Regional rail operators from across Poland submitted applications to the Centre for EU Transport Projects for funding to purchase trains. CUPT reviewed 26 of them and deemed the two applications submitted by Koleje Dolnośląskie to be the best.
Funds will unlock investment potential
The funding concerns the purchase of a total of 20 Elf 2 trains using EU funds. These vehicles are already carrying passengers in Lower Silesia, made possible by a preferential loan granted to Koleje Dolnośląskie. The company would have had to repay it from its own funds.
– We decided to purchase the full batch covered by the order, namely 25 Elf 2 trains. We obtained EU funding for five of them, while for the remaining ones we received a preferential loan from PKO Bank Polski, which we intended to repay from our own funds. Now we have received fantastic news: all 25 new Elf 2 trains, which carry millions of passengers every month, will be co-financed by the European Union – says Damian Stawikowski, president of Koleje Dolnośląskie.
This is good news not only for the company, but also for passengers. Thanks to the funds saved, Koleje Dolnośląskie can already plan further investments that will improve the quality of travel on the lines served by the carrier.
The total value of CUPT funding going to rail carriers or marshal's offices (in some provinces, marshal's offices own the trains) is PLN 2.1 billion. As much as PLN 333.7 million of this amount will go to the Lower Silesian railway company.
Combating rail exclusion
For many years, Lower Silesia has been strengthening rail transport in the region by taking over and revitalising abandoned lines and purchasing modern rolling stock.
– The Lower Silesian Voivodeship is carrying out railway investments on every level. As the marshal's office, we are revitalising lines so that trains can return to places that have been excluded from the railway network for decades. Within five years, we restored connections to towns where nearly 200,000 Lower Silesians live. Meanwhile, the carrier, Koleje Dolnośląskie, is developing dynamically by investing in modern rolling stock. We have now received phenomenal news that the new trains in Lower Silesia will receive an EU grant – says Tymoteusz Myrda, a member of the board of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship responsible, among other things, for railways.
There are currently 21 of the 25 modern Elf 2 vehicles already running on Lower Silesian tracks.
– Within five years, we have practically doubled the number of seats available to Koleje Dolnośląskie passengers. Thirty-one new trains – six three-car Impuls 2 hybrids and 25 five-car Elf 2 trains, together with ongoing P5 inspections of two diesel vehicles, mean that Koleje Dolnośląskie has never developed so quickly in its history. We can see the results, because more and more Lower Silesians are choosing rail, the fastest and most ecological means of transport – says Wojciech Zdanowski, vice-president of Koleje Dolnośląskie.
Koleje Dolnośląskie signed a contract to purchase 25 Elf 2 trains in 2022. The expansion of the fleet was made possible by receiving an investment and working-capital loan from PKO Bank Polski. The purchase two years ago made the Lower Silesian carrier the owner of the largest fleet of Elf 2 vehicles, comprising 25 units.