At 08:00, the 37th of the 55 Elf trains ordered by Koleje Dolnośląskie set off from Bydgoszcz Główna for Lower Silesia. The PESA factory in Bydgoszcz has produced 60 of the 100 trains used by Lower Silesia’s residents every day. Together with the vehicles already ordered, this number will reach 88 trains in the coming years.
– The renaissance of railways in Poland began in Lower Silesia years ago. Every year, Koleje Dolnośląskie break records for the number of kilometres travelled and passengers carried, and the carrier has just exceeded the symbolic number of one hundred vehicles in its fleet – said Paweł Gancarz, Marshal of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship.
The trains used by Koleje Dolnośląskie passengers have been manufactured in Bydgoszcz since 2008. At first, these were diesel vehicles, and from 2022 PESA began supplying electric vehicles. In total, Koleje Dolnośląskie will have 55 Elf vehicles in its fleet. The carrier has the largest fleet of these vehicles in Poland.
– The value of the trains ordered from the PESA factory in Bydgoszcz has already exceeded PLN 2 billion, but the development of railways in Lower Silesia would not have been possible without EU funds, as subsidies for these vehicles cover as much as 85 percent of their value – says Michał Rado, Deputy Marshal of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship, responsible, among other things, for railways.
The current batch of Elfs is being produced with support from National Recovery Plan funds.
They send one vehicle onto the tracks every day
PESA Bydgoszcz is currently carrying out several projects—the Polish manufacturer produces trains and trams. Vehicles for the Romanian railways, trams that will operate in Silesia, Czech eco-diesels, and many, many other trains are in production. Statistically speaking, one vehicle leaves the Bydgoszcz factory every day and then carries passengers.
– We are very pleased with our cooperation with PESA. Each of the one hundred vehicles used every day by tens of thousands of Lower Silesia’s residents was manufactured in Poland, and most of them were made in Bydgoszcz – says Damian Stawikowski, president of Koleje Dolnośląskie.
The Bydgoszcz manufacturer also recently reached a milestone in its history by sending a vehicle capable of travelling at up to 200 km/h for testing. PESA Bydgoszcz is producing it for the Czech carrier Regiojet.
– Koleje Dolnośląskie is one of our key partners, because we are currently carrying out not only a contract for 55 electric Elf trains for this carrier, but also for 10 diesel vehicles. We receive many positive comments from Lower Silesia and value this cooperation – says Krzysztof Zdziarski, president of PESA Bydgoszcz.
Four thousand employees work at the PESA factory in Bydgoszcz every day, and the rolling-stock manufacturer fulfils orders worth one billion euros annually.
