PKP Intercity is investing in modern infrastructural solutions as a part of the biggest investment program in its history. The construction of an eco-friendly, seasonal, automatic cleaning facility has begun in Kraków, in the local train maintenance facility. The facility is to be built within a year from the date of commencing construction, and the contractor of the project of the gross worth 21.9 million is Budimex.

The investment should be carried out under the “design and build” mode. Budimex has already prepared and presented the project for the first stage of the investment. The second stage has just begun and is now being carried out. The cleaning facility is set to open at the beginning of the next year, and the total gross value of the contract is over 21.9 m. The creation of the cleaning facility should allow thorough cleaning of trains starting from the capital of Małopolska, which is going to improve the comfort of people travelling with PKP Intercity.

“The process of modernisation of the Polish railway consists not only of purchasing and modernising the rolling stock but also of infrastructural projects. It is a perfect representation of an automatic cleaning facility that is being created in Kraków. It is particularly important considering the future plans of our national carrier, which include regular widening of what they offer and the expansion of their train fleet. Modern train maintenance facilities allows the maintaining of a high level of train servicing, which should get us closer to our goal, which is a safe, comfortable, foreseeable, accessible and eco-friendly railway,” emphases the Minister of Infrastructure, Andrzej Adamczyk.

The construction of the cleaning facility is being carried out within the “Good connection railway – modernisation of coaches and engines for PKP Intercity S.A.” project [POIS.05.01.00-00-0022/17-00], under the Infrastructure and Environment Operational Program 2014-2020. PKP Intercity has received a total of 653,730,052.05 from EU funds under the Infrastructure and Environment Operational Program 2014-2020.

“We support the investment effort of Polish railways because it drives not only the growth of railway companies, such as PKP Intercity but also the Polish economy as a whole. The new Kraków cleaning facility is a part of an enormous program, as one of seven such investments of this sort planned in Poland. The railway investments are worth tens of billions of zloty, and include stations, modernised railway lines, modern and comfortable rolling stock and reconstructed technical infrastructure. The cleaning facility is to be eco-friendly and to improve the quality of passenger service and working conditions of the Kraków train maintenance facility crew, which is very important. State-owned companies have to be at the front of changes, and they are, which makes me very happy,” says Secretary of State at the Ministry of State Assets, Maciej Małecki.

PKP Intercity focuses on eco-friendly solutions

A train unit cleaning system is being constructed at 17 Składowa street, on line 11. The line should receive a 480 metre long, airtight permanent way on a concrete slab foundation, which will be dripping both in front and behind the cleaning facility. The facility is to be equipped with a sewage treatment plant, which should allow for neutralising chemical agents and the reusing of water in a closed circuit.

“Railways are the most eco-friendly means of collective transport. We can describe them as the green transport of the future. That is why we invest in expanding our fleet and battling the transport exclusion which affects Poles. Facilities such as the one being currently constructed in Kraków are necessary for managing the growing number of trains. They make the high standard of maintenance of our rolling stock possible and they visibly affect the comfort of travelling and the work of our staff. The new Kraków cleaning facility is one of seven investments of this sort planned in Poland,” says member of the board of PKP Intercity, Krzysztof Świerczek.

Moreover, the cleaning facility will be equipped with a station for protecting the undercarriage against ice, and an RFID system that allows the automatic selection of default cleaning settings based on the EVN number. The solutions designed this way provide the possibility of external cleaning of the sides and upper and lower bevels of the train bodies.

The facility is set to work nonstop, cleaning up to 20 units a day. The cleaning facility is to be designed to clean the electric multiple units and carriage units owned by the carrier. One cycle of cleaning units should last around 5 minutes (assuming a single trip) or up to 20 minutes (assuming three trips). The train inside the cleaning facility moves at a speed of 3-5 km/h.

“We will have carried out a very specific construction task by the end of the third quarter of this year. We will carry out work under active railway traffic in the service line area. Connecting the cleaning facility with the steering building, located 150 m away, will be a curiosity and an engineering challenge at the same time. The cleaning facility is one of three built by Budimex last year regarding railway construction,” says General Construction Director of Budimex, Jakub Nagraba.

The new face of the Kraków train maintenance facility

Apart from the construction of the cleaning facility, PKP Intercity invests in Kraków Główny Zachód railway siding. A thorough reconstruction is currently being carried out at one of the main train maintenance facilities of the carrier, where the Pendlino trains are stationed. The goal of the 44.8 million gross investment is to improve the standard of maintenance of the rolling stock. Every day, dozens of the carrier’s trains are ready to go into the train maintenance facility. The reconstruction should optimise the time for train cleaning, improve water management of the facility and enable comprehensive preparation for the trains leaving Kraków.

Modern cleaning facilities for PKP Intercity

The cleaning system in Kraków is one of seven modern cleaning facilities that PKP Intercity plans to build. The first one was opened last year in the Warszawa Grochów train maintenance facility. The investment reduced the time required to clean individual units and improved the standard of maintenance of the rolling stock, and the facility works all year round, regardless of the weather conditions. The net cost of reconstructing the cleaning facility is over 11.8 m. Additionally, the construction of a modern eco-cleaning facility began at the Wrocław Główny train maintenance facility at the end of 2022. The investment worth 37 m gross should meet all of the ecological standards, and the planned commissioning date is December 2023.

Infrastructural investments for PKP Intercity

In order to provide a high standard of maintenance for modern rolling stock, PKP Intercity is going to invest 2.6 billion zloty in eco-friendly train maintenance facilities and technical infrastructure by 2030. The modernisation of the technical infrastructure should lead to the standardisation of facilities. After the investment is complete, it will be divided into three categories, adapted to the appropriate standard, taking into account the rolling stock needs in a particular location in terms of schedule execution. In 2030, PKP Intercity will have 20 train maintenance facilities and railway sidings as well as 32 stations designed for preparing the trains for use and keeping the facilities provided by PKP Intercity clean.