A Blue Koleje Dolnośląskie Train? And Well Over Half a Billion in the Background!

Koleje Dolnośląskie submitted three projects to the Centre for EU Transport Projects for funding for ten, six and four vehicles. All of them received positive assessments. In total, the carrier obtained funding covering as much as 78 percent of the purchase of the trains.

Koleje Dolnośląskie will allocate PLN 617.6 million to finance the purchase of 20 Elf trains, which are already being built at the PESA factory in Bydgoszcz. Several months ago, the carrier exercised its purchase option, meaning that not ten but twenty new trains will arrive in the region. Once this order is completed, Koleje Dolnośląskie will have Poland’s largest fleet of five-car Elf vehicles, numbering as many as 45 units. The entire KD rolling stock fleet will comprise 118 trains, as the company has also ordered 10 eco-diesels, likewise following a tender won by Bydgoszcz-based Pesa.

A European Train and Millions from the EU

PLN 618 million for more Elf trains is a sizeable drop in the ocean of European funds that have “oiled” Lower Silesia’s railway system.

– Nearly PLN 2.5 billion has been invested in railway initiatives in our region. These are funds that enable us to revitalise railway lines on which trains purchased with the support of EU funds also operate. This is how what I often say is becoming a reality: Lower Silesia is the infrastructural heart of Poland — said Paweł Gancarz, Marshal of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship.

Two trains in EU colours took to the tracks of our region on 11 September 2025. Of the 88 vehicles currently in KD’s rolling stock fleet, as many as 84 were purchased or modernised using funds from the European Funds.

– Koleje Dolnośląskie currently has 88 trains, 84 of which were purchased with EU funding. The average level of funding across all of Koleje Dolnośląskie’s EU projects exceeds 70 percent. And let us not forget that we reach Karpacz, Chocianów and Bielawa on tracks managed by the voivodeship, which are also co-financed by the European Funds — says Michał Rado, Deputy Marshal of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship responsible for railways.

The “Blue” or “EU” Elves will travel, among other routes, from Wrocław to Legnica. There, they will reach speeds of 160 km/h, ensuring a journey time of as little as 37 minutes from the centre of the capital of Lower Silesia to one of the region’s largest cities.

– Wrocław–Legnica: 160 km/h, more than 35 train pairs a day. Residents on this route go to the train as if they were taking the metro in Warsaw — says Jarosław Rabczenko, a member of the voivodeship board.

It All Started with Trzebnica

The first railway line managed by the voivodeship was the line to Trzebnica. Recently, the voivodeship government celebrated 15 years of train services to this picturesque town north of Wrocław, which is visited by nearly one million passengers a year.

– Hybrid KD trains operate on the line to Trzebnica, and the line itself has been financed from EU funds since its first revitalisation. I am proud that these hundreds of millions, both for modern trains and for this line, form part of the billions we are talking about here today — says Marek Łapiński, a councillor of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship Assembly.

As Monika Włodarczyk, a Voivodeship Assembly councillor, noted, Koleje Dolnośląskie was established by the then Marshal Marek Łapiński.

— Established seventeen years ago, when Marek Łapiński was marshal of the voivodeship. Back then, they ran on a few lines; today, they travel from Wrocław to Legnica in 36 minutes and to Wałbrzych in an hour — said Monika Włodarczyk, a councillor of the Lower Silesian Assembly.

Koleje Dolnośląskie has been a beneficiary of EU funds since its establishment. The amount of funding is impressive. Over 17 years, the regional carrier has received total support of PLN 1.6 billion! EU funding has also flowed generously directly to the voivodeship government. Since Poland joined the European Union, the Lower Silesian Road and Railway Service has received PLN 723 million in support.

– This is another very good piece of news from the Centre for EU Transport Projects. The funding ensures the development of Koleje Dolnośląskie, helps improve the existing fleet, increase the number of connections and open up new destinations. Everyone will benefit from this — says Damian Stawikowski, president of Koleje Dolnośląskie.

Apart from Koleje Dolnośląskie, the Silesian Voivodeship and Koleje Śląskie also obtained funds from the latest programme decision made by CUPT under the National Recovery Plan. Of the total awarded amount of PLN 870 million, PLN 618 million will go to Lower Silesia. No other carrier qualified under this decision.