Five bids have been received for the construction of the 4.6km rail tunnel on Poland’s line no. 85 in Łódź.
The project – to build Poland’s longest rail tunnel – is the largest construction tender announced by Centralny Port Komunikacyjn (CPK) to date.
The tender covers the construction of the tunnel from the Retkinia chamber to the Fabryczna chamber, along with the infrastructure required for the operation of the tunnel, chambers, and railway line.
The tunnel will primarily serve high-speed trains running between the major Polish cities of Warsaw, Wrocław, and Poznań.
The contracting authority allocated PLN2.8bn (US$690m) gross for the project. The lowest bid was PLN2.166bn (US$530) gross, while the highest was PLN2.797bn (US$680m) gross.
CPK said the complexity of the process was illustrated by the fact that the specification of the contract terms, together with annexes, amounted to approximately 2,000 documents. In total, CPK received around 1,000 questions regarding the tender from 25 potential contractors.
The most advantageous bid will be selected based on the evaluation criteria: price (70% weighting) and personnel qualifications (30%).
“This is an exceptionally ambitious undertaking, as the Łódź tunnel will have the largest diameter of any underground structure constructed to date using the TBM method in Poland. It will also become the longest tunnel of its kind built as a single section,” said infrastructure minister and CPK government commissioner Maciej Lasek,
The contract is scheduled to be signed in the second half of 2025 and the contractor will then have 46 months to complete the project.
Tunnel construction is set to commence in the fourth quarter of 2026 and is expected to be completed by the third quarter of 2028.
Bids were received from Porr; Gülermak; China Harbour Engineering Co Ltd; a joint venture of NDI (leader) and Dogus Insaat Ve Ticaret; and a joint venture of Torpol (leader) and Mirbud.
The tunnel is a key element of the “Y” line – the proposed high-speed railway route connecting Warsaw, CPK, Łódź, Wrocław, and Poznań. The tunnel will run through the centre of Łódź, underneath densely built-up areas. The selected contractor will be required, even at the detailed design stage, to re-analyse geotechnical reinforcements and structural safeguards.
The entire section of line 85 between Warsaw and Łódź is scheduled to be operational by 2032, coinciding with the opening of the new national airport. Once completed, the train journey between the two cities will be reduced to approximately 40 minutes. The investment is a crucial step in realising the “100 Minutes Poland” rail project, which aims to improve connections and address transport exclusion across Poland.
“High-speed rail presents a significant developmental opportunity for Poland, and the tunnel itself is a major and essential project for the residents of Łódź. Any initial inconveniences related to construction will pay off in the coming years. The city will gain many rapid connections with the country’s largest cities, without impacting residents’ quality of life, as trains will operate tens of metres underground,” said CPK CEO Dr Filip Czernicki.
