CPK presents an investor variant of the new Katowice-Ostrava HSR line
After collecting 7,000 comments and almost 100 meetings involving residents and local authorities, Centralny Port Komunikacyjny (CPK) selected the investor variant for Katowice-Ostrava section of the high speed railway line. The route indicated by CPK assumes the least environmental impact of all those surveyed. The new railway line also means the end of the exclusion for Jastrzębie-Zdrój.
Selecting the optimum option for this section was a design challenge. The construction of any High Speed Rail requires compliance with strictly defined technical parameters (related among other things to track geometry). Meanwhile, there are numerous areas of mining damage and natural value in this region of Poland. Planning is also hindered by extensive urban areas and the proximity of the A1 motorway.
As a recommended variant, the CPK experts indicated the W72, which provides for the construction of new railway stations in Żory Północne and Mszana, the possibility of creating an intermodal terminal in Wodzisław Śląski, an additional section connecting Wodzisław Śląski and the centre of Jastrzębie-Zdrój, and new sections enabling quick connections between Rybnik and Żory with Katowice and the rest of the country.
The CPK investments in the Śląskie Voivodship enable a significant reduction in travel times. Passengers will be able to travel from Katowice to Jastrzębie Zdrój in 50 minutes by regional train or in 35 minutes by fast train, as there is no such connection today. The train journey to Katowice from Rybnik will take 25 min (currently more than twice as long), and from Wodzisław Śląski approx. 40 min (today more than 1 hour). It should take about 20 minutes to get from Żory Północne to Katowice by train, and about 15 minutes from Wodzisław Śląski to Jastrzębie Zdrój, as currently there are no such connections at all.