Poland does not support the idea of building a 1520 mm gauge to Gdansk

Poland believes that the construction of a 1520 mm wide railroad from Ukraine to Gdansk will threaten the country’s security, Puls Biznesu writes.

According to the publication, in 2022-23, the Polish Ministry of Infrastructure repeatedly received such proposals from the Ukrainian side.

“These proposals were received, among other things, during Polish-Ukrainian talks at the level of ministers and deputy ministers of infrastructure and in writing, including speeches by Ukrainian entrepreneurs. The Ukrainian side also made the same statement, in particular to the Prime Minister’s Office and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development,” says Anna Shumanska, spokesperson for the Ministry of Infrastructure.

In July 2022, a report was created that selected five potential routes for the 1520 mm railroad. However, the authors pointed out many threats, including the lack of land for the construction of such a line, the lack of appropriate rolling stock and qualified personnel to operate it, or possible social protests.

“The most important threat, however, is the negative impact of a broad-gauge connection to Gdansk on the country’s defense strategy,” added Szumanska.

According to the Ministry, the implementation of this project is inexpedient. However, the transportation of Ukrainian grain by the Polish railroad network can be significantly increased, for example, with the help of Ukrainian grain cars on pan-European bogies.

“I fully agree with the statement that the construction of such tracks in Poland would be a threat to our defense strategy,” says Jaroslaw Kraszewski, a retired general, former chief of the missile and artillery forces and director of the National Security Bureau.

He believes that extending Russian and Belarusian standard gauge railroads to NATO’s borders is a very bad idea. He acknowledges that railroads can be laid over bridges, viaducts, or tunnels so that they can be blown up if necessary to prevent traffic.

“However, please believe me that our enemy countries and their services will do everything to secure and protect these sensitive areas so that the tracks remain passable,” Kraszewski assured.

Dariusz Szymwicz, first vice president of the Polish-Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce, believes that as Ukraine seeks to join the European Union, it must adapt to its standards, including in the field of railways.

Context. In early April, Minister of Agrarian Policy Mykola Solsky said that Ukraine has many times more railcars for grain transportation than the rest of Europe, from Romania to Portugal. This means that there is no point in investing in railcars that would run on European-standard tracks. The only way to solve this problem is to build wide railroad tracks from the border with Ukraine to Gdansk and Klaipeda in Lithuania. This will allow Poland to make money on transit and ship Ukrainian grain to the world through Gdansk.

Tags: Ukraine, Poland, rail transportation