Łódź Cross-City Line

A Łódź Cross-City Line is a planned railway line running through the centre of the city of Łódź, Poland, intended to connect three major railway stations of the city: Łódź Kaliska, Łódź Fabryczna and Łódź Widzew. It consists of two sections: open-air section between Łódź Widzew and Łódź Niciarniana stations, and a tunnel, currently reaching Łódź Fabryczna station.

Łódź Cross-City Line
 17  to Koluszki
 Łódź Widzew
 16  to Zgierz
 540  to Łódź Chojny
 Łódź Niciarniana
 Łódź Fabryczna
 Łódź Śródmieście
 Łódź Polesie
 Łódź Koziny
Łódź
Żabieniec
 15  to Zgierz
Łódź Kaliska
 14  to Kalisz
 25  to Łódź Chojny

Existing sections

Łódź Fabryczna - Łódź Widzew

Historically, this 5.27 kilometres (3.27 mi) long section was opened in 1865 as a part of Łódź Factory Railway.[1] - a company established by Karl Wilhelm Scheibler and Jan Bloch. The railway allowed Łódź to be served by trains running on the Warsaw-Vienna railway.[2] In 1903 Łódź Widzew station was opened, serving both "factory line" to Łódź Fabryczna and a circular line leading to Łódź Kaliska station, both of which operated on different track gauges. The track gauge was unified during World War I. Before World War II a third station - Łódź Niciarniana - was opened. The line was electrified in 1954.

In 2011 the section was closed, as the general reconstruction began.[3] The old buildings of Łódź Fabryczna and Niciarniana stations were demolished, tracks were dismantled, and ground works began.[4] In 2012 the construction of a cross-city tunnel from Łódź Fabryczna to Łódź Niciarniana stations has begun, along with the construction of new stations. These works required replacing a secured level crossing with an underpass for Niciarniana street and replacing the platforms with a new island platform over the underpass. On 11th of December 2016 the section was reopened,[5] being served by ŁKA commuter trains, Polregio regional trains and PKP Intercity trains.

Sections under construction

Łódź Fabryczna - Łódź Kaliska
Scheme of planned cross-city tunnel between Fabryczna and Kaliska stations.

In 2009 representatives of the City of Łódź, Government of Łódź Voivodeship and PKP PLK signed an agreement for creating a feasibility study for building a cross-city tunnels between Łódź Fabryczna and Łódź Kaliska stations: one for regular rail services, other for high-speed rail as part of planned line "Y" from Warsaw through Łódź to Poznań and Wrocław. In 2010, a contract for a feasibility study into a conventional rail tunnel was awarded to the Spanish company, Sener.[6][7]

The plan for conventional rail tunnel consisted of a double-track tunnel running between Łódź Fabryczna station and railway line no. 15, running between Łódź Kaliska and Łódź Żabieniec stations, with the possibility for both stations to access the tunnel. The plan proposed the construction of two additional stops: Łódź Śródmieście and Łódź Polesie. Łódź Śródmieście will be located under the intersections of Zielona and Zachodnia streets with Kościuszko Avenue. Łódź Polesie is proposed to be located near the intersections of Ogrodowa and Jan Karski streets, near the Manufaktura shopping gallery (former site of I. Poznański's textile factory). The double-track connection with Kaliska and Żabieniec stations will be provided by an underground branch post Łódź Włókniarzy, where the tunnel will split firstly into 2, then into 4 single-track tunnels - a pair for each station.[8] The total length of the tunnel is estimated to be approximately 2.7 kilometres (1.7 mi).[9]

On 28th of November 2016 PKP PLK started an bidding process to selecting a contractor for designing and building the cross-city tunnel between Fabryczna and Kaliska stations. The maximum cost of the contract was estimated at 2.17 billion PLN, with a proposed construction period of between 48 and 51 months.[10]

In September 2017, the contract was awarded to a consortium of Energopol Szczecin and Przedsiębiorstwo Budowy Dróg i Mostów (eng. Road and Bridges Construction Company) from Mińsk Mazowiecki, starting with an offer estimated at 1.59 billion PLN.[11] The contract was signed on the 28th of December 2017.[12] In June 2019 Energopol filed for bankruptcy, and the request was approved by Szczecin-Centrum District Court in March 2020.[13] Therefore the majority of the works was put on the second participant of the consortium.[14]

