Poland is preparing to overhaul how it funds rail construction. In the coming weeks, the government will decide whether to transform the modest Railway Fund into a heavyweight financing tool, lifting annual allocations from about 1 billion to as much as 20 billion zloty for the Centralny Port Komunikacyjny (CPK) and other projects. Poland’s government will decide over the next weeks whether to adopt a new Railway Fund Act, potentially boosting the country’s dedicated rail fund up to twentyfold annually. The legislation would reshape the small existing Railway Fund into a major infrastructure vehicle, making it the backbone of high-speed rail construction, including the Centralny Port Komunikacyjny (CPK) “Y” line. Deputy Infrastructure Minister Piotr Malepszak met with Finance Minister Andrzej Domański last week to discuss the final details. Malepszak said talks were progressing and expressed optimism that the government would approve the mechanism, which he described as essential for both the national rail manager PKP PLK and the CPK project. The new fund would operate on the model of the National Road Fund, which has long provided stable financing for highways. A version of the Railway Fund has existed since 2006, but it has been a minor instrument, allocating roughly one billion zloty (€230m) per year, mostly to maintenance and debt servicing. By comparison, the Road Fund has had annual inflows of around 20 billion (€4.68bn). Industry groups have long complained that this imbalance leaves rail the “poorer brother” of road transport, despite its climate advantages and strategic importance. Poland scaling up rail funding The reform now on the table would radically scale up that mechanism. The rail industry estimates the new Railway Fund should receive between 15 and 20 billion zloty (€3.5-4.6bn) annually, a level Malepszak and Prime Minister Donald Tusk have both endorsed. Tusk has pledged a total of 180 billion zloty (€41bn) for rail in the coming years, with the revamped Railway Fund acting as the key channel for delivering it. Map of the high-speed rail network with a connection to Ukraine. © CPK That scale of financing is considered crucial for CPK’s railway programme, particularly the planned “Y” network linking Warsaw, Łódź, Poznań and Wrocław, with a branch at Kalisz. The Ministry of Infrastructure estimates the line’s cost at nearly 77 billion zloty (€17.5bn). Construction is already underway on a 4.6-kilometre tunnel in Łódź’s Retkinia district, awarded to contractor PORR for 2.16–2.2 billion zloty (€490–500m). The “Y” line, scheduled for phased delivery between 2032 and 2035, is forecast to carry 21 million long-distance passengers annually, about 20% of the Polish market. It would also serve 12.9 million regional passengers. By 2035, Poland’s overall rail ridership is projected to surpass 550 million, meaning the CPK lines could reshape national traffic patterns. Rail liberalisation: CPK forges ahead with plan to become Poland’s first high-speed ROSCO Preparatory works in the pipeline In parallel, preparatory works are progressing on about 880 kilometres of additional routes. These include Katowice–Jastrzębie Zdrój to the Czech border, the CPK junction–Płock–Włocławek corridor, and the Lipno–Grudziądz–Gdańsk section. A separate Katowice–Ostrava line has already undergone technical and environmental studies. That project could cut Warsaw–Prague journey times from more than five hours to under three, and Warsaw–Budapest to under four. Construction companies have strongly welcomed the prospect of a fully financed Railway Fund. They argue that dependence on cyclical EU funds causes instability, with periods of market drought followed by sudden floods of contracts. A domestic fund on the scale now proposed would give the sector long-term stability and the ability to plan staffing and resources more effectively. If the government signs off next week, the Railway Fund Act will proceed to parliament later this year
