Railway tunnel in Łódź. Crisis team findings

On Saturday, in the annex of the building at Aleja 1 Maja 23 – the same one where the incident was previously reported collapse of the floor on the ground floor of one of the premisesthe external wall collapsed. The construction disaster is related to the work of the TBM shield “Katarzyna”, boring a railway tunnel to the Łódź Fabryczna station.

On Monday, the investor, who is PKP PLK, informed that at the meeting of the crisis team it was decided to extend the scope of the construction disaster to include the rear annex of the tenement house at al. 1 Maja 23, due to damage to the gable wall. The annex located nearby at ul. Próchnika 44 will be closed until the rubble is removed from the ground and first floors.

“The residents of the building at ul. Próchnika 46 and 44 will be able to return to their apartments in the coming days. In the case of the residents of number 46, this will be possible after confirming the possibility of disconnecting the media from the rear annex,” said Karol Jakubowski from the PKP PLK press team.

He added that compensation is planned for those who suffered losses as a result of damage to the tenement house. Legal consultations are ongoing for the injured tenants. The circumstances of the incident have already been transferred to the insurer. The tunnel construction is insured against risks and damages. This insurance also covers all premises that have suffered damage.

The City of Łódź has already declared its assistance to the affected residents over the weekend. All those who apply for it will be provided with municipal premises, of a standard no worse than the one in the tenement house at Aleja 1 Maja 23.

The spokesman for the mayor of Łódź, Paweł Śpiechowicz, informed that representatives of city institutions will most likely meet with the residents of the destroyed tenement house this week. According to the plans, the residents were to return to their apartments on September 16, so at least until then they have secured accommodation. “We will provide apartments to all those who are interested; these will be renovated premises in revitalized tenement houses,” he noted.

Read also: The wall of a tenement house in the center of Łódź has collapsed. Five key questions

The construction disaster in the tenement house at Aleja 1 Maja 23 progressed gradually – first on Friday, a floor caved in on the ground floor of one of the premises in the annex. In the following hours, a section of the wall collapsed, and just before 1 p.m. on Saturday, practically the entire wall of the building from the courtyard collapsed.

During the disaster, none of the 63 residents of the tenement house were at home, because while the TBM machine was passing under the buildings, the residents were relocated to a hotel, and their belongings were guarded by security guards hired by the investor.

However, the tenement house's collapse was observed by the tenants of the neighbouring building at ul. 1 Maja 25 – some of them even managed to record it on their phones.

In the investor's opinion, even before the works began, the building at Aleja 1 Maja was not in the best technical condition; it is a tenement house from the beginning of the 20th century, without a basement and solid foundations.

In the future, the cross-city tunnel is to connect the Fabryczny railway station in Łódź with the Łódź Kaliska stations (towards Sieradz, Kalisz) and Żabieniec stations (towards Kutno, Łowicz) and shorten the travel time of trains on the Warsaw – Poznań and Wrocław routes.

The 7.5-kilometer tunnel is divided into two parts. The two-track section from Łódź Fabryczna to Koziny is excavated by the larger of the two shields – “Katarzyna”. Four single-track tunnels west of the Koziny stop are excavated by the smaller shield – “Faustyna”.

According to the latest schedule, its construction is to be completed in June next year. After finishing works, tests and technical acceptance, trains are to run under Łódź from December 2026.