The Polish Railway Company has won two credit lines totalling €165mn (US$214mn) from the European Investment Bank (EIB) to finance upgrades in Wroclaw, Poznan and Lodz.

The first loan of €100mn will be used to finance the modernisation of 58km of a twin track line between Warszawa Zachodnia and Miedniewice to increase the speed to 160km an hour. The funds will also be used to install signalling equipment on a 42km section of the line between Miedniewice and Lodz Widzew.

The second loan of €65mn will be used to upgrade a 32km-long section of the twin track railway line from Poznan to Czempin in south-west Poland, which is part of the E59 European rail corridor connecting Malmo in Sweden with Ostrava in the Czech Republic through Poland via Szczecin, Poznan, Wroclaw and Chalupki.

The modernised line will increase rail speed to a maximum of 160km an hour, and is expected to be completed by 2016.

“The EIB funds will help to upgrade the railway lines along the key transport corridors in Poland, contributing to an increase of transport safety and speed and improving the environment by promoting environmentally-friendly modes of transport,” Anton Rop, EIB vice-president says.

Including the current loans, the EIB has provided €1.4bn in loans to the Polish Railway Company to finance railway modernisation projects across Poland.