TBM Shield Katarzyna has started and is digging a railway tunnel under Łódź again. The investment is to connect the Fabryczny and Kaliski stations in Łódź. The tunnel is called the “Łódź metro”. – We act in such a way that no tenement house under which the tunnel is drilled suffers – said Arnold Bresch from the management board of PKP PLK.
– We secured the area under tenement houses, which are often in very bad condition. This will allow to drill another hundred meters of the tunnel – said Bresch at a meeting with the media, which took place on Wednesday at the construction site. He reported that one of the machines drilling under the city – TBM Katarzyna – started in accordance with the schedule adopted at the beginning of the year.
A tunnel under Łódź is being drilledTVN24
The investor’s representative emphasized that the tunnel could be excavated in its entirety only when the ground under the tenement houses located in the city center is secured. He pointed out that many of these buildings are in very poor technical condition and could be seriously damaged without appropriate engineering solutions.
– The contractor made reinforcements under some of the buildings. This opens the way for another hundred meters of the tunnel. We hope for good cooperation with the city, because efficiency in this area will affect when the investment will be implemented – emphasized Arnold Bresch.
The hardest part
Representative PKP PLK emphasized that the currently implemented section of the tunnel is the “most difficult section” of the entire investment.
This is how the tunnel under Łódź is supposed to look like – visualization02.07. | “Katarzyna” and “Faustyna” are two machines boring railway tunnels under the very center of Łódź. The investment, called the “Łódź metro”, is to enable the movement of trains from the recently built Fabryczna station to the west and make it one of the most important railway junctions in Poland. By the way, three new stops will be built, which will mainly serve the residents of the city.PKP PLK
– During the work, we will verify the effectiveness of the technical solutions that have been implemented. We face problems and challenges. All tenement houses (in the area of the investment – ed.) will be preserved – said Arnold Bresch.
The date of completion of the construction of the underground railway connection is scheduled for 2024, and the launch of train traffic in 2025.
Interior of TBM FaustynaPKP PLK
Lodz “metro”
The cross-city tunnel under construction is a continuation of the construction of the Łódź Fabryczna station, which will become a through station from the end station. Regional and long-distance trains will be able to travel through the very center of Łódź. As part of the investment, new stops will be built: Łódź Polesie, Łódź Śródmieście and Łódź Koziny. They are to be integrated with public transport and are supposed to make it easier for the inhabitants to move around the city. That is why the investment is sometimes called the construction of the “Łódź metro”.
The tunnel is to run under the very center of ŁódźPKP PLK
Main photo source: TVN24