Centralny Port Komunikacyjny (CPK) is not just an airport – the project includes the construction of approximately 2,000km of new railway lines across Poland.
CPK will be equipped with a total of 12 railway routes, including ten so-called spokes leading from different regions of Poland to Warsaw and Solidarity Airport. The entire investment programme will be completed by 2034.
The CPK project will bring Poland’s transport system to the forefront of Europe, while also reducing transport exclusion. There are still towns in Poland with a population of more than 50,000 inhabitants where there has been no railway for many years or there has never been one. The new network is expected to provide access within a maximum of 2.5 hours from most major Polish cities to the new airport and the country’s capital. More importantly, the construction of the Centralny Port Komunikacyjny will be much more convenient, saving travellers time and money. Planning a trip abroad will no longer require hours of searching for connections or using transfer hubs in nearby countries. Instead, travellers will be able to reach various destinations in Europe, Asia, North and South America, and Africa directly from the centre of Poland via an airport that will be connected by a high-speed rail network to provinces and cities across the country.
Last year, the European Commission proposed to incorporate many of the Polish proposals for revising the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T), which includes Europe’s strategic rail, road, air, sea, and inland waterways, as well as so-called “point infrastructure” (such as airports, seaports, and road-rail terminals). As a result, Solidarity Airport, the extension of the Polish Central Railway Line (CMK – Centralna Magistrala Kolejowa) to the north, and selected railway lines have been added to the EU’s investment priorities for the coming years. Crucially, the network of new railway lines to be built fall within the sustainability and smart mobility strategy adopted by the European Commission, and will therefore be compliant with the European Green Deal. In mid-2022, the European Commission published a proposal to amend the Trans-European Transport Network regulation to strengthen the transport network on the EU’s eastern border and in Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova. The EC has proposed extending four European transport corridors into Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova, which will include, among others, the port of Odessa.
