Type Heavy rail Opened 1870 (1870) Electrification 3000 V DC | Status in use Line length 475 km (295 mi) Locale Poland, Germany | |
 | ||
Track gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ⁄2 in) Terminis Warsaw, Kunowice, Frankfurt (Oder) | ||
The Warsaw–Kunowice railway is a Polish 475-kilometre long railway line, that connects Warsaw with Lowicz, Kutno, Poznań and further to the Polish-German border at Frankfurt an der Oder.
Contents
The line is one of the longest and most important routes in Poland and is part of the European E20 (Berlin - Moscow) route.
Opening
The first calls for a railway between Poznań and Frankfurt (Oder) were in 1842 when an appeal was made to landowners along the route. However, the line did not come to fruition, due to the deposition of a decision on the matter by the government of Prussia. Eventually the line was opened in stages from 1870.
Between 1925 and 1930 the course of the section Chlastawa - Dąbrówka Zbąska changed in connection with the construction of the station in Zbąszynek. The original section of the line, built in 1870, remained active until the reconstruction of the Zbąszynek–Gorzów Wielkopolski railway as a temporary course of the line to Gorzow Wielkopolski. In Poznan and Września the course of the line has also been changed over the years.
Route
The town of Września has a bypass which is used by express trains, with a number of services leaving the line to serve the station in Września and rejoin the main line again afterwards.
Modernisation
Between 1998 and 2007 the route underwent considerable modernisation because of its importance as part of route E20. The work made it possible for passenger trains to travel at 160 km/h, freight trains at 120 km/h. This involved improving the track, catenary, stations, level crossings and signalling.
Usage
The line sees trains of all categories (EuroCity, EuroNight, Express InterCity, Intercity, TLK and regional services).