Warsaw. The third metro line in Praga. The city chose a company that would prepare the pre-design works

At the end of June, Metro Warszawskie opened offers in tender for the performance of works preceding the design and construction of the third metro line in Praga. Three companies applied. All with offers within the budget set by the city in the amount of PLN 33 million.

ILF Consulting Engineers Polska proposed the work for over PLN 19.2 million. Egis Poland valued them at almost PLN 28 million. The consortium consisting of Biuro Projektów “Metroprojekt” (leader) and the Transport Certification Center at the Faculty of Transport of the Warsaw University of Technology proposed about PLN 23 million.

According to the information published on the tender website, the officials chose the most advantageous offer. As the most important criterion was the price (60 percent weight), the cheapest contractor – ILF Consulting won. The additional experience of the coordinator, designers in the following specializations: architectural, construction-building, railway engineering and geologist was valued in this tender at 35 percent, and the implementation of a simplified conceptual design at five percent,

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After signing the contract, the contractor will have 18 months to complete the set of works. Pre-design works consist in the preparation of documentation that will allow in the future to announce a tender for the construction of the third metro line in the “design and build” formula.

As the city hall explained earlier, it is precisely about preparing a conceptual design – an initial report, determining the zones of impact of the construction of metro facilities on the neighboring buildings, assessment of the condition of buildings in the zones of impact of the construction of metro facilities, analysis of vibrations and dynamic loads on the structures of buildings and people staying in them, documentation hydrogeological and geological-engineering as well as functional and operational program along with the technical specification for the execution and acceptance of construction works as well as a conceptual design – final report.

In mid-March, the Mayor of Warsaw, Rafał Trzaskowski, announced the start of the first stage of works on the third metro line. Councilors agreed to move to this goal PLN 41 millionTherefore, it was possible to announce a tender for pre-design works for almost eight kilometers of the new line: six new stations in Kamionek, Grochów and Gocław, the Kozia Górka technical and parking station and the entire accompanying infrastructure.

The National Stadium station, which has been operating for several years, is to be part of the future third line. From it, in the eastern direction, the metro will go to the Dworzec Wschodni station, and then turn south towards the following stations: Mińska, Rondo Wiatraczna, Ostrobramska, Jana Nowaka-Jeziorański and Gocław. Initially, the new section will connect Praga Południe with the center of the capital, and later – also with Ochota and Mokotów. The first stage is expected to end in 2028.

However, not everyone is convinced that this investment is right. The route of the future third metro line was heavily criticized by activists, among others. In their opinion, he is “forced by force”, and a faster journey from Praga Południe to the city center can be provided by the tram. – We do not understand why now, when the city’s financial crisis is underway, and last year we heard that many important investments, also for Prague, were canceled, suddenly there was a proposal to build a very expensive third metro line, criticized by experts. In our opinion, this will be a costly mistake for the finances of Warsaw, said Marta Marczak, a spokeswoman for the Miasto Jest Nasze association, at a conference organized after the city hall announced the route of the third metro line.

According to another activist from this organization, Jakub Czajkowski, the route set by the town hall “is not economically justified and will not solve any problems of the inhabitants of Gocław”: – It will be a large budget burden, but also a great risk that none of the tram investments will happen. And it does not only apply to the tram to Gocław. The inhabitants of Białołęka have been waiting for years for a tram along Modlińska Street, but also for many other tram investments in Mokotów, Żerań and Targówek. Will the tram to Wilanów be realized? Construction should start this year.

What about the criticism of activists from the town hall? – This is an accusation that affects, first of all, 180,000 inhabitants of Praga Południe, who expect the construction of the metro as the most effective means of communication. We do not give up the tram to Gocław, only the tram and the metro are to be complementary to each other, they are to complement each other and allow residents to reach the station – said Karolina Gałecka, the spokeswoman of the capital city hall at the time, in an interview with tvnwarszawa.pl. She also explained that the experts who developed and selected such a route on the right bank took into account the strategy and demographic changes in the area.

The main document on the basis of which the decision was made about the course of the third metro line was a technical study developed by a consortium of Egis Poland and Transeko. Its final version was delivered to the Warsaw Metro at the end of last year. The subway shared this document in March. It shows that only one of the three analyzed variants is profitable, provided that in the future it will be extended by the Vistula River to Mokotów. According to the authors of the analysis, the simultaneous construction of a tram to Gocław is uneconomical. And on the maps published by the city, an additional station appeared, which was not in the study.