The construction works began in August 2019, starting with construction of drill chamber in the area between Odolanowska and Stolarska streets in Polesie district. From there a large tunnel boring machine will begin drilling the double-track tunnel toward western end of Łódź Fabryczna station, while smaller TBM will make two single-track tunnels between this chamber and the branch post area, along with 4 tunnels to Kaliska and Żabieniec station. The tunnel is expected to be complete sometime in 2022 or 2023.[15][16] Construction of smaller chambers near the existing railway line began in 2020. Two TBMs made by German company Herrenknecht were successfully shipped in December 2019 (small one) and February 2020 (large one), arriving on the construction site respectively in February and June this year.[17][18]

In February 2020 a plan for a third stopping point - Łódź Koziny - was approved. Said stopping point will be located in a place of the second large drilling chamber, located within the quarter of Włókniarzy Avenue, Drewnowska St. and Kasprzaka St, initially set as an underground branch post, with access points near Włókniarzy Avenue and Kasprzaka St. Initially, construction of the stopping point was to be commenced after 2022 as part of second phase of upgrading the railways in Łódź,[19] yet in Q3 of 2020 the station was added to the existing construction schedule.[20]

References
  1. "Słownik geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego i innych krajów słowiańskich, Tom II - wynik wyszukiwania - DIR". dir.icm.edu.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2019-03-07.
  2. Rynkowska, Anna (1970). Ulica Piotrkowska (in Polish) (I ed.). Łódź: Wydawnictwo Łódzkie. p. 103. ISBN 978-83939822-4-0.
  3. "Łódź Fabryczna: Inwestycja wielkich nadziei i problemów (fotogaleria)". www.rynek-kolejowy.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2019-03-07.
  4. "Zaczęli kopać na Fabrycznym!". EC1 Dziennik kolejowy (in Polish).
  5. "Tłumy na otwarciu nowej Łodzi Fabrycznej [zdjęcia] [film]". www.rynek-kolejowy.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2019-03-07.
  6. "Wszystko na temat branży kolejowej: PKP, Intercity, przewozy regionalne, koleje mazowieckie, rozkłady jazdy PKP, Kolej". www.rynek-kolejowy.pl. Retrieved 2019-03-07.
  7. (MSM) (2010-03-12). "Hiszpanie zaprojektują kolejowy tunel z Fabrycznego na Kaliski". lodzkie.naszemiasto.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2019-03-07.
  8. "Lodź | PKP Polskie Linie Kolejowe S.A." (in Polish). Retrieved 2019-03-10.
  9. "Łódź: KE przyznała dofinansowanie na tunel średnicowy". www.rynek-kolejowy.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2019-03-07.
  10. "Ogromny przetarg na budowę tunelu pod Łodzią ogłoszony". www.rynek-kolejowy.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2019-03-07.
  11. "Łódzki tunel średnicowy: KIO oddaliła odwołania". www.rynek-kolejowy.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2019-03-07.
  12. "Łódź: Jest umowa na tunel średnicowy. Początek prac jesienią". www.rynek-kolejowy.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2019-03-07.
  13. "To koniec Energopolu Szczecin. Sąd ogłosił upadłość firmy". www.rynekinfrastruktury.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2020-11-12.
  14. "Łódzki tunel średnicowy: PBDiM nowym liderem konsorcjum [aktualizacja]". www.rynek-kolejowy.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2020-11-12.
  15. "Łódź: Tunel średnicowy zgodnie z planem. W czerwcu budowa komory startowej". www.transport-publiczny.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2019-03-07.
  16. "Ruszyły pierwsze prace przy łódzkim tunelu. Na razie – rozbiórkowe [zdjęcia]". www.rynek-kolejowy.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2019-08-26.
  17. Łódź, Radio. "Maszyna TBM, która wywierci tunel kolejowy pod Łodzią przeszła odbiór techniczny. Jej pierwsze części przyjadą do Łodzi w marcu". Radio Łódź (in Polish). Retrieved 2020-11-23.
  18. "Do Łodzi dotarły wszystkie elementy dwóch maszyn TBM". Portal Kolejowy NaKolei.pl (in Polish). 2020-06-25. Retrieved 2020-11-23.
  19. "Łódzki tunel średnicowy. Otwarcie w 2022 r." www.transport-publiczny.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2020-03-11.
  20. "Łódzki tunel średnicowy: Jaki przystanek przy Włókniarzy?". www.transport-publiczny.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2020-11-12.
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