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Poland: Bids opened for drilling the longest railway tunnel in Poland
A total of five bids have been submitted for the construction of the long-distance tunnel on railway line no. 85 in Łódź. The process of evaluating and verifying the bids will now commence, with its duration depending on the quality of the submitted documents. This marks the largest construction tender announced by CPK to date and will result in the creation of Poland’s longest railway tunnel. The contract with the selected contractor is planned to be signed in the second half of 2025.
The tender encompasses the construction of the tunnel from the “Retkinia” chamber to the “Fabryczna” chamber, along with the infrastructure required for the functioning of the tunnel, chambers, and railway line.
Five bids have been submitted. The contracting authority allocated PLN 2.8 billion gross for the project. The lowest bid amounted to PLN 2.166 billion gross, while the highest was PLN 2.797 billion gross. The fact that all bids are within the planned budget demonstrates the good preparation of the procedure.
Once the documentation has been assessed, the answer to who will construct the 4.6-kilometre-long tunnel (the longest railway tunnel in Poland) will be revealed. This tunnel will primarily serve high-speed trains running between three major Polish cities: Warsaw, Wrocław, and Poznań.
The safety of people living in the immediate vicinity of the ongoing investment is a priority. All residents of Łódź must be assured that the project is being conducted responsibly, adhering to the highest technical standards. I am pleased that we are consistently marking important steps in the CPK programme –
The complexity of the process is evidenced by the fact that the specification of the contract terms, together with annexes, amounted to approximately 2000 documents. In total, CPK received around 1000 questions regarding the tender from 25 potential contractors.
The most advantageous bid will be selected based on the evaluation criteria: price (70% weighting) and personnel qualifications (30%).
This is an exceptionally ambitious undertaking, as the Łódź tunnel will have the largest diameter of any underground structure constructed to date using the TBM method in Poland. It will also become the longest tunnel of its kind built as a single section –
The contractor will be required to complete the project within 46 months of signing the contract.
The CPK long-distance tunnel is a key element of the “Y” line – the proposed High-Speed Railway route connecting Warsaw, CPK, Łódź, Wrocław, and Poznań. The tunnel will run through the centre of Łódź, underneath densely built-up areas. Accordingly, the selected contractor will be required, even at the detailed design stage, to re-analyse geotechnical reinforcements and structural safeguards.
The tunnel drilling is set to commence in the fourth quarter of 2026 and is expected to be completed by the third quarter of 2028.
High-Speed Rail presents a significant developmental opportunity for Poland, and the tunnel itself is a major and essential project for the residents of Łódź. Any initial inconveniences related to construction will pay off in the coming years. The city will gain many rapid connections with the country’s largest cities, without impacting residents’ quality of life, as trains will operate tens of metres underground –
The entire section of line 85 between Warsaw and Łódź is scheduled to be operational by 2032, coinciding with the opening of the new national airport. Once completed, the train journey between the two cities will be reduced to approximately 40 minutes. This investment represents a crucial step in realising the “100 Minutes Poland” rail project, which aims to improve connections and address transport exclusion across Poland.
The submitted offers are as follows:
- PORR S.A. – Leader, PORR Bau GmbH – Partner – PLN 1,761,234,967.15 net / PLN 2,166,319,009.59 gross
- Gülermak S.A. – PLN 2,098,442,552.85 net / PLN 2,581,084,340.01 gross
- China Harbour Engineering Co. Ltd – PLN 2,098,479,442.47 net / PLN 2,581,129,714.24 gross
- NDI S.A. – Leader of the consortium, DOĞUŞ İNŞAAT VE TİCARET A.Ş – Partner – PLN 2,108,086,400.67 net / PLN 2,592,946,272.82 gross
- TORPOL S.A. – Leader, MIRBUD S.A. – Partner – PLN 2,274,616,079.49 net / PLN 2,797,777,777.77 gross
cover tunnel photo by: Matt Brown from London, England / CC BY
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