Post #3613252

Backing up towards the center of the country for a bit, the previous iteration envisioned using the CMK (Central Trunk Line, the soon-to-be-signalled for 250 km/h line connecting Warsaw with Katowice and Kraków) as a dedicated high-speed line, with only one train every 4 hours stopping at the stations in Włoszczowa and Opoczno, a ghastly echo of the old "liberal" (in Karol Trammer's classification) vision where HSLs are for non-stop trains only and people in nearby towns can get screwed. This vision was walked back relatively quickly as the KO-led government promised the construction of a new station near Biała Rawska, having realized it would build up the area as a Warsaw commuter town really, really well. Now, projected non-stop trains from Warsaw to the southern metropolises have been reduced from 4 every hour (2 each way) to 3.5 per hour (2 towards Kraków, 1.5 towards Katowice) to leave room for an hourly stopping train to Warsaw, alternating between the two branches on the other end, and also using a newly prioritized connection from the CMK to "the new airport" (as the central point of the whole project is now called for some reason) for a direct connection there. In Warsaw, they would terminate at Main Station, the former post-war western terminus on Towarowa (Freight Street) pressed into service when works at West Station reduced through-running capacity a few years ago (not to be mistaken for Central Station!). Also added were a direct bihourly connection between Warsaw and Opole (replacing the cuurent serivce of some Pendolinos and EICs that go there as this is the fastest way to Wrocław until the Y gets built), or the aforementioned U41. It's a profile much closer to how it runs today, only faster, and that's respectful of its somewhat unusual character, I feel. It might not be a walk in the park to execute, but it should be worth it. 7/ #HRJ #kolej #rail