Poland’s high-speed rail ambitions took center stage in Brussels this week as European industry leaders gathered for the 2026 European Railway Award.

In a year when the prize spotlighted collective commitment to rail across the continent, it was Poland’s assertive leadership on policy, funding and project delivery that drew particular attention, positioning the country as a driving force in the modernisation of Europe’s high-speed network.

High-speed train in Poland symbolizing the country's emerging leadership in European rail.

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Poland in the European Railway Award Spotlight

The 19th European Railway Award, held on 2 February 2026, underlined how central rail has become to EU competitiveness and climate goals. Organised by the Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies and the Association of the European Rail Supply Industry, the ceremony has evolved into a barometer of where political momentum in the sector is coming from.

This year, Poland’s performance during its Presidency of the Council of the European Union and in subsequent transport negotiations was singled out by rail insiders as a turning point. Senior EU figures praised Warsaw’s role in consolidating support for high-speed rail as a backbone of the single market, particularly on the North Sea–Baltic and Baltic–Adriatic corridors, and for linking rail investment to energy security and resilience debates.

While the formal awards recognised both a pan‑European political initiative and broader national efforts, the informal discussion in Brussels revolved around one theme: Poland has moved from a high‑growth periphery player to a policy entrepreneur in the high‑speed rail space. Officials and industry executives pointed out that this is not only about speeches and communiqués, but anchored in a detailed program of concrete investments now entering the construction phase.

For European rail stakeholders, the symbolism matters. A country long seen as lagging behind Western Europe in infrastructure quality is now shaping the debate on interoperable high-speed standards, new funding models and cross‑border timetable integration, in the process challenging older assumptions about where rail innovation comes from.

From Conventional Network to High-Speed Era

Until recently, Poland’s passenger rail system relied almost entirely on upgraded conventional lines powered by a 3 kV DC traction system. The fastest scheduled services, such as the Warsaw–Gdańsk route, typically peak at around 200 km/h, with travel times between major cities often double those offered by air and uncompetitive with private cars on new motorways.

That picture is now changing. On the Central Rail Line between Warsaw, Kraków and Katowice, modernisation work is lifting operational speeds to 250 km/h, providing the first taste of higher‑speed travel within the existing network. At the same time, the government’s flagship Centralny Port Komunikacyjny, or CPK, program is laying the groundwork for something qualitatively different: a purpose‑built high-speed rail system engineered for 320 to 350 km/h.

The shift is structural rather than incremental. New lines will be electrified at 25 kV AC, a standard widely used on French, Spanish and Italian high-speed networks and aligned with European interoperability norms. Geometry, trackbed, signalling and turnouts are being designed from the outset for sustained high‑speed operation, rather than retrofitted to legacy alignments. This technical reset allows Polish planners to integrate their new corridors seamlessly into the Trans-European Transport Network and into emerging cross‑border high-speed services.

Polish officials and operators argue that modernising the network in this way is essential if rail is to capture a substantially larger share of long‑distance travel. Faster point‑to‑point times between Warsaw, Łódź, Poznań and Wrocław, supported by competitive fares and high frequencies, are expected to shift millions of passengers from domestic air routes and private cars to rail, supporting both decarbonisation and congestion‑reduction goals.

CPK’s “Y” Line: A New Spine for Central Europe

At the heart of Poland’s high-speed strategy is the 480‑kilometre “Y” line, a Y‑shaped corridor connecting Warsaw and the future CPK airport with Łódź, and then branching westwards toward Poznań and Wrocław. Designed for passenger speeds of up to 350 km/h, it aims to cut some existing journey times nearly in half.

Under current plans, the first section between Warsaw and Łódź is scheduled to enter service in 2032, roughly in parallel with the opening of the new CPK airport. Travel time between the two cities is expected to fall from around 90 minutes today to approximately 45 minutes, with express links bringing passengers from Warsaw to the airport in about 15 minutes and from Łódź in around 30 minutes.

By 2035, with the western branches completed, the “Y” corridor should reduce travel time between Warsaw and Poznań to roughly 1 hour 40 minutes, and deliver sub‑two‑hour journeys between Warsaw and Wrocław. Forecasts prepared for the CPK program suggest that by the mid‑2030s, as many as one in five long‑distance rail passengers in Poland could be traveling on the Warsaw–Łódź section alone.

