Gdańsk-Brno railway link gets priority treatment
As part of an €62 billion (zł.283.5 billion) infrastructure investment plan to kick-start economic growth, the European Commission on Tuesday announced that the Gdańsk-Brno rail link is on its shortlist of priority projects. The Brno-Katowice section is scheduled for completion by 2010, with the continuation on to Gdańsk by 2015.
The proposal comes with a parallel funding plan for the trans-European transport network (TEN-T) that will change the rules of financial aid in order to allow for more joint funding of cross-border, so-called, 'priority projects'. This promotes them to the status, in the eyes of European Commissioners with decision-making powers, of being European rather than specifically Polish or Czech priorities.
The news came in a shaky week for the loss-making Polish rail system, as state austerity proposals prompted a Solidarity trade union rail workers call for a nationwide strike on Thursday. At the final hour, Deputy Prime Minister Jerzy Hausner confirmed that he had negotiated an arbitration arrangement that nevertheless has not promised any new government funds to relieve railway debts.
The European investment into Polish rail must be joint funded with Poland, but in reality up to 85 percent will come directly from Brussels. "Infrastructure and transport links are possibly the biggest problems in Poland for investors," says Bruno de Thomas, Head of the European Commission Delegation in Warsaw. "But we cannot solve all of those problems in three years. We have to prioritize, and the link from Katowice to the South is first on the list."
Bruno de Thomas is optimistic about the project's success on budget and on deadline. He highlights that pre-accession cohesion task, the Berlin-Warsaw rail upgrade, has proven to be a major success. "This undertaking can be seen as training for both sides (the Polish authority and Brussels) for the massive cohesion projects that will happen after accession."
According to specialists close to the link, the Berlin-Warsaw journey time will be reduced to four hours and fifteen minutes before the end of the year. The Katowice development will have a similar funding profile, with a feasibility study starting early next year to assess the precise amount of funds to be allocated.
The creation of the Brno-Katowice upgrade has been assessed by the European Union to be a key requirement for the stimulation of inward investment into the Silesian region, both sides of the Polish-Czech border. "The link will help to unite the industrial region between Ostrava and Katowice," says Ladislav Logaj of CzechInvest, the inward investment agency of the Czech Republic, "...it will help to improve its image to worldwide investors. The Czech-Polish Silesia region will have major structural improvements added to it within a few years."
The proposal comes with a parallel funding plan for the trans-European transport network (TEN-T) that will change the rules of financial aid in order to allow for more joint funding of cross-border, so-called, 'priority projects'. This promotes them to the status, in the eyes of European Commissioners with decision-making powers, of being European rather than specifically Polish or Czech priorities.
The news came in a shaky week for the loss-making Polish rail system, as state austerity proposals prompted a Solidarity trade union rail workers call for a nationwide strike on Thursday. At the final hour, Deputy Prime Minister Jerzy Hausner confirmed that he had negotiated an arbitration arrangement that nevertheless has not promised any new government funds to relieve railway debts.
The European investment into Polish rail must be joint funded with Poland, but in reality up to 85 percent will come directly from Brussels. "Infrastructure and transport links are possibly the biggest problems in Poland for investors," says Bruno de Thomas, Head of the European Commission Delegation in Warsaw. "But we cannot solve all of those problems in three years. We have to prioritize, and the link from Katowice to the South is first on the list."
Bruno de Thomas is optimistic about the project's success on budget and on deadline. He highlights that pre-accession cohesion task, the Berlin-Warsaw rail upgrade, has proven to be a major success. "This undertaking can be seen as training for both sides (the Polish authority and Brussels) for the massive cohesion projects that will happen after accession."
According to specialists close to the link, the Berlin-Warsaw journey time will be reduced to four hours and fifteen minutes before the end of the year. The Katowice development will have a similar funding profile, with a feasibility study starting early next year to assess the precise amount of funds to be allocated.
The creation of the Brno-Katowice upgrade has been assessed by the European Union to be a key requirement for the stimulation of inward investment into the Silesian region, both sides of the Polish-Czech border. "The link will help to unite the industrial region between Ostrava and Katowice," says Ladislav Logaj of CzechInvest, the inward investment agency of the Czech Republic, "...it will help to improve its image to worldwide investors. The Czech-Polish Silesia region will have major structural improvements added to it within a few years."
