Lower Silesia has made restoring and revitalizing railway lines one of its defining features, and the great return of the connection to Karpacz after 25 years is proof of this. The latest figures once again demonstrate the value of the regional government’s efforts: despite the end of the holiday season, thousands of passengers are still travelling to Karpacz. More than 140,000 people have already used the line in total!
This is one of the greatest railway achievements in the history not only of the region, but of Poland as a whole. Since services between Jelenia Góra and Karpacz resumed in June, 142,533 passengers—both residents and tourists—have already used the connection. The record interest in travelling to this picturesque town shows that the decision to rebuild it was fully justified.
“The connection to Karpacz restored this year has shown that our efforts make sense. Thousands of travellers, both residents and tourists, use it every month, and traffic during the holiday period exceeded our expectations. This is further proof that Lower Silesia is consistently becoming a leader in modern, sustainable transport and is effectively combating transport exclusion,” says Paweł Gancarz, Marshal of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship.
The programme to restore connections is not just theory. It means hundreds of thousands of passengers choosing trains instead of cars every month because they have much easier access to transport to work and school. Karpacz is a symbol of the revitalization of all the lines.
Rail returns where it was missing
The railway to Karpacz, restored after 25 years, is just one of many examples. In recent years, since 2019, trains have returned, among other places, to Bielawa, Świeradów-Zdrój, Chocianów, Sobótka and Lubin, which was once the second-largest city in Poland without a railway connection. Thanks to cooperation between the regional government, the Dolnośląska Służba Dróg i Kolei and Polskie Linie Kolejowe, Lower Silesia is restoring connections at a pace unseen in any other region of the country. It is estimated that by the end of the current term of office, over eight years, railway connections will be restored to towns inhabited by a quarter of a million Lower Silesian residents.
All these investments have one thing in common: they are the result of a consistent strategy by the regional government, which takes disused lines over from PLK and brings them back to life.
Upcoming investments—more stations on the map of Lower Silesia
In the coming years, further openings are planned, along with continued investment in rolling stock, infrastructure and station modernization. Importantly, Lower Silesia will soon see more spectacular openings. Soon, at the turn of 2026 and 2027, trains operated by Koleje Dolnośląskie will reach Srebrna Góra, while in 2027 they will reach Lądek-Zdrój, Stronie Śląskie and Przemków. These are only some of the announced routes; further ones will be announced soon.
“Srebrna Góra and Stronie Śląskie deserve to have railway services again. This is not only a tourist attraction, but also an important transport hub for residents of the entire region. It will be a symbolic moment, showing that rail is returning to places where this once seemed difficult or even impossible,” adds Paweł Gancarz.
Some towns already benefit from replacement KD services, but the full revitalization of the railway lines will open the Kłodzko Land even further to tourist and local traffic. This will provide a tremendous boost to the economic development of the southern part of the voivodeship.
The western part of the region is also waiting for connections to be restored, and according to announcements this will happen in 2027.
“Przemków will return to Poland’s railway map after more than 30 years. This will give residents new opportunities to travel to work or school, while Lower Silesia will add another town to the railway network,” announces Michał Rado, Deputy Marshal of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship responsible, among other things, for rail transport in the region.
Lower Silesia is setting railway trends
Thanks to its consistent efforts, Lower Silesia now has the largest network of revitalized connections in Poland, while residents and tourists use the fastest regional trains in the country. As a result, several hundred thousand people have already regained access to rail transport.
“We are pleased that, as new lines are opened and restored, more and more yellow-and-black KD trains are running on the tracks. We provide residents and tourists with a convenient and, above all, the most reliable means of transport,” says Damian Stawikowski, President of Koleje Dolnośląskie.
The railway-line revitalization programme carried out by the Marshal’s Office of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship is the most comprehensive railway undertaking in the history of Polish local governments. The regional government is using its own funds to revitalize further kilometres of track, which, once constructed, are managed by the Dolnośląska Służba Dróg i Kolei.