Crucially, the “Y” line is not conceived as an isolated national project. It forms a core component of the EU’s Trans-European Transport Network, tying into the North Sea–Baltic corridor and connecting Polish cities both to Baltic ports and to Germany and the Benelux countries. During debates that fed into the European Railway Award, several EU transport officials cited the “Y” line as a model of how national high-speed initiatives can be tightly coupled to cross‑border corridor planning.

Breaking Ground: Tunnels, Tenders and Technical Firsts

The transformation from glossy masterplans to operational high-speed services is now being felt on the ground. In Łódź, work has started on the country’s most complex rail tunneling project: a 4.6‑kilometre, 14‑metre diameter high-speed tunnel that will carry Line 85 under the city center at depths of roughly 25 to 35 metres. The contract, valued at about 2.2 billion złoty, has been awarded to major construction group PORR, with a four‑year completion horizon.

The tunnel is designed as a long‑distance artery allowing non‑stop high-speed trains to pass beneath Łódź without conflicting with dense metropolitan services on the surface network. It is being closely coordinated with a separate metropolitan tunnel implemented by infrastructure manager PKP PLK, illustrating the way national and regional investments are being woven together to avoid future capacity bottlenecks.

In parallel, Poland has recently launched its first procurement for genuine high-speed line construction, marking a milestone both domestically and for Central and Eastern Europe. Under the Port Polska framework, CPK has opened a competitive dialogue tender for a 13‑kilometre section between Kotowice and the future airport junction in the Masovian region. The segment, part of Line 85, will be engineered for 350 km/h running and powered with 25 kV AC, introducing a new electrification and infrastructure standard to the Polish mainline.

The tender is structured in two stages, with interested consortia submitting applications before a shortlist of up to six is invited to detailed dialogue and final offers. The winning contractor will be responsible for both the final design and construction, a design‑and‑build approach that the government hopes will accelerate delivery and foster closer collaboration between engineers and builders.

Financing, EU Support and the TEN-T Dimension

Poland’s leadership story is not only about technical ambition, but also about aligning national financing and EU instruments around a coherent high-speed vision. At the end of 2024, the Council of Ministers approved an updated multiannual program for CPK covering 2024 to 2032, earmarking more than 130 billion złoty for airport and rail components. A substantial share of that envelope is directed at preparatory work, design and early construction on new high-speed lines.

The “Y” line and associated links feature prominently in EU transport policy as part of the core Trans-European Transport Network. By design, they are embedded in the North Sea–Baltic Sea corridor, which seeks to connect Baltic ports with Germany, the Benelux countries and further west. Polish schemes are already drawing on the Connecting Europe Facility, the bloc’s main infrastructure funding tool, which has awarded financing for design documentation on sections such as Sieradz–Pleszew–Poznań.

For Brussels policymakers, this matters on several levels. It helps ensure that new Polish high-speed infrastructure meets interoperability requirements, including signaling, axle loads and electrification standards, facilitating international operations. It also strengthens arguments for additional EU co‑financing, as projects clearly demonstrate benefits beyond national borders, by shortening east–west freight and passenger routes and providing redundancy in case of disruptions elsewhere in the network.

In the context of broader debates around European resilience and defense mobility, Polish officials have further stressed the dual‑use nature of CPK’s rail investments. Lines are being designed not only to carry high‑speed passenger services, but also to accommodate military and strategic cargo in crisis situations, an angle that has resonated with EU leaders looking to tie infrastructure policy more closely to security priorities.

Governance, Policy Leadership and Industry Partnerships

Behind the engineering headlines sits a broader policy and governance shift that many observers at the European Railway Award see as central to Poland’s emerging leadership. The CPK program operates as a dedicated entity, bringing together government ministries, infrastructure managers and the private sector under a single strategic umbrella focused on long‑term network transformation rather than piecemeal upgrades.

Key figures, including the government’s plenipotentiary for CPK and senior officials at the Ministry of Infrastructure, have used European forums to argue for a more integrated rail policy, spanning investment, regulation and industrial strategy. They have pushed for coordinated timetables on core corridors, a long‑term pipeline of interoperable rolling stock orders and the removal of bottlenecks that still slow cross‑border services across the continent.

At the same time, CPK has been building partnerships with experienced high-speed rail players in Spain and South Korea. Cooperation agreements with entities such as ADIF, INECO and Korea National Railway cover signaling design, tunneling techniques, high‑speed turnouts and project management. These arrangements allow Polish teams to tap into decades of operational experience from mature high-speed systems while tailoring solutions to local conditions.

