EU funds may be used to modernize Warsaw-Łódź and Radom rail links

PKP Polskie Linie Kolejowe (PKP PLK) has filed a proposal to the National Development Plan for modernizing its routes from Warsaw to Łódź and Radom. The money for the works, scheduled for 2004-2006, could be obtained from EU structural funds. "On May 15 we began a tender to modernize the Warsaw-Łódź line. The contractor will prepare three possible options. The first one will lay rails which can handle traffic with an average speed of 120 kilometers per hour, a second option for 140 km/h and the third for 160 km/h. The last option will be the most expensive and take longer to complete," said PKP PLK spokesman Krzysztof Łańcucki. He added that the cost of the modernization would will be around EUR 329 million. Upgrading the Warsaw-Radom track requires EUR 250 million, as it would mean the construction of a new line from Warka to Radom. (Puls Biznesu, p. 10) M.M.