News

08 January 2026 | Rail Transportation

Huge support from the European Funds for improvement of railway safety

Over PLN 442 million from the European Funds for Infrastructure, Climate and Environment 2021–2027 (FEnIKS) programme will support the development of a modern ERTMS/ETCS system in six voivodships: Podlaskie, Wielkopolskie, Lubuskie, Zachodniopomorskie, Małopolskie and Śląskie. We have concluded a financing agreement with PKP Polskie Linie Kolejowe S.A. on the last day of 2025.

Safely and on time

The ERTMS/ETCS system is a European standard in terms of railway traffic management, which:

increases travel safety thanks to automated speed control,
facilitates traffic management, improving punctuality,
provides interoperability, which means that trains equipped with ETCS can move freely on lines in the entire Europe.

It’s a step forward towards digital railway in Poland – safer, more modern and resistant to threats, thanks to the EU support.

Scope of the agreement

The agreement signed on 31 December 2025 covers design and development works of the level 2 ERTMS/ETCS system on key sections of the following railway lines:

Czyżew – Białystok (70 km) – including:
- development of a Radio Block Centre in LCS Białystok,
- enabling railway traffic management devices on the stations: Czyżew, Szepietowo, Racibory, Łapy, Baciuty, Białystok,
- integration with the linear railway traffic management devices on the following routes: Kietlanka – Czyżew, Czyżew – Szepietowo, Szepietowo – Racibory, Racibory – Łapy, Łapy – Baciuty, Baciuty – Białystok,
Poznań – Szczecin (181 km) – including:
- integration with a system of 61 railway crossings,
- development of a Radio Block Centre (RBC) in LCS Poznań Główny II and LCS Stargard,
  enabling railway traffic management devices on the stations: Rokietnica, Szamotuły, Wronki, Drawski Młyn, Choszczno, Stargard,
- integration of the following lines: Kiekrz – Rokietnica, Rokietnica – Szamotuły, Szamotuły – Pęckowo, Pęckowo – Wronki, Wronki – Mokrz, Mokrz – Miały, Miały – Drawski Młyn, Drawski Młyn – Krzyż, Krzyż – Podlesiec, Podlesiec – Dobiegniew, Dobiegniew – Bierzwnik, Bierzwnik – Słonice, Słonice – Choszczno, Choszczno – Dolice, Dolice – Kolin, Kolin – Stargard, Stargard – Reptowo, Reptowo – Szczecin Dąbie,
Sosnowiec Jęzor – Kraków Bieżanów – modernisation of traffic management devices on lines no. 91, 133, 134 and 629, including adaptation of the base layer of the management system to work with ETCS L2 on the following lines:
- L133/L134 (Sosnowiec Jęzor – Kraków Główny KGA), including stations: Długoszyn (public passenger stop), Jaworzno Szczakowa, Pieczyska (public passenger stop), Trzebinia, Krzeszowice, Zabierzów, Kraków Mydlniki, Podłęże,
- L91/L133 (Kraków Główny KGA–KGB – Podłęże), including stations: Kraków Główny KGA, Kraków Główny KGB, Kraków Płaszów, Kraków Bieżanów,
- L629 (Kraków Główny – Kraków Bieżanów), including Kraków Zabłocie station.

All works shall conclude in 2029 at the latest.

Scale of the investment

The project to be implemented in six voivodships: Śląskie, Zachodniopomorskie, Małopolskie, Lubuskie, Wielkopolskie, and Podlaskie is a part of the Global Plan for the implementation of ERTMS in Poland.

The project includes:

development of the ETCS/ERTMS system on approx. 3,500 km of railway lines,
implementation of the ERTMS/GSM-R sub-system on 15,200 km of lines.

What does it look like in Poland?

As reported by the national railway infrastructure manager: “By the end of 2024, the ERTMS/ETCS system has already been implemented on 809.6 km of railway lines. The company utilises the ETCS devices both on level 1 (covering 65 km), and level 2 (covering 694 km). 51 km of lines are also equipped with the ETCS level 1 Limited Supervision system (LS, SRS 3.3.0). In 2024, the ERTMS/ETCS system was under development on approx. 1,700 km of railway lines” [source: Annual Report for 2024 of PKP PLK S.A.]

Benefits for passengers and operators

Safety – automatic braking in case of emergency, reduced number of accidents on railway crossings.
Punctuality – better traffic management and stable communication with dispatchers.
Digital resilience – modern safeguards prevent the risk of unauthorised “Radio-Stop” signals.

European Funds support digital railway

The investment is realised with the financing from the FEnIKS 2021–2027 programme. The European Commission has approved the Polish public aid programme worth EUR 47 million, the aim of which is to support the implementation of the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS) in Poland. It is a clear signal that investments into digitalisation of railway, including ETCS and GSM-R, can receive significant financial and strategic backing from the EU institutions. Modern railway means safety, interoperability and resistance to threats. Thanks to the European Funds, Poland enters the era of digital transport.

Maybe you would like to read: Change of the deadline for submitting applications for the ERTMS competition

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