Industry suppliers note that this collaborative approach has two additional benefits. It strengthens European supply chains for key components, making it easier to scale up high-speed projects elsewhere in the EU, and it gives Poland a voice in standard‑setting discussions for next‑generation signaling, digital capacity management and energy‑efficient operations, all of which will shape the continent’s network for decades.

Implications for Travelers and the European Rail Map

For travelers, the most tangible impact of Poland’s modernization push will be measured not in policy documents but in minutes shaved off journey times and the ease of seamless connections. Once the first sections of the “Y” line come online in the early 2030s, large swathes of central and western Poland will sit within two hours of Warsaw by rail, transforming commuting patterns, business travel and tourism flows.

Smaller cities such as Sieradz, Kalisz and Pleszew, located along the future high-speed branches, are expected to benefit disproportionately. Faster connections to regional hubs should make them more attractive for investment and for residents who want access to big‑city jobs and services without giving up smaller‑town quality of life. Analysts argue that this, in turn, could help rebalance Poland’s economic geography, easing pressure on the largest metropolitan areas.

On a European scale, the integration of Polish high-speed corridors into the TEN-T grid opens up a new axis of fast, electrified travel from the Baltic region toward Germany, the Benelux states and beyond. As other countries upgrade or construct their own high-speed sections, the possibility of through‑running services linking Warsaw with Berlin, Amsterdam or even Paris in competitive times becomes more realistic.

Environmental groups and transport economists at the Brussels ceremony stressed that such shifts are essential if the EU is to meet its climate targets. High-speed rail on decarbonised electricity is seen as one of the few options capable of significantly reducing emissions from medium‑distance travel at scale, provided that services are frequent, reliable and well integrated with local and regional networks at each end.

FAQ

Q1. What is the European Railway Award and why is it important for Poland?
It is an annual event organised by European rail associations to honour outstanding political and technical contributions to the sector. For Poland, the 2026 edition spotlighted its role in advancing high-speed rail policy and major investments that align closely with EU transport and climate goals.

Q2. What is the CPK program and how does it relate to high-speed rail?
The CPK program is a strategic Polish transport initiative that combines a new hub airport with a nationwide rail upgrade. Its core includes new high-speed lines designed for up to 350 km/h, notably the “Y” corridor linking Warsaw, Łódź, Poznań and Wrocław.

Q3. When will passengers first be able to use high-speed rail lines built under CPK?
Current schedules envisage the first high-speed section between Warsaw, the new CPK airport and Łódź opening around 2032, with extensions to Poznań and Wrocław following by about 2035, subject to permitting, tendering and construction progress.

Q4. How fast will trains run on Poland’s new high-speed network?
The new lines are being engineered for design speeds of up to 350 km/h, with initial operating speeds expected to be slightly lower. This is a significant jump from today’s fastest services, which generally top out at 200 to 250 km/h on upgraded conventional tracks.

Q5. How is the “Y” line different from existing Polish rail routes?
Unlike legacy lines that were gradually upgraded, the “Y” line is purpose‑built for high-speed operation, uses 25 kV AC electrification and modern signaling, and follows new alignments optimised for speed. It is also fully integrated into the EU’s core transport network.

Q6. What concrete construction works are already under way?
Among the most notable projects is the 4.6‑kilometre high-speed tunnel under Łódź, now in the early stages of delivery, and the launch of a competitive tender for a 13‑kilometre high-speed segment between Kotowice and the future airport junction west of Warsaw.

Q7. How are these projects being financed?
Poland has adopted a multiannual national funding program for CPK that allocates tens of billions of złoty to rail works through 2032. This is complemented by European Union grants, notably from the Connecting Europe Facility, for design and selected construction activities.

Q8. Will the new high-speed lines also carry freight or military traffic?
While they are primarily designed for fast passenger services, key sections are being built to dual‑use standards. This means they can support strategic and military movements in emergencies, adding a resilience and security dimension to the investments.

Q9. What benefits will travelers notice first?
The earliest benefits are expected to be sharply reduced journey times between major Polish cities, more frequent and reliable services, and easier connections between long‑distance trains, regional lines and the future CPK airport.

Q10. How does Polish leadership influence the broader European high-speed rail agenda?
By pairing an ambitious domestic program with active engagement in EU forums, Poland is helping to shape standards, funding priorities and corridor planning for high-speed rail across Europe, encouraging other member states to raise their own ambitions and coordinate more closely on cross‑border links.