The Central Communication Port (CPK) may cost several times more than expected, says Jakub Karnowski, former president of PKP. As noted by a railway specialist, the cost of building High-Speed ​​Railways (HS2) in Great Britain was initially supposed to be £32.7 billion. In 2015, this amount increased to £56 billion. Immediately after that, it increased to £106 billion. And now an independent valuation prepared by Lord Berkeley shows £170 billion, which is over five times more than the initial assumptions.
Jakub Karnowski estimates that 1 mile of HSR in the UK is to cost nearly £0.5 billion, or 1 km - over £300 million (approximately PLN 1.5 billion). In his opinion, it is also worth recalling that the construction of the airport in Berlin was delayed by eight years.
"As my information shows, the CPK authorities have expert opinions which show that only 2 percent of this type of so-called mega-projects is implemented on time and within the assumed budget," Karnowski claims.
In his opinion, it is worth asking in this context whether the Polish government is better prepared for projects such as the CPK than the British or the Germans? Is the government updating the project's financial assumptions or upholding the original plans? Has an independent valuation of STH in Baranów already been prepared, taking into account new anticipated flows of travelers after the pandemic? How reliable are the government valuations for the entire project?
Jakub Karnowski was in the years 2012-15 the President of the Management Board of PKP S.A. and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of PKP Cargo S.A. He is currently working as a consultant to the World Bank for the restructuring of railways in Kazakhstan and Tanzania.
(WBJ)