appear exactly in the centre of the Poland.

Interview by Marek Lewoc