Poland’s railway infrastructure manager, PKP Polskie Linie Kolejowe (PLK), has launched a tender for the final section of a new railway line in the Kraków area leading to the mountainous south of Poland.

The tender involves construction work on a new line between Gdów, 30 km southeast of Kraków, and Szczyrzyc, 50 km south of Kraków—both cities located in the Lesser Poland (Małopolskie) Voivodeship.

The project is part of the Podłęże–Piekiełko program, and this tender will mark the completion of one of the country’s largest railway investments.

The work is estimated to take approximately 38 months, with a total cost of EUR 575 million (PLN 2.5 billion).

This is the final—and, at the same time, one of the most technically challenging—sections of the largest ongoing railway investment.

The Gdów–Szczyrzyc section of the line in the Kraków area will be 16 km long and will include both underground sections and complex above-ground structures. The project involves the construction of two tunnels with a total length of 2.4 km, as well as numerous viaducts, bridges, and trestles. The tallest structure will allow trains to travel 27 meters above ground, and the longest will exceed 850 meters. Trains will travel at speeds of up to 160 km/h.

On this section of the line in the Kraków area, a station will be built in Szczyrzyc and two stops in Zręczyce and Gruszów. All platforms will be accessible to people with limited mobility. In addition, underground passages equipped with elevators will be built to facilitate access to trains, and the road infrastructure in the area will be modernized with grade-separated crossings and new intersections designed to improve local traffic flow.

The completion of this section will enable the opening of a new high-speed rail connection in southern Poland, between Kraków, Nowy Sącz, and Zakopane. This will significantly reduce travel times, contributing to the region’s economic, tourism, and social development.

The project for the line in the Kraków area includes the modernization and electrification of 75 km of track on the Chabówka–Nowy Sącz route, as well as the construction of 58 km of new track between Podłęże, Tymbark, and Mszana Dolna.

Once the work is completed, trains will travel between Kraków and Nowy Sącz in approximately 60 minutes, and to Zakopane in about 90 minutes.

The total cost of the Podłęże–Piekiełko project is estimated at EUR 2.7 billion (PLN 12 billion); it represents one of the most significant developments in Poland’s railway infrastructure and is co-financed by European funds through the National Recovery and Resilience Plan.