Warsaw–Kunowice railway

Warsaw–Kunowice railway
Overview
Status	in use
Locale	Poland Germany
Termini	Warsaw Kunowice and Frankfurt an der Oder (Germany)
Service
Type	Heavy rail
Route number	3
History
Opened	1870 (1870)
Technical
Line length	475 km (295 mi)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification	3000 V DC
Operating speed	160 km/h (99 mph)
Route map Legend Warsaw Cross-City Line to Warszawa Wschodnia Warszawa Zachodnia to Warszawa Gdańska Warsaw–Kraków railway to Krakow & Warsaw–Grodzisk Mazowiecki railway to Grodzisk Mazowiecki (WKD) Warsaw–Katowice railway to Katowice Warsaw–Katowice railway to Katowice Warszawa Ursus Północny Warsaw–Józefinów railway to Warszawa Gdańska Warszawa Gołąbki Warsaw–Józefinów railway to Józefinów Ożarów Mazowiecki Płochocin Błonie Boża Wola Seroki Teresin Niepokalanów Piasecznica Sochaczew Kornelin Leonów Kęszyce Jasionna Łowicka Bednary Mysłaków Skierniewice–Łowicz railway to Skierniewice & Łowicz–Łódź railway to Zgierz Łowicz–Łódź railway to Zgierz Łowicz Główny Niedźwiada Łowicka Słudźwia Jackowice Zosinów Żychlin Złotniki Kutnowskie Stara Wieś Sklęczki Łódź–Kutno railway to Łęczyca Kutno Kutno–Brodnica railway to Sierpc Kutno–Piła railway to Toruń Azory Nowe Kutnowskie Krzewie Turzynów Kłodawa Chorzów–Tczew railway to Inowrocław│to Chorzów Barłogi Koło Budki Nowe Kramsk Patrzyków Konin–Kazimierz Biskupi railway to Kazimierz Biskupi Konin Konin Zachód Kawnice Spławie Cienin Kościelny Cienin Słupca to Powidz Airport Strzałkowo Wólka Otoczna Gutowo Wielkopolskie Oleśnica–Chojnice railway to Gniezno│to Września & Jarocin Podstolice Nekla Gułtowy Kostrzyn Wielkopolski Paczkowo Swarzędz Poznań Krzesiny–Kobylnica railway to Poznań Franowo freight yard Poznań Antoninek Poznań–Skandawa railway to Inowrocław Poznań–Bydgoszcz railway to Gołańcz Poznań Wschód Poznań Garbary Poznań–Szczecin railway to Szczecin & Poznań–Piła railway to Piła Poznań Główny Kluczbork–Poznań railway to Jarocin Wrocław–Poznań railway to Wrocław Kluczbork–Poznań railway to Jarocin Poznań Górczyn Poznań Junikowo Poznań Plewiska Palędzie Dopiewo Otusz Buk Wojnowice Wielkopolskie Kościan–Opalenica railway to Kościan Opalenica Porażyn Sątopy Nowy Tomyśl Jastrzębsko Chrośnica Leszno–Zbąszyń railway to Leszno Międzychód-Zbąszyń railway to Międzychód Zbąszyń Zbąszynek-Gorzów Wielkopolski railway to Gorzów Wielkopolski Zbąszynek Zbąszynek–Guben railway to Gubin Szczaniec Kupienino Świebodzin Sulechów–Świebodzin railway to Sulechów Wilkowo Świebodzińskie Mostki Bucze Międzyrzecz–Toporów railway to Międzyrzecz Toporów Drzewce Torzym Boczów Wierzbno–Rzepin railway to Międzyrzecz Wrocław–Szczecin railway to Wrocław Rzepin Wrocław–Szczecin railway to Szczecin│to Wrocław Kunowice Kunowice-Cybinka railway to Cybinka Słubice Poland Germany border Frankfurt Berlin–Wrocław railway to Berlin This diagram: view talk edit

The Warsaw–Kunowice railway is a 475-kilometer long railway line in Poland connecting Warsaw, Poznań through Łowicz, Kutno and further to the Polish-German border at Frankfurt an der Oder.

The line is one of the longest and most important routes in Poland and is part of the European E20 (Berlin – Moscow) route.

History

The present day line consists of parts of different railways constructed during the 19th century when Poland was divided between the Russian empire, Prussia and Austria.

The first calls for a railway between Poznań, which at the time as the capital of the Prussian controlled Grand Duchy of Poznań, and Frankfurt (Oder) were made in 1842 when an appeal was made to landowners along the route. However, the line did not come to fruition, due to the deposition of a decision on the matter by the government of Prussia. Eventually the line was built in stages from 1870 by the Margraviate-Poznań Railway company under concession from the Prussian government.

In 1862 the Warsaw-Bydgoszcz Railway was opened running from Łowicz in the Russian controlled Congress Poland, where it connected with a branch line of the Warsaw-Vienna railway, through Kutno, Aleksandrów Kujawski on the Russian-Prussian border, to Prussian controlled Toruń and Bydgoszcz. This line created a connection between Warsaw and Poznań through Toruń on the present day PKP line 353.

Between 1900 and 1902 the Russian broad gauge Warsaw–Kalisz Railway was built connecting Warsaw through Łowicz with Kalisz near the Prussian border and in 1906 extended with a dual-gauge segment to Prussian controlled Ostrów Wielkopolski through which a standard gauge line ran to Poznań.

After Poland regained independence in 1918 in the aftermath of World War I the Warsaw-Kalisz Railway was rebuilt to standard gauge and in 1921 the first new line built in Poland was a missing link from Kutno through Konin to Strzałkowo from where a local line reached Poznań, significantly improving the connection between Warsaw and Poznań.

Between 1925 and 1930 the course of the section Chlastawa – Dąbrówka Zbąska changed in connection with the construction of the station in Zbąszynek. The original section of the line, built in 1870, remained active until the reconstruction of the Zbąszynek–Gorzów Wielkopolski railway as a temporary course of the line to Gorzów Wielkopolski.^[1] In Poznan and Września the course of the line has also been changed over the years.

Route

The town of Września has a bypass which is used by express trains, with a number of services leaving the line to serve the station in Września and rejoin the main line again afterwards.

Modernization

Between 1998 and 2007 the route underwent considerable modernization because of its importance as part of route E20. The work made it possible for passenger trains to travel at 160 km/h, freight trains at 120 km/h. This involved improving the track, catenary, stations, level crossings and signalling.

Usage

The line sees trains of all categories (EuroCity, EuroNight, Express InterCity, Intercity, TLK and regional services).

• EuroCity services from Warsaw to Berlin and Gdansk to Berlin
• EuroNight services from Moscow to Paris and from Warsaw to Cologne
• Express Intercity, Intercity and TLK services along the route between Warsaw and Zbąszynek
• Regional services
  • Polregio between Łowicz and Kutno, between Poznań and Zbąszynek, between Zbąszynek and Rzepin and between Rzepin and Frankfurt (Oder)
  • Koleje Mazowieckie between Warsaw and Kutno
  • Koleje Wielkopolskie between Kutno, Poznań and Zbąszynek

See also

• Railway lines of Poland

References

External links

This page was last edited on 11 May 2024, at 09:04