New metro line in Warsaw

as polish radio reports

Warsaw authorities have announced plans to build a second metro line in the capital city, set to open in 2011, just in time for the EURO 2012 football championships.

The metro line is set to run east-west for six kilometers, with seven stations at Rondo Daszynskiego, Rondo ONZ, Swietokrzyska, Nowy Swiat, Powisle, Stadion and Dworzec Wilenski.

WARSAW, Poland (AP) -

The Polish capital celebrated the completion of its first subway line on Saturday, 25 years after the project was launched.
Though the north-south metro line first started running in 1995, its completion was long delayed by financial and other problems.
On Saturday, three northern stations were finally put into operation, extending the
subway's course to 14 miles (23 kilometers). To celebrate, Warsaw offered free travel on the 23-stop line Saturday afternoon.

Construction began in 1983 under communism but was slowed in part by a lack of equipment. Seven years later communism fell and money was short as the country changed to a market economy.
City authorities plan to build a second, east-west line, but there is no timetable for how long that might take.

Warsaw receives zł.3 billion from EU for second metro line

The Polish capital has been granted zł.3 billion in funds from the European Union to help in the construction of the central stretch of the city's second subway line. The project will run from the Daszyńskiego Roundabout in Wola to the Warszawa Wileńska railway station in Praga Północ, intersecting the existing metro line at Świętokrzyska station.

"We are leaders in obtaining European funds," deputy Warsaw mayor Jarosław Kochaniak told a press conference.

The figure is significantly higher than the zł.1.2 billion originally fought for by the City Hall. In February, however, it turned out that the cheapest tender bid – by an Italian-Turkish-Polish consortium – would cost zł.4.1 billion.

The funds are expected to cover the cost of construction, as well as purchasing around twenty new trains whose value will amount to around zł.500-600 million.

According to Gazeta Wyborcza, it will be yet another two or three months before the contract is signed, as a Chinese consortium which lost the tender has appealed the City Hall's decision. (RG)

Source: Gazeta Wyborcza

From Warsaw Business Journal by Roberto Galea