2011 to be a record year for Polish railway investments - November 2011

Despite initial difficulties in expending the EU funds allocated for 2007-2013, the year 2010 marked the beginning of an upturn in large construction tenders issued by PKP PLK. PLN 16bn (€4bn) worth of contracts has been awarded to the main contractors operating in the railway construction market in the last four years.

In spite of the common view – shared by nearly everyone in the nation – that the Polish railway sector is completely caught up in stagnation and has spiralled into collapse, as of 2010, PKP PLK has considerably stepped up the pace of contracting activity regarding new railway line upgrades. Having drawn on funds from a large pool awarded by the European Union, the administrator of the countrywide railway infrastructure is doing its best to take full advantage of this opportunity and improve, if only a little bit, the disastrous condition of the infrastructure under its administration. Effects of these measures are already being felt.