photo: PKP Intercity/PKP Intercity Announces Largest Ever Tender for Purchase of 450 New Railcars with Modern Design
PKP Intercity has just announced the largest rolling stock tender in its history concerning the number of vehicles. Upon completion of the order, the carrier's fleet will expand by as many as 300 new railcars, with the right of option allowing the purchase of an additional 150 vehicles. It will bring a new design standard and travel comfort to PKP Intercity's offer.
The announced tender is another part of the national carrier's consistently implemented investment strategy PKP Intercity - Railway of Large Investments. Its effects are already visible on Polish tracks, on which more and more new and modernized vehicles in the colours of PKP Intercity are travelling.
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"Poland has become a leader in transport investments in Europe, and activities such as today's are the best proof of this. We are confidently betting on the development of Poland's environmentally-friendly railroads, and the purchase by our national carrier of several hundred modern, safe and comfortable railcars will be a huge step toward rail as a leading mode of transportation. The new quality will attract millions more travellers to trains," says Andrzej Adamczyk, Minister of Infrastructure.
"PKP Intercity has already invested PLN 7 billion in modern rolling stock, and it is just the beginning. By 2030, outlays will reach PLN 27 billion. The money will be spent on rolling stock, and modern, environmentally-friendly technical facilities. These investments are a powerful developmental boost for the country. Since the beginning of its work, the Law and Justice government has been trying to make this development even. So that all regions and all Poles benefit. The strategy implemented by PKP Intercity is a great opportunity for Polish companies. After all, most railroad tenders are won by Polish companies. It is thanks to orders such as those from PKP Intercity that our companies develop, and then also compete effectively in foreign markets. It is how state-owned companies should carry out their mission," stresses Maciej Małecki, secretary of state at the Ministry of State Assets.
Seven types of wagons
The tender will purchase wagons of various types. Upon completion of the deliveries, in the basic option, PKP Intercity's fleet will be richer with:
- 38 1st class compartment wagons with a separate compartmentless section;
- 40 2nd class compartment cars;
- 80 2nd class compartmentless cars;
- 38 2nd class-compartment cars with seats for people with disabilities;
- 40 compartmentless 2nd class cars with bicycle seats;
- 38 dining cars;
- 26 day-night coaches that will provide comfortable night travel
If the option right is exercised, which will expand the order to a total of 450 railcars, each of the above-mentioned categories of rolling stock will be expanded by additional units, from 13 to 40 units.
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"Increasing quality is becoming a hallmark of the Polish railroad. As the recent popularity of PKP Intercity's services shows, travellers recognize these changes, making them increasingly choose the train as their mode of transportation for long-distance travel. This trend is stable and will be reinforced by intensive rolling stock investments making rail travel easier and more comfortable. Up to 450 modern train cars in a new design is a milestone for PKP Intercity and the Polish railroad," argues Andrzej Bittel, Secretary of State at the Ministry of Infrastructure.
The new railcars will accelerate to 200 km/h. PKP Intercity expects to start the deliveries in 2025. The new vehicles will be used in the medium category - one of three new categories of connections that PKP Intercity plans to launch in the 2030 timeframe. The medium category trains will connect major agglomerations, stopping at smaller centres, as well as running abroad. The cars will be homologated for the rail networks of the Czech Republic, Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary and Lithuania. The new units will ultimately be able to operate on the following routes after approval:
- Warsaw - Poznań - Berlin;
- Warsaw - Poznan - Szczecin;
- Gdynia - Warsaw - Katowice - Bohumin - Vienna;
- Przemyśl - Kraków - Katowice - Wrocław - Berlin;
- Przemyśl - Kraków - Katowice - Wrocław - Poznań - Szczecin;
- Gdynia - Poznan - Wroclaw - Prague;
- Krakow/Wrocław - Bohumin - Vienna
A new approach to design and a new level of travel comfort
The railcars purchased in this tender will introduce new standards and set innovative directions for rolling stock design in Poland, as they have been designed following a new approach to design. The innovative approach concerns both visual and technical issues. The prepared design of the new vehicles is a package of stylistic and functional solutions that will become a repetitive, intuitive and characteristic standard of PKP Intercity.
"It is an extremely important tender and a huge step in our investment strategy implementation, which will noticeably strengthen our transport capacity. The current year and the record numbers of passengers carried prove the rightness of the strategy and comprehensive rolling stock purchases. The popularity of rail travel is growing rapidly in Poland, and our task is to offer passengers increasingly higher-quality services. Also contributing to this will be the design of railcars, which will be a new quality on Polish tracks and will certainly convince more travellers to rail. We are strongly changing our approach to the design of passenger space," says Marek Chraniuk, CEO of PKP Intercity.
The new train cars will introduce a new quality in terms of the materials used and a new colour scheme. The trains will gain cosier and more comfortable interiors with mood lighting.
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The new carriages will be equipped with amenities that are already becoming standard on PKP Intercity trains. Passengers will benefit, among other things, from WiFi, a system of individual lighting, and electrical and USB sockets. Comfortable travel will also be ensured by air conditioning and a passenger information system displayed on light boards. In the interest of traveller safety, a carriage-wide fire detection system and video surveillance have been implemented. The new design also includes new interior configuration solutions. Carriages of both classes will gain additional space for luggage, located under the seats, which will be more comfortable.
An innovative solution will be a space designed for parents travelling with children, which will connect the passenger section with a safe play area, allowing comfortable travel with toddlers.
"The tender includes different types of railcars, as the needs of different groups of travellers differ. The new railcars will meet the expectations of different passenger groups - those travelling with children, alone or with bicycles. Our goal is an affordable, comfortable and user-friendly rolling stock. It is what our ambitious plans to invest in modern rolling stock serve. In creating the PKP Intercity - Railway of Large Investments strategy, we identified rolling stock needs, which are now being filled," explains Jaroslaw Oniszczuk, PKP Intercity Board Member.
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First-class seats will gain a new and consistent standard, which will include coaches with compartments and those without compartments, and inside, in addition to standard amenities, there will be novelties such as induction chargers. Restaurant cars will also change, gaining a more intimate and atmospheric interior.
Source: PKP Intercity Press Releases