The first tender concerns 10 new multiple-unit diesel vehicles, with an option to purchase an additional 20 units. The second procedure covers the purchase of two used three-car diesel trains, with an option to purchase five more.
According to the tender documentation, the first two new trains will be delivered 24 months after the contract is signed, and the final two units 28 months after its conclusion. In the case of the used vehicles, the delivery deadline has been set at 12 months. The contract will also include a provision requiring them to have undergone a P4 inspection.
Purchases Without EU Funding
The order will not be financed from European Union funds, as no subsidies have been предусмотрed for the purchase of diesel rolling stock. However, thanks to earlier EU support for the purchase of electric vehicles, Koleje Dolnośląskie will be able to finance the diesel trains through an investment loan or leasing.
– The execution of this order is possible, among other things, thanks to EU funding that we previously obtained for the purchase of electric Elfs. Over the past five years, we have purchased as many as 31 new trains – 25 Elfs and 6 hybrid Impuls units. That is why we are now in a comfortable position and can invest in diesel rolling stock – says Damian Stawikowski, president of Koleje Dolnośląskie.
Koleje Dolnośląskie currently has 27 diesel vehicles. Its needs are already considerably greater, and in view of the launch of new connections in the coming years, expanding the fleet is essential.
If the full quantities from both the tender for new Elfs and the diesel-vehicle tender are purchased, the KD rolling-stock fleet will contain more than 140 vehicles.
Lower Silesia’s Priority: The Best Railway in Poland!
In the near future, Koleje Dolnośląskie will run trains from Jelenia Góra to Karpacz. In September this year, the Marshal’s Office of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship signed a letter of intent with PKP PLK and the Ministry of Infrastructure concerning the restoration of passenger services on the Chocianów – Przemków – Niegosławice section and onward toward Głogów via Gaworzyce.
The voivodeship government already manages more than 20 railway-line sections with a total length of over 300 km. Moreover, in the coming years PKP PLK, the national infrastructure manager, is to restore passenger services on the Legnica – Złotoryja – Jerzmanice-Zdrój and Oleśnica – Syców lines, as well as restore Wrocław Świebodzki station to service.
– Diesel trains will be able to operate on lines revitalized by the Dolnośląska Służba Dróg i Kolei. They may also be used as further cross-border connections are launched – says Michał Rado, marshal of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship responsible for railways.
The new diesel vehicles of Koleje Dolnośląskie will also serve existing non-electrified lines.
– In Lower Silesia, nearly 40 percent of railway lines are not electrified. Our rolling stock covers 33 percent of train-kilometers using diesel traction – notes Bartłomiej Rodak, press spokesperson for Koleje Dolnośląskie.
If the regional carrier completes the purchases in full, service on non-electrified lines in Lower Silesia, including further sections being taken over and modernized, will meet the needs of the continuously growing number of passengers transported in the coming years.