PLN 20 billion for locomotives for CPK. The company operates, although its future is uncertain

CPK is not only a mega airport near Baranów, but also the so-called railway component, which assumes the expansion of high-speed railways and regional railways. High-speed trains are to transport passengers from Poland towards the airport, but will also provide transport between large centers. Local connections do not have to be related to the CPK – so why was it decided to include them in this project?

CPK is not only an airport

– Covering dozens of railway investments, including regional ones, with the CPK project was, to some extent, a political decision. It was decided that it would be easier to implement railway investments if they were “connected” to the CPK umbrella, after previously removing them from PKP’s responsibility. While the PKP Group is managing to modernize railway lines, it has not built practically any new ones for 30 years. In addition, the corporation is not very effective and works sluggishly. The CPK company is a completely new structure, not burdened with the sins of PKP. It completed many tenders faster than its railway counterpart, hence the experiment – said Dominik Sipiński, transport and infrastructure analyst at the Polityka Insight and ch-aviation analytical center, in an interview for “Wprost”.

“Puls Biznesu” informs that the government has planned to establish a company that will buy 100-200 high-speed trains that will run to the Central Communication Port. A total of PLN 20 billion may be allocated for this purpose.

The new entity is to be established by the CPK company, but state and private investors may also be shareholders. In the government plan, the new entity is called a ROSCO company. It is to be a rolling stock pool that will rent trains to carriers wanting to transport passengers on the HSR network – informs “PB”.

CPK audit

The new government will decide about the future of CKP, and the results of the audit, which will check the validity of the investment, will be very important for this decision. It can be assumed that until the document is prepared, work will be suspended or limited to a minimum.

Dominik Sipiński pointed out that auditors will have to assess whether there are too many railway tasks and “whether the construction of regional connections should really take place in this structure.”

– The opposition calls for the development of rail transport between counties, so this goal is part of its electoral program, but it must be assessed whether tasks completely unrelated to the airport and transporting passengers to it should be carried out by the CPK special purpose vehicle. Perhaps priorities should also be changed to build lines faster in the most excluded regions, he said.